Sainsbury’s plan public exhibition

The supermarket giant wants to get local views on its plans to open a store on the Thomas Peacocke Lower School site, which it bought for £3.4 million.

Sainsbury’s is currently locked in a planning battle with rivals Tesco over the site.

A new Sainsbury’s store would have a sales area of approximately 20,000 sq ft and focus on selling food products.

It would create around 150 new full and part-time jobs.

The exhibition takes place at the Lion Street Education Centre on Friday November 26 from noon to 7pm and Saturday 27 from 10am to 2pm.

Sainsbury’s will also be issuing a consultation brochure to properties in and around Rye and launching a project website (www.sainsburys-rye.co.uk) to allow residents to view the plans and provide their feedback.

Max Whitehand, Sainsbury’s regional development executive, said “We are excited about the opportunity of coming to Rye and believe that our proposals would greatly improve choice for local shoppers.

“We look forward to meeting residents at the public exhibition and to listening to feedback on our plans.”

Sainsbury’s purchased the four acre Lower School site from East Sussex County Council in June this year.

Their plans also include a 170 space car park, which would be free for a limited period of time to allow customers time to visit the store as well as make trips to the town centre, and a new foot and cycle path through the site providing for the potential for a future link to Rye College and Rye Sports Centre.