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SandpiperCI have been told to halt a planning application that could see a local supermarket converted into flats amid a probe by the competition regulator.
The retailer was told by the Channel Islands Competition Authority (CICRA) to sell on or lease First Tower-based Checkers Xpress to a competing retailer over fears that they had acquired too many stores in the area.
But the regulator is now questioning whether Sandpiper made enough effort to do so before a crucial deadline passed, and have made an official call for evidence.
CICRA told the retailer in June last year that it would have to shut the store after it acquired more than a dozen Costcutter shops. They argued that this would help to avoid a Sandpiper monopoly in the area because it already owned the nearby Food Hall in Hansford Lane and Benest’s Food Hall.
Sandpiper had to attempt to lease or sell the premises to a competing supermarket provider in a bid to provide more choice in the area while also providing locals with a convenience store. If no offer came forward by mid-December, Sandpiper were told that the store would have to close, and that they could market it for sale for another purpose.
Sandpiper made a Planning Application to convert the store into flats – a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom unit - on 15 November 2017.
Local residents argued that closing or converting the store would mean the loss of an important resource for the elderly residents of the surrounding housing developments of Jardin de Soleil, Clos St Andre and Don Farm. They argued that such islanders suffered from mobility issues and that the remaining stores in the area were not easily accessible by users of wheelchairs or walking aids.
“Please please do not let our wonderful shop go – it is a lifeline to so many people, young and very old. I know of one lady who can only walk with the aid of a frame and can only just manage the round trip to get her milk and daily paper – a lifeline to her too with the kindness of the staff caring for her wellbeing,” Louise Bamber wrote.
Another resident, Tim Barrass, wrote to Sandpiper, Planning, and to St Helier Deputy Mike Higgins requesting him to take up the case at a political level: “Surely Checkers should be regarded an essential service for the first Tower community instead of a couple of houses for someone rich enough to buy?... A couple of houses will not make any difference to Sandpiper’s profit margin and as a major island retailer they should surely have an obligation, in some areas, to serve those islanders who support their business.”
Documents show that the premises were advertised at a rental price of £49,000 per annum, with freehold offers expected in the region of £1million. Interested retailers were also invited to buy the store’s equipment at an additional cost of £50,000.
In a letter attached to the planning application, Sandpiper said that the premises were simply too difficult to sell due to a lack of car parking space around the building and a difficulty in servicing the building.
“We are required to dispose of the First Tower unit by CICRA and therefore our economics are irrelevant. Under that mandate, we were required to market it for 6 months to either rent or buy. As demonstrated by the complete lack of interest found by our agent in the unit over that period, no one is of the opinion that the unit is viable as it stands,” Sandpiper explained in their letter.
CICRA, however, say that they are uncertain as to whether sufficient efforts were made to sell or lease Checkers Xpress as a supermarket before then.
They issued a written notice on Sandpiper on 17 January ordering that:
Waiving their original condition that it close in December, CICRA have agreed that the Checkers Xpress store can remain open – in part provoked by a petition by Mr Barrass reported to have gained around 1,000 signatures.
CICRA Director Louise Read commented: “We are currently investigating whether Sandpiper has complied with the conditions of the [Costcutter] merger. We issued a decision instructing that the store at First Tower should not be closed while our investigation takes place.
“We appreciate that consumers may be impacted by the closure of this shop. What is best for consumers is forefront to our consideration.”
Sandpiper declined to comment.
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