Within 20 years, a sweeping stretch of riverside running from Hurlingham Park in the west to Chelsea Harbour in the east could be transformed into a vibrant and bustling new residential district.

That is the vision laid out by Hammersmith and Fulham Council in a document last week (15), calling on developers to unite in transforming the industrial land of Sands End into more than 2,200 new homes, many of them affordable.

But just as the council's local development framework is in the process of being rubber-stamped, a giant obstacle has appeared which some believe could thwart the ambitions contained within it – supermarket giant Sainsbury's, with its own grand plans for the riverside.

If the council's hopes are to be realised it will require the cooperation of the superstore chain, which owns a vast swathe of derelict industrial land south of Townmead Road on which it hopes to build a 100,000 square foot store, surrounded by nearly 500 houses and flats in blocks up to 16 storeys high.

Details of the scheme were revealed in a planning application submitted in July, which critics fear will have to be decided before the council's new policy – which states that 'no additional major stores should be constructed' along the riverside – can be brought into force.

Local opponents of the Sainsbury's scheme claim the plans are being rushed through and do not offer enough to the community, and are now trying to muster opposition from fellow residents.

Anthony Jelley, 40 of Broomhouse Dock Residents Association, said: "The council wants to do something really good here, but I don't know whether they'll be able to stand up to the power of the supermarket.

"It's one of the few large areas in central London that you can really do something with, and it's got such potential to be a really nice area for everybody in the borough, not just a few people living in skyscrapers next to the river."

Much of the planned store would be created on the derelict Fulham Wharf warehouse site, the Kop's Brewery of the late 19 th century. Its historic facade would be kept and restored, with new houses built to echo the design of its distinctive jagged roof along Townmead Road.

A second phase would see the demolition of the existing 65,000 sq ft Sainsbury's store immediately to the east, which dates from 1989 and is already one of the largest in west London. More housing would then be built on the site of the old supermarket and its car park.

A document detailing the project by architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, which won the contract in a design competition, said: "The current state of Fulham Wharf has a positively detrimental impact on the character of the area – it presents an image of neglect, playing host to all manner of undesirable activities, vandalism and squatting."

The firm said the development will provide 'exemplary housing with generous open green space', with new buildings that rise in height towards the river and create a 'vibrant new piece of city'.

Some 472 homes would be built overall, 289 of which would be private flats or maisonettes with one or two bedrooms, with another 64 three-bedroom properties and 23 houses with four or more bedrooms.

An extra 37 homes would be set aside for social rent and 59 more for shared ownership, far less than the 40 per cent affordable housing called for in the council strategy.

Commercial property surveyor Ben Perl, 38, who lives in the Townmead Estate opposite the site, said: "People think that at least this eyesore of Fulham Wharf will be replaced, but they don't realise it it will just be replaced with a newer eyesore. What they've done is frighten people into thinking that it's this or dereliction – all or nothing.

"Sainsbury's are not relying on the local community for a store this size, so they don't need to make an effort to make it nice or feel a responsibility to the neighbourhood."

The Sainsbury's scheme includes room for new restaurants, cafés and bars in a square overlooking the Thames, a 695-space car park beneath the new store and community facilities such as a creche, training centre and gym.

The riverside walk would be partly extended, and the developers would create a private landscaped area on the roof of the supermarket and transform a disused jetty into an ecological site.

Whether the plans should go ahead will be decided at a planning meeting later this year – and whether they can be reconciled with the council's own vision remains to be seen.

The Chronicle contacted Sainsbury's about the scheme but no-one was available for comment.