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A SUPERMARKET in an Oxford neighbourhood has been sold off, and could be bulldozed to make room for flats.
The Co-operative in Headington has been sold by its owners, and could soon be replaced by a new building with a shop on the ground floor and flats on the second floor above it.
A sales brochure for the building on London Road said Midcounties Co-operative, which runs the current store, would ‘require an option’ to move back into the ground floor once a new building is finished.
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The company has confirmed it plans to move back into the building, and said it would not operate from a temporary location while construction takes place.
The supermarket is also home to Headington’s Post Office, but it is not clear what would happen to this service while building work takes place.
A Midcounties Co-op spokesman said: “Following a strategic review of our business we have identified a small number of our food stores which, in their current format, do not fit the long-term strategy of the Society.
“This includes our store at Headington. As a result of the review, we have been looking at options to redevelop the store by finding a developer to acquire the site for that purpose.
“We can now confirm that the site has been sold to developers who are seeking planning permission to build a unit with shops on the ground floor and residential flats above. ”
Planning applications can take time, and no documents to demolish the building to make way for the proposed new store and flats has yet been lodged on the Oxford City Council website.
The spokesman added: “The whole process will take some time to come to fruition, so in the meantime, our Headington store will continue to trade as normal.”
The building has been home to the Headington Post Office since 2016, when the service moved out of its building further along London Road.
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It is unclear what will happen to the Post Office if the supermarket is demolished.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are aware that the site has been sold to developers who are seeking planning permission to build a unit with shops on the ground floor and residential flats above.
“This is at a very early stage and the Midcounties Co-op store and Headington Post Office remain open as usual.”
