Fears grow in Gerrards Cross over supermarket development

Waitrose had been on board to take the site, but pulled out at the last minute, saying that they no longer felt that running the shop would be financially viable.
However, permission was still granted by SBDC, so now residents are facing the prospect of having an entirely different supermarket built at the site, if one shows interest.
Frontier have said that they are still trying to resolve the issue with Waitrose and are still hoping to go ahead with them, but there is still a degree of uncertainty around the project.
Residents who live near to the site remain unhappy that permission was granted in the first place, and other villagers are concerned about the effect a new supermarket could have on the area, with Tesco currently being built and two other supermarkets already in the village.
Michael Smith, 40, who lives nearby, said: "It is a strange situation. If Waitrose are not interested in the site, then where does that leave it? We could be faced with any kind of supermarket or shop there, which may not be good for the village.
"I find it very strange that permission was given to build the shop if Waitrose pulled out at the last minute. You would think that if there is no business ready to run the site, then it would not be given planning permission.
"I am quite happy for a shop to go there, but I am concerned now that we don't know what it will be. I don't think planning permission should have been given without a concrete plan of who is going to run the site. It seems very odd."
An announcement about a client for the site is expected to come early next year.