Another new Sainsbury's for Brighton and Hove (From The Argus)

I've thought about it, and my answer is no, I do not want a Sainsbury's on my doorstep.

It is very unlikely that shoppers coming to Preston to visit a new Sainsbury's will in any way contribute to the local economy. They will most likely drive to the store, park there or in one of our roads as yet unburdened with residents' parking (watch this space), and drive off again. They certainly won't pop into the Crown and Anchor, because they will have limited parking time in the supermarket car park, and/or shopping to drive home with.

If Sainsbury's really cared about what any of us think, they would have consulted before acquiring the lease. And who are they to decide that their purely selfish monetary schemes 'fit with' the local area?! Look around Preston, and you won't see anything like they are proposing, and for very good reasons.

They have been dishonest from day one, and I expect nothing different throughout what is bound to be an exhausting and corrupt planning application challenge.

Merry Christmas from Sainsbury's, eh?

I intended to say an exhausting challenge to a corrupt planning application!

Glad to have you on board Swingbin; I will get an open meeting arranged soon and we can meet up.

Great, the traffic along that bit of preston rd is bad enough especially where the two lanes narrow into one and now there will be even more congestion as shoppers will obviously be trying to enter and exit onto preston rd. it will be just like the tescos on dyke rd where the traffic exits directly onto the traffic lights causing congestion and tailbacks. if we are to have yet another supermarket on the doorstep how about building it down by the bt building where the derelict office block is, that site needs regenerating more than the caffyns site - it is an absolute eyesore. better still, dont build a sainsburys at all, as people have already said, it is way out of keeping with the area and not needed.

I assume that the people of Brighton and Hove aren't going hungry due to a lack of places to purchase groceries.

It therefore follows that each new store merely spreads the custom more thinly across all stores. This means there's no end to it, because each new Tesco steals a little bit of trade from all other Tescos as well as all other Sainsburys. The only possible solution for Sainsbury is to open a store and steal a little bit back.

Soon ever building will have it's own supermarket.

what would the residents like the site to be used for? i agree another supermarket is not needed, but what then? maybe the council should have consulted the locals(lol).

When will we hit saturation point? Don't Brighton & Hove need more affordable housing?

****!! i'm waiting for a lotto win to turn that site into a indoor playcentre

Funnily enough I thought, like Rus Hong, when the Tesco Superstore opened in Church Road, Hove, that it would bring extra people to the area and even help the smaller shops but it didn't work out like that. People from out of the area turn up in their thousands in their comfortable cars, park up, do their shopping and go home again. None of them will hang around for a pint at The Crown and Anchor. Let me know when the protest officially starts and I'll catch the bus over to Preston Village to sign it.

We have had the same thing in Portland Road, Hove, where the general assumption is that licensing and Highways will roll over to let Sainsbury's have its way, which other businesses would not. Sainsbury's is becoming very quickly the new Tesco...

Either way, it heralds the end of community, a phrase which - first in The Times - was resonant during the campaign to save Hove Library.

I simply do not buy into the idea of Sainsburys' customers spending thousands of pounds on crisps to equip a local school with a two-bit computer is
anything like "community involvement" and all that jive.

Supermarket staff are fordidden to speak like humans about the issues on residents' tongues.

Preston Village Popular Front wrote:
I intended to say an exhausting challenge to a corrupt planning application!

Glad to have you on board Swingbin; I will get an open meeting arranged soon and we can meet up.

I vote in the Preston Park ward and will support you. I have lived here long enough remember Sainsburys paying for the Gyratory

puddingandpi wrote:
When will we hit saturation point? Don't Brighton & Hove need more affordable housing?

now there is a good idea, for both the caffyns site, and the derelict office blocks on preston rd. by affordable, we mean those that 'normal' workers can afford, eg postmen, binmen, bus drivers etc

I think its very sad that once again Brighton council full fail to allowing yet another super-market to take over an area to rape small business of their living. Soon there will be no choice left in Brighton when it comes to shopping as one super market is much the same as the other. This council will do anything to fill large buildings or areas to increase their business rate income and if it kills 10 local businesses nearby, then who cares, Brighton Council Don't.....

I am confused. I have lived in in a road next to Preston Park for 8 years and don't know of this 'Preston Village'. Where is it? Answer: it no longer exists. People, stop pretending this Midsomer-esque village exists. It doesn't.

