Parade of shops may get revamp (From The Oxford Times)

Parade of shops may get revamp

6:00pm Thursday 29th December 2011 in News By Andrew Ffrench

A ROW of shops in Summertown could be extended to provide more sales space inside.

Developer Berville Ltd has submitted a planning application to the city council to extend about six shop fronts in Banbury Road.

The company carried out similar improvement work to Mayfield House, Banbury Road, in 2009 and now wants to upgrade premises from 266-274 Banbury Road.

As well as 133sq metres of extra retail space and new shop fronts, there would be a new roof canopy at the front, and a new single-storey extension at the back of the shops with bin stores.

The paving area in front of the shops, which include Mail Boxes Etc and Helen and Douglas House, would also be upgraded, according to the application, as some parts are cracked.

Mail Boxes Etc owner Justin Brookes said: “We had a re-fit inside the shop about 10 months ago so I’m not sure if I want to change the layout again.

“We will have to see what the landlords come up with. Eventually we could be asked to pay extra rent.”

Last week Sainsbury’s confirmed it will be opening a new store in Banbury Road in the new year after taking a lease on the former Martins newsagents and former Oddbins off-licence on the corner of Banbury Road and South Parade.

Once Sainsbury’s opens in the spring, there will be four supermarkets in Banbury Road, with Marks & Spencer, Tesco and the Co-op already established.

Summertown city councillor Jean Fooks said: “Like the new Sainsbury’s store, this latest scheme shows that companies think Summertown is a very good place to do business.

“They wouldn’t be extending the stores to provide more retail space if they didn’t think they were going to get more trade.

“There is a wide pavement in front of the stores on Banbury Road so I don’t think there will be too many complaints about a small amount of pavement space being taken up. I would certainly welcome the paving being improved because in some places the surfaces are uneven.

“Different parts of the parade are owned by different landlords and I would like to see the paving for the whole parade improved in due course because some parts have not been brought up to the same high standard.”

A yew tree and a lime tree in front of the stores are protected by tree preservation orders.

The county council carried out a major resurfacing scheme in Banbury Road, Summertown, in 2008, and work included a new pedestrian crossing, new road markings and a 20mph speed limit.

The shops application was submitted to the council last Tuesday. No-one from Sutton Griffin, Newbury-based agents for Berville Ltd, was available for comment.