Planning Permission for London Road houses

The Herts Advertiser reports that Tesco has finally asked for planning permission to do up the dilapidated houses on London Road. St Albans Councillor Chris Brazier himself makes the point that it is now three years since Tesco first promised to do something to the houses. We'd also like to put our skeptical hats on and point out that applying for planning permission doesn't mean that the houses will be put back into use tomorrow! Indeed, we would ask why Tesco needs planning permission for perfectly useable houses.

Still, every little helps, as the saying goes.

Local parents group suggests using Tesco site for a school - can you help?

We're in the middle of a very quiet phase of Stop Tesco activity. Since its application was rejected last year, Tesco has not come forward with any more ideas for using the former Eversheds site, although we are continuing to press them and St Albans District Council to act on the London Road houses.

However, many people did say during the campaign that a primary school would be an excellent use for the site, given the lack of them in the centre of the city. We thought that many of you might be interested in supporting SABLE - a local parents group that is lobbying hard on the primary schools issue and has a similar vision for the Tesco site. The group is currently raising awareness, looking for members and has started a petition aimed at Herts County Council.

You can find more about the group in this article in the Herts Advertiser. If you support the group you can sign up to their online petition here.

Letters of Sense?

Two letters in the Herts Advertiser this week seek to keep the Tesco debate open (the question does arise if it is possible to have a debate if Tesco isn't speaking though...)

Peter Milne returns to the problems of the London Road houses. His impressive chronology covers the past 3-and-a-half years and shows how little action has been taken by Tesco or St Albans District to solve the problem.

Simon Hepburn joins together a couple of stories to make the case for a school on the London Road site.

Another interesting article that local planners and followers of this site might be interested was posted on the BBC website today. A coalition of councils, unions and builders is pressing the Government to put up 100,000 affordable homes. Another perfect use for the site!


UPDATE: Peter Milne has written the letter below to Cllr Chris Brazier, in response to this article in the online Herts Advertiser. We'll let you know what he says...

Dear Chris,

I've just read the Herts Ad article in which you are quoted as saying

"I had a meeting with Tesco before Christmas and they stated they would tidy up the properties. They have put a caretaker in the site to stop people squatting. They told me that any new application would not include the houses in London Road."

He gave them a two-month deadline to submit an application to refurbish the properties and warned them that the council would use the Housing Act to force them into selling the properties for housing if they failed to do so. "

As the meeting was in September, five months later, I'm wondering what's happening. There seems to be no planning application from Tesco as they are reported to have promised, no EHMO - and most important, still no work on the houses.

There has been a long series of failed promises on this since 2005, as below. Is something actually going to happen soon?

Peter Milne

---------------------------------

Sept 16 2005 - The council says it is looking to use an amendment to the Housing Act which comes into force this autumn allowing it to manage [the London Road houses] with a view to providing accommodation for tenants on the housing register.

Jan 5th 2006 - A council spokesman said: "There are two areas we are exploring. Under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act we can make efforts to tidy up the appearance of the area..... Councillor Robert Donald has also written to Verulam Properties a subsidiary of Tesco which owns the properties to request that action is taken to improve their appearance."

Jun 19 2006 - Council leader Robert Donald has pledged to take action over the empty homes and shops in London Road if the stymied supermarket scheme does not progress this year.

Oct 15th 2007 - .... district council planning chief Chris Brazier .... is asking council officers to use the 2004 Housing Act to take over the properties temporarily.

Feb 19th 2008 - [Tesco] says it will renovate six of the homes it owns in May or June, and all should be occupied by tenants by the end of this year.

Aug 27th 2008 - Daniel Goodwin, the council's chief executive, says "The council wishes to see the houses in london Road let as soon as possible." and that they will consider using an Empty Dwelling Management Order "should insufficient steps have been taken".

Use Woolies for Tesco?

There were a number of interesting letters in the Herts Advertiser today. James Craigen's letter asks why not use the now-closed Woolworths for the supermarket that Tesco and St Albans District Council both claim is needed for St Albans?

We think this is an excellent idea - a new supermarket in the centre of the City would be highly accessible by public transport and would encourage people to make more trips into the City centre and so support other shops and the market in the downturn. Woolworths already sells food and has extensive delivery facilities, so shouldn't be too hard to adapt as a supermarket. It would be many times better for the environment and the economy than Tesco's current plans.