I grew up in a village. A proper one, with one road in and one road out. It had a sum total of 1 shop, a pub and cafe. It had a green with geese, a local school, doctors and a church. A population of under a thousand and nothing but sheep and fields around it. 'Preston Village'? Pull the other one! There's no such place!

No one drives to the Tesco Metro in Queens Road, no one drives to the Sainsburys local in Western Road, no one drives to the Tesco Metro in Palmeira Square and no one drives to the Co-op in Lewes Road. They are not proposing a superstore, I doubt they'll even be a car park. The majority of customers will arrive by foot.

Just because this shop will get built, it doesn't mean smaller shops will not survive.... provided they give a good service.

The Good Food Deli, for example, will still be fine as everyone would rather a freshly made sandwich than one from a packet in Sainsburys. Just the same as the Fiveways deli is much more popular for a bite of lunch than the Co-op a few doors down.

Anyone protesting at this must have too much time on their hands. It won't make much difference to anything at all. Everyone has the right to protest and but everyone else also has the right to the roll their eyes and ignore... which we will. If you must expend your energy 'fighting' for a cause, for goodness sake find a worthwhile one.

River Man wrote:
I am confused. I have lived in in a road next to Preston Park for 8 years and don't know of this 'Preston Village'. Where is it? Answer: it no longer exists. People, stop pretending this Midsomer-esque village exists. It doesn't. I grew up in a village. A proper one, with one road in and one road out. It had a sum total of 1 shop, a pub and cafe. It had a green with geese, a local school, doctors and a church. A population of under a thousand and nothing but sheep and fields around it. 'Preston Village'? Pull the other one! There's no such place! No one drives to the Tesco Metro in Queens Road, no one drives to the Sainsburys local in Western Road, no one drives to the Tesco Metro in Palmeira Square and no one drives to the Co-op in Lewes Road. They are not proposing a superstore, I doubt they'll even be a car park. The majority of customers will arrive by foot. Just because this shop will get built, it doesn't mean smaller shops will not survive.... provided they give a good service. The Good Food Deli, for example, will still be fine as everyone would rather a freshly made sandwich than one from a packet in Sainsburys. Just the same as the Fiveways deli is much more popular for a bite of lunch than the Co-op a few doors down. Anyone protesting at this must have too much time on their hands. It won't make much difference to anything at all. Everyone has the right to protest and but everyone else also has the right to the roll their eyes and ignore... which we will. If you must expend your energy 'fighting' for a cause, for goodness sake find a worthwhile one.

Is the right answer. People won't drive to them and it makes it much more likely that local residents will stay local. Who knows, it might make them more likely to go and use Preston park or play bowls!

Taste the indifference

River Man wrote:
I am confused. I have lived in in a road next to Preston Park for 8 years and don't know of this 'Preston Village'. Where is it? Answer: it no longer exists. People, stop pretending this Midsomer-esque village exists. It doesn't.

I grew up in a village. A proper one, with one road in and one road out. It had a sum total of 1 shop, a pub and cafe. It had a green with geese, a local school, doctors and a church. A population of under a thousand and nothing but sheep and fields around it. 'Preston Village'? Pull the other one! There's no such place!

No one drives to the Tesco Metro in Queens Road, no one drives to the Sainsburys local in Western Road, no one drives to the Tesco Metro in Palmeira Square and no one drives to the Co-op in Lewes Road. They are not proposing a superstore, I doubt they'll even be a car park. The majority of customers will arrive by foot.

Just because this shop will get built, it doesn't mean smaller shops will not survive.... provided they give a good service.

The Good Food Deli, for example, will still be fine as everyone would rather a freshly made sandwich than one from a packet in Sainsburys. Just the same as the Fiveways deli is much more popular for a bite of lunch than the Co-op a few doors down.

Anyone protesting at this must have too much time on their hands. It won't make much difference to anything at all. Everyone has the right to protest and but everyone else also has the right to the roll their eyes and ignore... which we will. If you must expend your energy 'fighting' for a cause, for goodness sake find a worthwhile one.

