Asda Vs Sainsburys: It's not a contest '“ give us both in Bognor Regis

The town's chamber of commerce wants shoppers to benefit from the arrival of both major national retailers.

Chamber president and chairman Nick Stuart Nicolson said: "The retail offer in Bognor is outstanding but the arrival of both Asda and Sainsbury's will certainly add to this and will provide long-lasting benefits to the town.

"In no way should this be allowed to be a competition between Asda and Sainsbury's.

"There is compelling evidence the shoppers of Bognor welcome the return of Sainsbury's.

"However, there is even stronger evidence the residents of Bognor, Littlehampton, Arundel, Chichester, Worthing and beyond are wholeheartedly in support of the arrival of Asda.

"The rather weak opinion that Asda would have a detrimental effect on the town centre has been proved flawed by the well-established presence of Tesco, Lidl, B&Q, Matalan, Comet and many others in out of town locations.

"In fact, Chichester is an outstanding example of out-of-town retail co-existing with a very vibrant town centre.

"And a frequently-forgotten point is Bognor is twice the size of Chichester."

Out-of-town retailing could be carefully managed to benefit Bognor town centre, he stated after the chamber's executive committee meeting on Monday, December 1.

This could be achieved by allowing the central area to re-invent itself to provide unique services and retail opportunities alongside the existing range of national shops which still draw customers into the London Road precinct area. Asda has submitted a planning application to be decided by Arun District Council next month for a store off Oldlands Way, alongside the A29.

Sainsbury's wants to build an outlet on the former Lec site further south along the A29.

It will send in its planning application for the development by Christmas.

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