Perhaps the only problem with James' idea is that Tesco already has a Metro store nearby. But there are many other food retailers who should jump at the opportunity - or perhaps Tesco could just re-locate into the larger premises?

Thanks also to Eleanor Smith for setting the record straight in response to a letter from Harpenden resident Brian Turberville. As she points out, Stop Tesco does want to make positive changes to the former Eversheds site - and the organisation that is wholly responsible for the state of the site is Tesco.

Finally, Michael Weaver considers the retailing issues for St Albans and Harpenden and concludes that,

'A Tesco development down London Road is definitely not the answer and could be a disaster for The Maltings and St Peters Street. It is far too far from the city centre and leaves a large undeveloped gap between St Peters Street and Tesco's development. It would also present massive traffic problems. In any case it is a one-stop shop and away experience.'

Thanks to you all!

UPDATE: The BBC reports that Iceland has bought a number of Woolworth stores. While St Albans is not in this list, it seems to show that many Woolies stores do have futures as food shops.

Homelessness at Christmas

Season's Greeetings to you all!

The issue of homelessness is one that comes up regularly at Christmas. This BBC article reports a study by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors that shows over 760,000 houses are empty across the UK - while about 10% of that number of people are homeless or in temporary accommodation.

We know that Tesco's houses in London Road and Inkerman Road are contributing to this number of empty properties (and there may be a lot more in Tesco landbanks around the country, unfortunately). Remember Tesco promised in February to 'renovate six of the homes it owns in May or June, and all should be occupied by tenants by the end of this year.'

Obviously this has not happened.

You may ask how this fits with Tesco's pledge to 'be a good neighbour and run a business that is responsible, honest and fair'? Tesco must sort its act out quickly - and we need to keep urging St Albans District Council to make sure that it keeps its promises.

If you would like to help homeless people this Christmas, here's a link to Shelter's Christmas campaign!

Tesco Apologises for Three Year Delay (but not here!)

The Manchester Evening News has a story that should be a warning to anyone who thinks Tesco is really interested in communities! In the story Tesco's man in St Albans Nick Gellatly apologises for a massive delay in building a new GP surgery next to a new supermarket. The promised surgery was apparently a major factor in gaining local support for Tesco.

The medical practice manager is quoted as saying,

"The job was supposed to take only six months but not a spade has been lifted. We can't spend any money on improving the surgery, which is in an antiquated house, because we are waiting for the new building."

So, a couple of lessons here - Tesco shows again that it can't stick to timetables, and it also shows that we need to be very careful about any promised 'community' benefits that might be used to swing support behind a new supermarket!

Anne Main MP Makes A Statement

Our MP, Anne Main, issued the following statement today... we do like the phrase 'living under a Tesco cloud'!

“Whilst it is good news that Tesco has decided to rule out going down the potentially expensive route of appealing the Council’s decision on its plans, many of us had hoped that the refusal would mark the end of Tesco’s involvement in this location, and that other uses could now be considered for the former Eversheds site.

"I hope that the Council will refuse any new proposal which is not appropriate as an unsuitable development here could have damaging implications both in terms of its impact on the conservation area and on pollution in the vicinity. For years, St Albans has been blighted by this scruffy development site. This problem must be sorted.

"On a positive note, I welcome the news that some action will finally be taken to redevelop the properties owned by Tesco on London Road as these have been left empty for too long. A similar scheme for the properties in Inkerman Road needs to follow as residents there are living under a Tesco cloud which is very damaging.”

There's No Appeal, but Tesco Isn't Going Away!

Mixed news from the Herts Advertiser today. The paper has finally got an admission from Tesco's Nick Gellatly that Tesco will not be appealing against the council's rejection of its inital plans. This must come as a relief to councillors who will not be faced with funding an appeal. It presumably also reflects the fact that Tesco would find it very difficult to overturn such a comprehensive rejection.

However, we're not finished yet. Mr Gellatly then talks about 'initial proposals for a new scheme which is expected to be ready early in 2009', justifying his comments by claiming that there 'is a huge amount of support for a new supermarket close to the city centre'.