Sorry, what part of Preston Village, on Preston Road, at the top of Preston Park, opposite Preston Manor and Preston Drove, bordered by the Preston Bowls Club and the Preston Brewery Tap, and at the northern end by Preston Park Station, do you have a blind spot to? You know, its that little strip of road, with the giveaway South, Middle and North Roads, isolated in a direct sense from Brighton by the Park. That place where us delusional, ignorant people are friendly and supportive and know our neighbours and are mystified when people from out of town say we don't exist.

Yes, Brighton's encroachment and the impact of the wider economy have taken away our off licence, post office, chemist, school and police station (in reverse order). The cricket and bowls clubs are still there, as are the 4 churches (3 of which are still used for worship). And having a doctors open nearby was a boon (we still have a dentist as well, and our local shop and 2 pubs). But it hasn't taken away our sense of community identity. You don't need sheep for that. Does Bevendean have no community spirit? Does Patcham Village not exist either? Or do only rural settlements hold any kudos for you? What on earth do you think the roots of Preston are? We only joined Brighton in 1927, and that was hardly willingly.

It is mostly people who did not grow up round here and moved down to commute thus pushing up prices for locals, that do not integrate and remain blissfully unaware that PV is even there. Everyone I know socially from the village (often multiple generations of the same family) calls it the village and is proud to. It is a state of mind as well as a geographical and historical fact, and a conservation area. It is about looking out for each other and an old fashioned sense of communal identity. Something I would have thought that considering your rustic idyll of an upbringing, you would not take pleasure in denigrating. Something which a supermarket and the dearth of local shops seems at odds with.

You can't go into Sainsbury's for a paper and find out why no one has seen so and so for a while and whether they are ill, or if so and so's little boy was alright in the end, or who's confirmed for so and so's surprise party. And Raj won't be able to compete with their prices. And what about the shops on Preston Drove and Matlock Road? Its not just Preston Road which will suffer.

Have to agree it will ruin the character of the area and bring nothing to the local economy. If anything, it will result in closure of those local shops just pushing a need for regeneration a little way down the road.
And there's already no shortage of supermarkets in Brighton and Hove already.
What I want to know from Sainsburys and would say to them is this; your strawberries look the business, great colour, good gloss, taste as bland as rice. How do you do it? You've taken the iconic English summer fruit, presented it well with a gloss, and managed removed any trace of strawberry from the actual fruit.
Essentially, Supermarket food is cr4p, Sainsburys in particular. I hope they dont succeed in bringing more of their cr4p to our town.

There is a forecourt. Of course there will be a carpark. It is on the A23. Of course people will drive there.

Not everyone will like it, but it will save me (and hopefully others) from having to drive to Lewes Road or Hollingbury to go shopping! I'd hope that would actually reduce some traffic and may increase visits to some of the other shops - if people aren't worried about parking, they'd be more likely to have a wander!

I appreciate the concerns of the people closer to it and I do think it will make it a lot harder for the smaller shops to compete - nobody will pay over the odds for a pint of milk/loaf of bread etc when it's available cheaper a few seconds down the road. And that is a problem - they will struggle to compete with supermarket prices because people will choose the cheaper option.

It's a big change for the area, but there are a lot of people crammed in around here and the shop will probably get a lot of use. If there was no demand they wouldn't put it there...

This article isn't biased at all.... 'Another new Sainsbury's', this is such a poor paper with absolutely abysmal editorials and sources, it's a wonder how they have stayed afloat during the recession....

I know of at least three Sainsbury's in Brighton and Hove, the fact that one more is being built consitutes the word "another". I can't see how this is biased.

Any company offering jobs in recession surely its a good thing if it wasn't sainsburys it would be another tesco or coop looking forward seeing you down there!

dave31 wrote:
Any company offering jobs in recession surely its a good thing if it wasn't sainsburys it would be another tesco or coop looking forward seeing you down there!

But it has to be balanced against the jobs that will be lost; at least 6 if Raj is forced to close, another 6 or so if the deli was affected, I do not know what the impact would be on the shops on Preston Drove. Additionally you have to consider as Selma Montford pointed out in her comments on the new Hove Sainsbury's, what is the full time equivalent of 30 new jobs? And how is forcing redundancies within the local community and creating jobs in an area which has extremely low unemployment BEFORE Sainsbury's invaded helping the local community?

whinge, whinge, whinge, whinge, whinge... what would everyone prefer? a tree huggers playground? a derelict site that will just end up vandalised? a cycle park complete with whinging seats? a new car showroom (though this is obviously not a profitable location for one), a 20 storey apartment block, a 30 storey hotel...? Hmmm... I just hope they include a petrol station with it.... (and yes I live close to the area)

to be honest, I don't think people make a "special trip" to an area to go to a supermarket!

