Ready for Battle

Thanks to Graham Murphy for this letter in the Herts Advertiser.

SIR, - Your story on Tesco saying that businesses support permitting their proposed store in London Road. St Albans (Herts Advertiser, March 22) demonstrates that the multinational is gearing up for its latest battle.

Tesco are very experienced in fighting - and beating - local opposition across the country. How can we expect a small district council to fight the might of a company making billions of pounds a year and with a planning budget to match its aspirations?

In the PR offensive, we have already seen retail consultants to a market dominated by Tesco, saying we need an extra store in St Albans. To quote Mandy Rice-Davies: "Well they would say that, wouldn't they"?

The fact is that we don't need another large supermarket. We are well served by companies representing all sectors of the food retail market. A large Tesco would offer nothing new or extra. What Tesco would give to St Albans is another monstrously-large building in the city centre. Have you ever seen an impressive Tesco or even one that blends in with its locality?

If you want to see urban retail sprawl, just go to Hatfield or Watford or indeed most other towns across the land. St Albans is unique but is in an ongoing fight against corporate greed reducing the city to just another small English town.

Tesco offers nothing positive. Many of the buildings they have bought they left to rot until, after the BBC highlighted their neglect, they were spruced up. I say a cynical ploy so people say "even a Tesco would look better than that".

What Tesco offers is a permanent scar on London Road. There must be better options than that such as housing. It will make a largely residential area into a bland urban traffic zone. But more importantly it will permanently destroy a gently-evolved city centre. If Tesco's proposals gets through then there will be little pride in our city centre and will start a downward spiral in our urban environment, and for what? We don't need their food or anything else they offer. We have plenty enough as it is thank you. Tesco offers more parking spaces but if, like me, you have a car then the distance to an existing supermarket is no excuse to build an extra one.

We don't need this Tesco. Nothing personal but it would start the ruin of our beautiful city. This is one battle that Tesco, even with its deep pockets, should not be allowed to win.

We can reassure him in two areas. The good news is that Tesco developments are being defeated around the country (see this blog for some great examples), and that we've exploded the idea that the local retail survey supports development of the Eversheds site.

As fellow letter writer Roma Mills suggests in her letter 'Homes Crisis', the most important need in St Albans is for housing and schools.