At this point we'd really urge Tesco not to waste its time and money going through the processes of 'consultation' exercises only to produce another unwanted plan - the people of St Albans made it quite clear last year that they don't want a supermarket on this site - they want housing and a school. If there is clear need for a supermarket, it is obvious that one should be built right in the City Centre, where it would be accessible by public transport and not drag people away from the centre.

Finally, Mr Gellatly tries to use recent changes in economic circumstances to try to justify his position, claiming that the store would be 'boost for the city in terms of new jobs'. We know this is getting a bit repetitive, but research shows that new supermarkets COST jobs (that's where Tesco's profits come from) and we know that these jobs would be lost from the City Centre retail area.

PS - our spellchecker keeps wanting to replace Gellatly with 'Flagellate' - then again, being a bit of a masochist could be seen as an essential quality for being Tesco's PR man in St Albans!

More Good News from Cambridge

Regular readers will recall that Tesco has been facing a massive amount of opposition to plans to open a store in Mill Road Cambridge. We've had another update from Ruth of the No Mill Road Tesco campaign with some excellent news. She writes...

'We thought you'd like to know that the planning inspector has dismissed Tesco's appeal against Cambridge council's refusal of an extension and plant back in March. He has dismissed it on the grounds that "both of the realistically available servicing options would pose unacceptable risks to highway safety".

This is excellent news because it means that even if Tesco go ahead with their next appeal, against another refusal (for plant only) in July, they will still have this same problem. We don't want to get carried away, but it's hard to see how Tesco can now open a store on this site. Even the local paper's editorial today described Tesco's attempt to open up on Mill Road as "doomed". So, there are lots of happy people in Cambridge today!'

Congratulations from us all!

Tesco Appeals in Hertfordshire (in Hertford not St Albans!)

The Hertfordshire Mercury reports that Tesco is appealing to the Planning Inspectorate over its plans to double its store in Hertford. Our new friend Nick Gellatly is quoted - regular readers of this blog can probably already imagine the spin he's putting on a very unpopular plan!

(PS Nick - any plans for St Albans? You've only a month or so to appeal here.)

Devon Knows Why Tesco Has Been Rejected Again...

Another blow to Tesco! Devon24 reports that Tesco has been refused permission to extend a store in Exmouth. One of the reasons apparently was the 'potential to damage the town centre'.

(PS - the article once again repeats Tesco's claim that a new supermarket creates jobs. We've pointed out many times that research shows that hiring people to work in a supermarket does not do this - it displaces existing jobs and ends up reducing local employment. Just think about it - if Tesco were right, we could solve UK unemployment tomorrow just by building 10,000 new supermarkets and there would be no need for schools, universities and so on!)

Bridlington Says No To Tesco To Save Shops

This article from the Bridlington Free Press reports yet another case where the likely damage to local business has led a council to reject a Tesco store. It reports a local shopkeeper as saying,

"If Tesco had come in, it would have led to job losses and shops closing. In some way it would have affected not just us, but the greengrocers, the bakers, the newsagents".

Exactly what we fear in St Albans!

PS - it's nearly 4 months since the Tesco application was rejected - what is Tesco up to????

Tesco, Squatters and More Spin...

In an article in today's St Albans Review, Tesco admits that its London Road houses are being lived in by squatters - and then tries to squirm out of the problem.

Rather than a comment from Nick Gellatly (gone already?), Tesco wheel out spin-doctor Eben Black, Head of Media (Global Government Relations) (wow!) at consultants DLA Piper to try to solve the problem. Eben tells the newspaper that Tesco cannot do anything without planning permission.

Hang on a minute! Didn't Tesco say in February that 'it will renovate six of the homes it owns in May or June, and all should be occupied by tenants by the end of this year.' No mention of it needing planning permission then.

Councillor Robert Donald also picked up on this - and is pressing ahead with an Empty Dwelling Management Order. Tesco really isn't helping the local area, is it?

Kissman Lives - in Harrogate

For those who wondered what had happened to Tesco's Michael Kissman (replaced by Nick Gellatly in St Albans!), we've found this article in the Harrogate Advertiser. Before clicking on the link, we feel you need to be aware that you might experience a massive feeling of deja vue.

Having recieved negative feedback on Tesco's first proposal, Mr Kissman is now putting forwards a new proposal for a '25 per cent smaller store' with a 'raft of improvements to the store's environmental credentials'. The new store will 'create over 360 jobs for local people' and '[clear] up an eyesore'.