The vast majority will be people who live in the area, so I don't see the problem, and it won't affect local traders unless their "loyal" customers go to the new supermarket instead.

People have a choice whether to use a supermarket or not!

Build it, and stop moaning!

Oh and before you start, I have a new (last yr or so) Sainsburys supermarket within 250yds of my house near the station, and it made absolutely no difference to traffic round here, or to the local traders!

Preston Village Popular Front wrote:

dave31 wrote: Any company offering jobs in recession surely its a good thing if it wasn't sainsburys it would be another tesco or coop looking forward seeing you down there!

But it has to be balanced against the jobs that will be lost; at least 6 if Raj is forced to close, another 6 or so if the deli was affected, I do not know what the impact would be on the shops on Preston Drove. Additionally you have to consider as Selma Montford pointed out in her comments on the new Hove Sainsbury's, what is the full time equivalent of 30 new jobs? And how is forcing redundancies within the local community and creating jobs in an area which has extremely low unemployment BEFORE Sainsbury's invaded helping the local community?

Typical anti-Sainsburys rubbish, I'm sure the percentage of people employed by small shops in the area is extremely low.

Small shops survive by providing a great customer service not on price, if their "loyal" customers aren't loyal, then basically it's tough isn't it!
It's a free market, and I for one think anything that provides competition and a few more jobs is good.

Typical Nimby's that don't want the Posh character of their posh little village to change.

sussexone wrote:
to be honest, I don't think people make a "special trip" to an area to go to a supermarket!

The vast majority will be people who live in the area, so I don't see the problem, and it won't affect local traders unless their "loyal" customers go to the new supermarket instead.

People have a choice whether to use a supermarket or not!

Build it, and stop moaning!

Oh and before you start, I have a new (last yr or so) Sainsburys supermarket within 250yds of my house near the station, and it made absolutely no difference to traffic round here, or to the local traders!

Would you mind so little if if was 20 yards from your house, which was in a quiet, residential street?

Maybe I am a 'Nimby', but I pay through the nose to live in the area I was brought up around (which by the way is not that posh), and I choose to live here because I like it how it is. As a 'Nimby', no I do not want late night deliveries and 24 hour light and noise 20 yards from my front door. That's normal isn't it? Or does that make me in some way classist? Sorry, I lost your reasoning somewhere.

Sadly the local shops in this area are VERY expensive, so despite a good service, I'll be going to Sainsburys.

davyboy wrote:

puddingandpi wrote:
When will we hit saturation point? Don't Brighton & Hove need more affordable housing?

now there is a good idea, for both the caffyns site, and the derelict office blocks on preston rd. by affordable, we mean those that 'normal' workers can afford, eg postmen, binmen, bus drivers etc

Does anyone remember Fraggle Rock? I can't help but be reminded of the Doozers - the little guys in the background who actually did the work that allowed the Fraggles to @rse around all day.
Well, "normal" workers (postal workers, bin-men, nurses, council workers etc) are the Doozers.
And the Doozers have plenty of places to shop, but they need places to *live* in B&H.
Quite what's going to happen when we've tarmac'd over the whole country & packed it full of shops,I don't know. Start on the moon, I suppose.

kayotic wrote:
Funnily enough I thought, like Rus Hong, when the Tesco Superstore opened in Church Road, Hove, that it would bring extra people to the area and even help the smaller shops but it didn't work out like that. People from out of the area turn up in their thousands in their comfortable cars, park up, do their shopping and go home again. None of them will hang around for a pint at The Crown and Anchor. Let me know when the protest officially starts and I'll catch the bus over to Preston Village to sign it.

Actually you are incorrect in your statement about the Tesco in Hove -it has actually led to a significant improvement in shopper numbers in George Street (I remember the poor state of Hove before the store opened).

However, there are few other businesses around the proposed Sainsburys site so the same benefit wouldn't happen in Preston Park. However, there is little doubt they will be given permission to open a store there regardless of local opinion. I've always been amused by the 'Preston Village' name - it is simply a busy road filled with exhaust fumes, not a picturesque village at all!

