In a crowded meeting room in St Barnabas church on Wednesday evening, the residents of the Mill Road area launched a fierce campaign against proposals to build another branch of Sainsbury’s in the area.

On the wall of the meeting room, a banner read: ‘It may look like a battle over diversity and local character; underneath it’s a struggle for democracy.’

Objecting that there are already two Sainsbury’s branches within a short walking distance of Mill Road, residents are campaigning against a proposal to replace pool hall ‘Mickey Flynn’s’ with an ‘Express’ branch of the national store.

The campaign is being led by the Mill Road Society, who have already introduced the Millycard system, which aims to reward customers for shopping at local businesses. Around forty shops in the area are participating in the scheme.

Their objections arise out of a concern that the introduction of another branch will stifle the unique character of the area. Many of those present at the meeting emphasised Mill Road’s strength as an area of religious and ethnic diversity.

They are concerned that the arrival of a new branch of the national chain will inhibit the growth of this diversity, by posing a significant threat to local independent business.

Abdul Arain, owner of Mill’s Road Al-Amin store, confessed that the introduction of the branch would mean “quite a loss of income” for him. Earlier in the week, he announced his intentions to run for the role of Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, in protest against these plans.

Arain argued: ‘We live in this area. We reinvest our profits back into this area. The shareholders of Sainbury’s – they shop somewhere else.’

A conditional contract is currently in place between Mickey Flynn’s and Sainsbury’s that will only see the chain take control of the lease if they get planning permission from the councillors.

The Mill Road Society and its supporters will consequently be objecting to the planning applications when they come in, which is estimated to be within the next two weeks.

One of the main objections to the store, in planning terms, arises out of a concern about the area’s status as a traffic black spot.

The speakers estimated that the  area already has the third highest accident rate in the county. They argue that the regular presence of large lorries making twenty-eight deliveries as week to Sainsbury’s will only make this worse.

Attendance at the meeting was impressively high, and the Mill Road Society are proving themselves a force to be reckoned with. They have already produced a music video to promote their campaign, which can be viewed on Youtube.

Students have expressed ambivalence about whether this issue will affect them - a Management Studies student, who preferred not to be named, speculated to Varsity that, “Actually, students might be pleased about a new Sainsbury’s".

Read about Abdul Arain's campaign to become University Chancellor here.