Sounds very similar to St Albans, doesn't it - and we do hope that Mr Kissman doesn't resort to recycling press releases again to save time.

(PS - for the benefit of those in Harrogate, our response to the claims was:

• Smaller store - still too big, and with the option to expand it still there.
  
• Environmental improvements - tokenism, with no real attempt to solve real environmental issues. For example Tesco suggested a very short bike lane that petered out 100 metres from the store while promoting more car use by suggesting a store away from public transport with a 476 place car park!
  
• Jobs for local people - supermarkets of course don't create jobs - they cost hundreds of local retail jobs and suck money from the local economy to Tesco Head Office.
  
• Solving an eyesore - one that Tesco created of course...)
  

Hertford says No as well

It's not proving a good month for Tesco's planners. Following their knock-back in Sheringham and the recent spat with St Albans District Council, the supermarket giant's plans for Hertford have been rejected.

You may remember that Tesco's plan was to knock down an existing store and build one twice the size - something that we were worried about Tesco doing in St Albans given the size of car park it proposed!

However, as the Hertfordshire Mercury reports, East Herts Council's development control committee has unanimously rejected the proposal following thousands 0f objections from local people.

More from Nick... this time it's Inkerman Road that isn't being regenerated

Further to the post below about the London Road properties, we've come into possession of a letter from Nick Gellatly (the 'new Michael Kissman' - see below) to local MP and Stop Tesco supporter Ann Main about the Inkerman Road properties. There is of course no news - the properties here will also stay empty despite local demand while Tesco spend more time working out what to do next. Again, we have to wonder at why a huge company had no plan for dealing with the rejection of its deeply unpopular planning application, and consider the costs that Tesco's landbanking is adding to our shopping bills.

The letter does also give Nick's address, so if you would like to ask him any questions directly, please write to him at Tesco Stores Ltd, Tesco House, Delamare Road, Cheshunt, Herts, EN8 9SL.

Dear Mrs Main,

I am writing in response to your recent letter regarding the properties on London Road, St Albans that are currently owned by Tesco.

Further to this letter, we will meet with council officers this week to discuss a new standalone planning application for the London Road properties. Following this meeting, well work to submit a planning application for these properties as soon as we can.

With regard to the properties on Inkerman Road, these properties have been vacant for a considerable length of time since they were to be demolished as part of the larger scheme. Since we are currently considering our options following the Council's decision to reject the larger scheme, I'm not able to provide further information on these properties at this stage. However, t will inform you as soon as Tesco is in a position to outline its intentions for the site.

Once again, many thanks for your continued interest and please don't hesitate to get in touch should you require any further information.

Yours sincerely,

Nick Gellatly

Corporate Affairs Manager

In Which St Albans Council Gets A Bit Annoyed with Tesco....

We've had a press release passed on to us by local councillor Michael Green (thanks, Michael!) concerning the latest meeting between Tesco and St Albans Council over the London Road houses.

As well as the discussion over the houses (which we'll get to soon), it appears that Tesco's Michael Kissman will no longer be dealing with St Albans. Unfortunately, the press release doesn't give much hope that his replacement Nick Gellatly will be any more receptive to the people of St Albans (Nick - if you read this and want to change our minds or talk to us, please email us at tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk).

Back to the discussion about housing - there's a bit of guff at the top about the current situation, but we can see the real opinion of the council in this quote from Cllr Robert Donald,

"[Tesco] had indicated that they expected that two properties would be let by the end of August 2008 with four more becoming available by the end of this year. This will not now be the case. I regarded the reasons given for this not happening as both disappointing and unsatisfactory. I made it clear that as a result Council officers would urgently need to consider again using their Empty Dwelling Management Order powers to ensure real progress is rapidly made. I have now formally asked that Council officers start using these powers.'

Tesco's defence appears to be that the properties were part of its bigger development, and that because the council rightly failed to pass the ridiculous plan should not expect Tesco to do anything else to the houses. This argument appears very weak. Firstly Tesco should have foreseen the strong possibility of the rejection of the planning application and secondly, it has had almost 3 months since the planning meeting to do something to the houses or at least put in a planning application (avid viewers of TV shows such as 'Property Ladder' will have seen lots of houses restored in far less time..).