Preston Village Popular Front wrote:

sussexone wrote: to be honest, I don't think people make a "special trip" to an area to go to a supermarket! The vast majority will be people who live in the area, so I don't see the problem, and it won't affect local traders unless their "loyal" customers go to the new supermarket instead. People have a choice whether to use a supermarket or not! Build it, and stop moaning! Oh and before you start, I have a new (last yr or so) Sainsburys supermarket within 250yds of my house near the station, and it made absolutely no difference to traffic round here, or to the local traders!

Would you mind so little if if was 20 yards from your house, which was in a quiet, residential street?

What? The quiet residential street that is 20 yards away from the A23.

I used to live next to the site and I am in favour of the new Sainsbury's. When I lived here it was a real hassle having to walk all the way to town to shop. Sometimes I had to drive so this store would have saved me time and been better for the environment. I left the area due to it's lack of facilities and no decent local shopping.
The store won't have any detrimental impact on the area, and may even inject some community space into an otherwise fairly dull area. A cash machine here would also be of huge benefit as the nearest one is miles away.
If this goes ahead Preston Village will still exist unchanged for those who wish to embrace it. Do opponents to the scheme think that a car showroom was particularly traditional? Did it serve the community? No. There is plenty of space for affordable housing at the old office block site.
Smaller businesses will still have their role to play and those apposed should support them. But what is wrong with good value, choice and convenience? Let's not roll out the same tired anti-globilisation anti-Sainsbury's arguments all the time. We must accept change is inevitable and use our energies to take on issues which matter. I now live near London Road and I oppose the new supermarket proposed here as we already have three in this area. But Preston Park needs investment like this.

ultiali wrote:

Preston Village Popular Front wrote:

sussexone wrote: to be honest, I don't think people make a "special trip" to an area to go to a supermarket! The vast majority will be people who live in the area, so I don't see the problem, and it won't affect local traders unless their "loyal" customers go to the new supermarket instead. People have a choice whether to use a supermarket or not! Build it, and stop moaning! Oh and before you start, I have a new (last yr or so) Sainsburys supermarket within 250yds of my house near the station, and it made absolutely no difference to traffic round here, or to the local traders!

Would you mind so little if if was 20 yards from your house, which was in a quiet, residential street?

What? The quiet residential street that is 20 yards away from the A23.

Lauriston Road is very quiet actually, as is Cumberland Road.

What's this got to do with the council? Has there been an application in? No. Can it do anything until there is a planning application? No.

We've been sainsburied.

Can I park there whilst I take my deaf,one winged parrot to the vets?

Preston Village Popular Front wrote:

ultiali wrote:

Preston Village Popular Front wrote:

sussexone wrote: to be honest, I don't think people make a "special trip" to an area to go to a supermarket! The vast majority will be people who live in the area, so I don't see the problem, and it won't affect local traders unless their "loyal" customers go to the new supermarket instead. People have a choice whether to use a supermarket or not! Build it, and stop moaning! Oh and before you start, I have a new (last yr or so) Sainsburys supermarket within 250yds of my house near the station, and it made absolutely no difference to traffic round here, or to the local traders!

Would you mind so little if if was 20 yards from your house, which was in a quiet, residential street?

What? The quiet residential street that is 20 yards away from the A23.

Lauriston Road is very quiet actually, as is Cumberland Road.

I suppose Lauriston road is about as quiet as it gets for being directly off a trunk road, but Cumberland road is the direct route for hundrends of people daily to get to Preston Park Station. Definitely not a quiet village street!

Cumberland Road is a quiet road. Maybe you should live there before you post your comments?

i lived in the flats in cumberland road, more noisewas made by the mechanics revving engines and car transporters dropping off cars, funny those against it, dont say what they would preffer? council flats with kids messing the streets up, and partying all night by the great un-washed living there!

If all you lot that don't want a supermarket vote with your feet, and see if it says.
I don't think it will go out of business. So it will be wanted, and needed, end of !

