HWA meeting with Sainsbury's Local

As we reported previously (see report here), when the council granted a liquor licence to the Hampton Wick branch of Sainsbury’s Local, they made it a condition that Sainsbury’s would send a representative to meet with the Hampton Wick Association, at our invitation, twice a year or more.

Since almost a year has passed since the store opened, we though it would be useful to canvas local opinions and to invite the local Sainsbury’s manager to discuss them with us. You can download a summary of the feedback we received from residents here: HWA Sainsburys Feedback local consultation Jan 2026. Below is the email we sent as a follow up to the meeting which took place last week.

From The Hampton Wick Association to the manager of Sainsbury’s Local, dated 19th January 2026:

Dear Jolton

It was good to meet you and George last week – thank you for your time.

I am attaching the summary of the feedback we received from local residents. This is the document that we discussed with you during the meeting.

We found the discussion to be helpful and informative. Below are the action points that I noted down. Since our meeting was instigated by the council’s Licensing Committee, we will also send these notes to them and to our local councillor for their information.

1. Deliveries
You are aware of the difficulties presented by having to receive deliveries on a relatively narrow road which is also a busy A-Road, being the primary access to Kingston Bridge, a major bus route and much used by ambulances, police etc. Any obstruction on this stretch of road causes great inconvenience at the very least.

We requested that you ask your logistics colleagues and suppliers to use smaller trucks and to coordinate the timing of deliveries so that only one truck is unloading at any time.

We also referred to the condition in your liquor licence that “Delivery drivers shall be given clear, written instructions to use their vehicles in a responsible manner so as not to cause a nuisance to any residents or generally outside the premises; not to leave engines running when the vehicles are parked; and not to obstruct the highway.” Although this may have happened in the past, it is clear that the message needs to be reinforced.

You told us that you require drivers to deliver only between 10am and 3pm, asking them to drive around the block if they arrive early. We do have a report that deliveries happen between 8am and 7pm, so it’s possible that some are slipping through. Please could you check?

2. Shoplifting
You explained that Hampton Wick is one of the most crime-free stores in the Sainsbury’s network, although the incident of someone jumping over the kiosk counter has led to the installation of a protective shield around it. You explained that Sainsbury’s policy, which your store follows, is to provide evidence to the police (eg. CCTV) to enable them to build a case against repeat offenders. The police are then able to justify using their resources to pick these people up. The safety of Sainsbury’s staff and customers is paramount.

We expressed the concern that shoplifting is not being addressed by staff or police, and that this is potentially attracting petty criminals to our High Street. You advised that the best thing is for people to report any incident they witness to a member of staff, so that it can be added to the body of evidence constantly being sifted and compiled for the police.

3. Out-of-hours waste collection
You explained that you had already identified this as a problem and you have spent a lot of time working with he the council and the waste collection drivers to ensure that they comply with the requirement to collect waste only after 8am. We will ask residents to inform you of any future incidents of earlier collections being attempted, recognising that you cannot be at the store 24/7.

The issues of dustcarts being driven dangerously or idling their engines will be taken up directly with the council.

4. Illuminated signage
We agreed that there should be a fairly simple fix to this set of problems: you will see in the feedback document the drawing sent in by a local resident on which he marks the reflective surface which may be causing some of the problem. Additionally / alternatively, the LEDs / lights could be adjusted so that they don’t shine straight out into the eyes of approaching pedestrians / motorists.

You also agreed that the signs should not be illuminated 24/7. We agreed that it would be reasonable for the lights to come on when you open and go off at dawn (or 30 minutes after) and come on again at dusk (or 30 minutes before) and go off when the store closes. This would reduce the lighting nuisance and save electricity/environment.

5. Litter, and graffiti
You have identified this issue and share our concerns, as it makes the store unattractive. You explained that a check / litter-pick is carried out first thing in the morning, and again later in the day when the duty manager shift changes.

There are several other topics covered in the attached document which we did not have time to discuss in our meeting. Please can you read through them and let us have any comments, particularly on the issue of the noisy unit (extraction/ heating/ refrigeration?) at the rear of the building.

We would like to review progress on this issue at a follow up meeting in six months’ time. We note that you will have moved on to a new role within Sainsbury’s by then, and we look forward to meeting your successor and to continuing to liaise with George.

Carol Dukes
The Hampton Wick Association