Sainsbury’s resubmits plans for New Squares scheme

SUPERMARKET giant Salisbury’s has resubmitted its plans to redevelop the town centre of Penrith after they were previously rejected.

Penrith’s £77m New Squares project – which includes the superstore, flats and bars – ground to a halt in October 2008 after National Australia Bank pulled the plug on funding.

Sainsbury’s subsequently stepped in but the superstore it proposed to build was later rejected by Eden Council as too big.

The new plans submitted by the supermarket are understood to be “scaled down”.

If the plans are passed, construction work is expected to begin later this year with a view to it being completed in 2012.

At the end of 2008, the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) provided £1m backing for the New Squares scheme.

Chief executive Steven Broomhead said at the time that the funding was intended to ensure that that key regeneration schemes were not adversely affected by the economic down turn.