Can someone please tell me why we need another supermarket in this area? Sainsburys was approached about a month ago to comment on their plans for preston park which they completely denied, however in a recent statement they have said how delighted they are about these plans! This to me just shows how totally two faced these people are! They have not commented on this before as they are fully aware of how this community would react and are totally uninterested in what the so called 'little people' have to say!
I have been in preston park for 3 years now and I love it, we have a few small local shops and pubs, most of which have been here for years! Each one has dedicated and hard working owners whom I now really do fear for because lets face it how can anyone compete with the prices of a supermarket!
We have plenty of supermarkets in this area which are ony a 5 minute car or bus ride away! Traffic can get quite busy on this part of Preston Road as it goes from two lanes down to one directly outside caffyns, either side in Lauriston Road and Cumberland Road can also become quite conjested, therefore you stick a supermarket smack bang in the middle of this and you end up with total chaos!
As well as this I have been informed that Sainsburys are only leasing the front of the building where the showroom was and not the workshop at the back, therefore, I would like to know exactly how they will receive their deliveries, where these 40ft lorries will park and exactly how much conjestion will they cause?
At the end of the day we all use supermarkets, but nobody wants one on their doorstep, therefore as a community why are we not given a choice and small local hardworking businesses left well alone!

Personally I am pleased that Sainsbury's are intending on opening up a new store in Preston Road, at the site of the Old Caffyn's garage. I would have preferred a local independent store perhaps like Taj, but having a convenience store (this site will be too small for a full scale supermarket) will be most welcome to an area of Brighton that is severely lacking in shops. I would love to have the time to shop at the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker every day and chat about the local Village as some people laughably call 'Preston Village' (it's no such thing as a village any longer, and I live there). As someone luckily enough to have a full-time job in this day and age, the fact that there may well be a shop where I can buy some food of an evening when I get home at 7pm, and even heaven-forbid get some cash from a 'free' Sainsbury's ATM then I think they should be applauded not derided. I appreciate nobody wants an identikit town but in some places they are most welcome as local independents are not open the hours some people need. If I was retired no doubt I would be trying to conserve the Village identity, start a Facebook group and generally go on creating a noise about nothing, but since I actually work 12 hrs a day I don’t have time. As some wily economists amongst you have already pointed out, if people don't shop there or if there is no demand then these ‘evil’ places will close down. It is simple demand and supply. People nowadays don't have the time or ability to shop at several local shops that close before those who work full-time can get home. I for one will be shopping there on occasion and think it will be very handy for lots of residents, particularly those who may no longer need to get on a bus or in their car to get to a decent shop as Preston Park is sorely lacking in such things. If it was a licensed brothel opening up or a strip-club then I could understand their cause, but it’s a shop where you can buy useful stuff, so get a grip and be pleased a vacant ugly premises is being put to good use for ‘some’ sections of the community. If you don’t like it you have such a thing called choice, take a walk into town and support the independent traders at 2pm when the rest of us are in work. You will have my blessing and I will join you on a Saturday.
If there is a free Cash machine at the new Sainsbury’s all the Nimbys will be there, mark my words as the cash machine at the Shell garage disappeared months ago.
Also I can’t see this perceived problem with deliveries or large trucks delivering to the store – since its previous use was as a several major car dealerships (Rover, Vauxhall, Audi) and surprisingly these vehicles were delivered on large car transporters, not by magic. So the site and road(s) have long coped with large vehicles delivering to the exact same site.

I work fulltime as well and manage to plan my shopping.
What road in Preston Village do you live in if you are unaware that Raj's shop opens at 5.30 and closes at 10pm?
Caffyns did not have deliveries with the frequency that Sainsbury's will, especially considering the 'just in time' delivery policy necessitated by not leasing the garage.
Caffyns did not attract the traffic volume Sainsbury's will.
Why are you planning to wait until you retire before you make friends with your neighbours and start giving a **** about the immediate world around you?

Preston Village Popular Front wrote:
I work fulltime as well and manage to plan my shopping. What road in Preston Village do you live in if you are unaware that Raj's shop opens at 5.30 and closes at 10pm? Caffyns did not have deliveries with the frequency that Sainsbury's will, especially considering the 'just in time' delivery policy necessitated by not leasing the garage. Caffyns did not attract the traffic volume Sainsbury's will. Why are you planning to wait until you retire before you make friends with your neighbours and start giving a **** about the immediate world around you?

