Access Road to proposed new Sainsbury's. Pic: AP

A residents’ group has criticised new plans for a giant Sainsbury’s superstore to be built in the centre of Stoke Newington and is advising locals to back it in a council consultation.

Earlier this year, EastLondonLines reported that its developers, Newmark Property Investments, who owns the site near the junction of Stoke Newington High Street and Church Street, were forced to scale down the size of the proposed supermarket after mounting opposition.

Newmark Property Investments had previously proposed a 24,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s, but were forced to reduce it to by 33 per cent to 16,000 sq ft.

Original plans for an underground car park were scrapped and buildings set to be demolished will now have their Victorian frontage preserved.

Revised proposals for Wilmer Place and 193-201 Stoke Newington Church Street were published last month and invited residents to voice their opinions on the plans before September 9. This has now been pushed back until to September 16.

Stokey Local claimed revised plans would offer “nothing not already in abundance” in the area and said: “addition of another shop is bound to impact on the viability and vitality of the existing shops selling similar lines of goods.”

It said that the look of the new shop-front, which would span five units, would be “significant and alien”  to the Stoke Newington Conservation Area, which the proposed site forms part of.

It also said that the supermarket would cause significant job losses within the area and lead independent retailers to close down.

It added that the proposed 80 full-time jobs for the new supermarket would not materialize until the site had been completed, and that senior positions would be filled by people already employed by Sainsbury’s at other sites.

The pressure group also aired its concerns on the environmental impact it would have on Abney Park Cemetery, which is located next door, saying that proposals would damage it ‘ecologically, and aesthetically’.

A spokesperson for Newmark Properties and Sainsbury’s said: “Following extensive consultation during which we have listened carefully to the views of Stoke Newington residents and businesses significant changes to have been made to the plans.

“The alterations – which include a reduction in the size of food store by a third,  provision of additional affordable homes and retention of the Victorian frontages on Stoke Newington High Street – considerably increase the benefits to the community and make the development more responsive to the local area.

“We believe that the scheme,  which will be car free and developed to the highest environmental standards, will increase footfall to the area thereby aiding local businesses, provide new local jobs and help sustain the Stoke Newington economy into the future.”

To read Stokey Local’s full review of the new proposals, click here.

To see the revised planning application click here.