A PLANNED Sainsbury’s for Templars Retail Shopping Park in Cowley is expected to get permission to expand tonight.

The firm has permission for a 1,500sq m store, but wants to increase this to 2,500sq m.

Three new cafe/restaurants and four houses would also be built.

The store would be two miles from Sainsbury’s Heyford Hill branch, which recently reopened following a major extension.

The Templars store would go into unit 1, currently occupied by B&Q, which would leave.

Oxford City Council will be asked to decide on the issue tonight, with planning officers recommending approval.

Their report says: “The applications represent the latest in a series of proposals which reflect the changing character of the retail park.”

This has seen new traders set up, smaller units and extra facilities, it said.

The report adds: “The additional catering units forming part of this latest application would not harm the retail attractiveness of the retail park but would seek to complement it, while the additional residential accommodation represents a small but welcome addition to the housing stock locally.”

Andrew Sanderson, Sainsbury’s regional development executive, said: “We are excited at the prospect of returning to Cowley and providing a new, quality food shopping destination for the area.”

A public exhibition on the proposals was held at the retail park in July, and eight residents commented.

Concerns included the store’s closeness to properties, parking, traffic, access, noise, overdevelopment and fears it would not be in keeping with the area’s character.

But the reports says the general consensus was in favour.

Earlier planning permission allowed the unit to be split into four, but the new scheme would see two of those units amalgamated to form the Sainsbury’s store.

One retailer in Templars Square shopping centre, which is opposite the retail park, said he was “neutral” about the proposal.

The business owner, who did not wish to be named, said: “I believe in the free market.

“At the moment I don’t know how it’s going to affect us.”

As well as its Heyford Hill store, Sainsbury’s has smaller shops in Magdalen Street, The Plain, Cowley Road, and the Westgate Centre.

The supermarket giant previously had a store in Barns Road, which closed in 2000.

Details on job creation are not yet known.