Raj's shop is fine if you want to buy a newspaper or a pint of milk, apart from that it's actually rather poor. So the opening time is largely irrelevant if the shop serves little purpose for you. You may be able to buy all you ever need there, some people have simple tastes. I have plenty of real friends and some lovely neighbours in the area, I don't have a facebook account as I prefer to meet real people, not try to make friends online. And if you can't work out which street I live on you must be duller than I thought you were.

Sausage Street Resident wrote:
Personally I am pleased that Sainsbury's are intending on opening up a new store in Preston Road, at the site of the Old Caffyn's garage. I would have preferred a local independent store perhaps like Taj, but having a convenience store (this site will be too small for a full scale supermarket) will be most welcome to an area of Brighton that is severely lacking in shops. I would love to have the time to shop at the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker every day and chat about the local Village as some people laughably call 'Preston Village' (it's no such thing as a village any longer, and I live there). As someone luckily enough to have a full-time job in this day and age, the fact that there may well be a shop where I can buy some food of an evening when I get home at 7pm, and even heaven-forbid get some cash from a 'free' Sainsbury's ATM then I think they should be applauded not derided. I appreciate nobody wants an identikit town but in some places they are most welcome as local independents are not open the hours some people need. If I was retired no doubt I would be trying to conserve the Village identity, start a Facebook group and generally go on creating a noise about nothing, but since I actually work 12 hrs a day I don’t have time. As some wily economists amongst you have already pointed out, if people don't shop there or if there is no demand then these ‘evil’ places will close down. It is simple demand and supply. People nowadays don't have the time or ability to shop at several local shops that close before those who work full-time can get home. I for one will be shopping there on occasion and think it will be very handy for lots of residents, particularly those who may no longer need to get on a bus or in their car to get to a decent shop as Preston Park is sorely lacking in such things. If it was a licensed brothel opening up or a strip-club then I could understand their cause, but it’s a shop where you can buy useful stuff, so get a grip and be pleased a vacant ugly premises is being put to good use for ‘some’ sections of the community. If you don’t like it you have such a thing called choice, take a walk into town and support the independent traders at 2pm when the rest of us are in work. You will have my blessing and I will join you on a Saturday.
If there is a free Cash machine at the new Sainsbury’s all the Nimbys will be there, mark my words as the cash machine at the Shell garage disappeared months ago.
Also I can’t see this perceived problem with deliveries or large trucks delivering to the store – since its previous use was as a several major car dealerships (Rover, Vauxhall, Audi) and surprisingly these vehicles were delivered on large car transporters, not by magic. So the site and road(s) have long coped with large vehicles delivering to the exact same site.

Ah, someone who talks sense. I'm looking forward to shopping there too, and thankfully we won't bump into 'Preston Village Unpopular Front' by the sounds of it - although I am sure we'll catch them at the ATM.

Re: Raj's shop - of course it is a convenience store not a store where one would do one's weekly shop. It may not be of much use to you, but the 300 people who have signed the petition on the shop counter in the last one and a half days clearly find it useful.

Re: Facebook - I use it communicate with people I know in real life, not strangers. I suppose around 1/3 of my friends on there are people I know through Preston. It is a good way of staying in touch with people who have moved away and of sharing ideas and interests with like minded people.

Re: where you live - there are at least 7 roads in Preston Village depending on how purist you are (the Preston Village Conservation Area Statement on the BHCC website gives a good background to Preston and its geographical validity).

Re: your patronising tone - I apologise for the rashness of my initial post in response to your comments, and should not have reduced myself to such a base level as to swear. I just get very heated about this topic as it really does mean a lot to me. There is no need for you to be spiteful and personal because your opinion differs to mine.

Re: cashpoint - yes the few years we had one were great. But I would rather see it reinstated at the Shell than put up with a Sainsbury's opposite my front door in order to have one. Again, it is about planning; I use one in town after work if I need to. We coped without one for decades, and people knew there was no supermarket here when they moved here / chose to remain here having been born here.

Preston Village Popular Front wrote:
Re: Raj's shop - of course it is a convenience store not a store where one would do one's weekly shop. It may not be of much use to you, but the 300 people who have signed the petition on the shop counter in the last one and a half days clearly find it useful.