So, another example of why we can't trust what Tesco says, another unreasonable delay in moving the area forward - and, with several hundred people homeless in St Albans and many more looking for affordable accomodation, another example of how Tesco's landbanking and failure to respect local people's wishes is damaging St Albans.

The full press release is below...

Press Release: St Albans City and District Council met with Tesco

St Albans City and District Council met with Tesco on 11th September to discuss the properties in London Road which form part of the proposed Tesco development site.

Tesco has told the District Council that they will submit a separate planning application to improve the vacant properties.

The Council acknowledged the work that Tesco has already undertaken to clear rubbish from the site and keep the properties secure and gardens tidy. Tesco also worked with Oaklands College to provide art on the windows of the properties to make them attractive, rather than boarding them up. At the meeting Tesco agreed to freshen up some paintwork and talk to Oaklands College about the possible provision of additional murals.

Cllr Robert Donald, Leader, commented: “I am very concerned at the continued vacancy of the properties on this site. At the meeting on 11th September I conveyed my understanding from our discussions earlier this year that Tesco would carry out refurbishment of their vacant existing properties in London Road so that they could be let as soon as possible. They had indicated that they expected that two properties would be let by the end of August 2008 with four more becoming available by the end of this year. This will not now be the case. I regarded the reasons given for this not happening as both disappointing and unsatisfactory. I made it clear that as a result Council officers would urgently need to consider again using their Empty Dwelling Management Order powers to ensure real progress is rapidly made. I have now formally asked that Council officers start using these powers.

Not only do we need to make this accommodation available for those in housing need in the district as soon as possible, rather than possibly in 18 months time, but residents and visitors alike deserve to have this important gateway into the City tidied up now.”

Nick Gellatly, Tesco Corporate Affairs Manager commented: “These properties had originally been ear-marked for demolition but following consultations we agreed to retain and refurbish them as part of the store development. The required planning permission for this work was part of the overall store application and was rejected by the council along with the store itself on June 30. However, we will now be submitting a stand-alone planning application to bring these buildings back into residential use."

Since St Albans City and District Council rejected the planning application from Tesco at the end of June 2008, the site has remained vacant and the properties empty. The application was for a 6,430 sq ms superstore with café including 7 shop units, 477 car parking spaces and the change of use of six commercial premises for residential purposes.

Another meeting will take place in October to review progress.


Note to Editors:
An Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) is an Order that once approved gives the Council the right to possession of the property without affecting the owner’s rights of ownership. Once an EDMO has been made, the Council is entitled to possession of the property and to manage it. This initially involves working with the landlord to agree a way of getting the property back into use.


UPDATE: The story has now been covered by the St Albans & Harpenden Review here.

Tesco Defeated in Sheringham

News has reached us that Tesco has lost a major planing battle in Sheringham, Norfolk. One of our supporters who is from Norfolk and knows the story well told us 'there are some similarities to St Albans in terms of the effect on the city'. Here's the way the local paper reported the story.

And here's the best bit from the article...

Nigel Dowdney, independent store owner in Stalham and Earlham and a member of the Association of Convenience Stores, said concerns about damage to competition were often discussed but not given enough weight by the government.

He said: "There is a feeling the government is changing the goalposts slowly but surely and this decision is a major step forward for communities and a major setback for Tesco.

"The planning inspectorate is finally beginning to stop, listen and look at the evidence.

"It is a proven fact, the building of a supermarket has a detrimental effect on all sorts of local businesses, not just food stores."

News From Cambridge

Ruth from the 'No To Mill Road Tesco' campaign writes to let us know that they have won another round of their campaign to stop Tesco opening up another store in Cambridge. Find out more about their work here.

Tesco Split London Road Houses from Main Application

The Herts Advertiser reports that St Albans District Council has now received a letter from Tesco..... unfortunately it doesn't say that Tesco is withdrawing its application, but it does claim that it is prepared to split the issue of the derelict London Road houses from the main application.

This is a good first step towards the refurbishment of these houses - but it should be noted that Tesco has promised great things in the past - such as 'renovating all the houses in May or June' as Pete Milne pointed out a couple of posts ago. Plus it would be very difficult to justify leaving the houses to get worse for months while Tesco has a think about its next steps!

We'll keep watching, of course, and hope that Cllr Brazier is equally vigilant...