Re: Facebook - I use it communicate with people I know in real life, not strangers. I suppose around 1/3 of my friends on there are people I know through Preston. It is a good way of staying in touch with people who have moved away and of sharing ideas and interests with like minded people.

Re: where you live - there are at least 7 roads in Preston Village depending on how purist you are (the Preston Village Conservation Area Statement on the BHCC website gives a good background to Preston and its geographical validity).

Re: your patronising tone - I apologise for the rashness of my initial post in response to your comments, and should not have reduced myself to such a base level as to swear. I just get very heated about this topic as it really does mean a lot to me. There is no need for you to be spiteful and personal because your opinion differs to mine.

Re: cashpoint - yes the few years we had one were great. But I would rather see it reinstated at the Shell than put up with a Sainsbury's opposite my front door in order to have one. Again, it is about planning; I use one in town after work if I need to. We coped without one for decades, and people knew there was no supermarket here when they moved here / chose to remain here having been born here.

Hang on, YOU wrote:
"Why are you planning to wait until you retire before you make friends with your neighbours and start giving a **** about the immediate world around you?" to me.

Then YOU wrote:
There is no need for you to be spiteful and personal because your opinion differs to mine.

And if you really can't work out which street I might live in there really is no hope for you.

I very much care about this issue and the area within which I live also, hence why I am writing here. People DO have differing opinions on here, that is the purpose of this forum.
So I am looking forward to the new store opening, which in MY opinion will benefit the area and those who live in it. Remember, local independent traders aren't in business for the good of the local community - they are there to make a profit, much like Sainsbury's. People have a choice, you can continue to shop wherever you fancy, as can I.
And as for you pretending that Preston Village is actually a 'Village' is the bit that amuses me most. It's a collection of houses and flats sandwiched between the A23 and the main railway line to London, not some Heartbeat or Dixon-of-Dock-Green type of place. We both live off a main road in a City - you might not like that fact, but it's true.

I respect your views (and your right to hold them) about a new store.
It would be good if we could desist from spatting in this manner, I did try to apologise for the tone of my initial post. I do not want to be cyber enemies, especially as we are clearly neighbours.
I know Preston is not the kind of village of days of yore anymore, that is obvious. But it easier to continue to use the word village than to rebrand it as Preston Neighbourhood or something similar which would just sound silly. There needs to be a way of referring to Preston or we would not know where we were talking about. And I do not see where the positivity is in negating the individual aspects of Preston, as I went into in my response to Riverman.

By the way I am allergic to the subject of your moniker's pun, hence my slow wit in working that one out! I recoil in horror at the sight of one.

But as they sell honey flavour in Raj's, I am ok!

I can sympathise with the long standing residents fear of a large commercial chain looming over what was once independant.
However Preston currently has two pubs a small newsagent, and a sandwich shop.

For the surrounding public, (which is largely made up of commuters, office monkeys and riff raff) there is nowhere to obtain fresh foods or frozen produce.
Given that this plot was previously a showroom for shiny motors, filling it with fresh food will make much more practical sense given our current climate, and little damage to the Village asthetics.

A man needs a shiny new motor every few years, but he needs a Pot Noodle weekly :)

Jeff, last time I looked Raj DID sell pot noodles. And in any case, I know for a fact that Gil (co-founder of the PVPF) cooks all your meals for you, with fresh produce from the open market!
And I am shocked at the disparaging tone in which you refer to your neighbours (riff raff??!!!). When you moved here approx 2 years ago did you not feel welcomed and instantly made to feel a part of things?
You should come round to play soon, my imaginary fellow-villager, not seen you in yonks and your ways have become very mysterious!

JeffSolo wrote:
I can sympathise with the long standing residents fear of a large commercial chain looming over what was once independant.
However Preston currently has two pubs a small newsagent, and a sandwich shop.

For the surrounding public, (which is largely made up of commuters, office monkeys and riff raff) there is nowhere to obtain fresh foods or frozen produce.
Given that this plot was previously a showroom for shiny motors, filling it with fresh food will make much more practical sense given our current climate, and little damage to the Village asthetics.

A man needs a shiny new motor every few years, but he needs a Pot Noodle weekly :)

AND, Surfer, I know your navigational skills can sometimes go a bit awry, but there IS a Tesco Express approx 8 mins walk from the village, which is open 24 hours and, surprisingly, sells fresh foods and frozen produce.