Locals Say No In Liverpool

Tesco has failed to please the local council in Maghull, north Liverpool, according to the local Champion newspaper. Tesco withdrew an application, tried to address some traffic issues, but still faces a recommendation for refusal.

Interesting Questions, Interesting Answers

The St Albans Review ran the first of its interview questions with Tesco this week - you can find the full article here.

The points we'd like to make in response are....

1) Please Tesco, don't claim that London Road retailers 'think the store will be a boost to the road' - we've asked them all and 77% don't want your store.

2) If you are 'well aware of the local pressure on housing' why are there so few houses in your proposal?

3) Please (again!) don't use the GL Hearn report to justify your location - as we've said many times before, it suggests a retail store closer to the centre.

4) How will building a second Tesco store increase choice for shoppers? - they can already go to Tesco!

5) Local people will be very unhappy about your lack of recycling plans - have you not seen how highly the environment is regarded in St Albans?

We'll look into the mysterious 'Vincent and Gorbing report' and continue to watch for future comments...

No Consultation And No Maths - Cuffley Shows Tesco In True Colours

More coverage today of the excellent Cuffley referendum in the Welwyn & Hatfield Times, with further comments from Tesco. Faced with an overwhelming 'No' (2,428 votes to 486), the supermarket giant comes up with two angles, their spokesman claiming that,

"Ultimately it is the customers who will vote on the store when it opens" - which seems to put paid to any thought that the supermarket values local consultation and feedback, a point which we will bring up with Michael Kissman next week,

and,

The result of the referendum is a bit misleading as only 64 per cent of the ballot papers were returned."

Now, anyone with a basic knowledge of maths can work out that the total number of ballot papers was 4,553 and so a genuine 53% of local people were motivated to oppose the store and only 11% to support it - an amazing turnout considering that most local elections in the UK get perhaps 30% of people to vote. Using Tesco-logic most of the MPs in the UK and the Labour party itself do not hold mandates to govern!

We can only hope that the spokesman is not redeployed to man a till in a Tesco store - he'd probably argue a '10% off' sticker isn't worth taking off the price...

Meeting with Tesco Coming Up Soon

We've arranged to meet with Tesco on 3rd July to put your points to Michael Kissman and his colleagues. Please use the link here to let us know what you would like us to ask. We'll give a full update as soon as we can after the meeting.

Cuffley Referendum Produces Decisive 'No'

The residents of Cuffley have scored a powerful blow against Tesco's plans for a store in their village - their referendum found 2,428 residents against the plans and only 486 in favour, according to the BBC. Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy lives in the village, so hopefully he has seen at close range how local feeling is against his company.

A Tesco spokesperson then missed the point entirely by saying,

"We have taken on board everybody's views about what that shop should look like. Our intention is to open up in the autumn and ultimately what will decide whether we are successful in our aim is whether people shop there."

The fact is, Tesco, that they don't want you at all! How can anyone now take seriously the company's promise to consult with local people anywhere?

More Reasons Not to Shop At... Tesco

Two more letters in the Herts Advertiser today against Tesco - thanks to P H Field and Marie Collins.

Marie's letter focuses on the importance of saving the market and traffic levels. She writes,

"The building of a large Tesco store will destroy the very things that add to St Albans character"

P H Field's article gives two reasons why he has decided against the Tesco plans. One was,

"I never received a reply from Tesco's Mr Michael Kissman to confirm the existing city-centre Tesco Metro would stay."

This is very interesting, as Tesco has previously said this, historic, store would stay.

Big 5,000 Reached

We're now able to happily declare that over 5,000 people have signed our petition against the Tesco proposal. We've been amazed by the support we've found from local businesses hosting petitions and from the residents of St Albans.

We set out initially to get 3,000 signatures - which was sufficient to make Tesco think again and withdraw their planning application in Tolworth, London - hopefully with 5,000 here, Tesco will have to take even more notice!

We'd be very happy to receive more signatures, either on paper or electronically - please use the links on the top right of the blog to find out how you can do this.

'I Am Completely Against Tesco'

Many thanks to Maggie Little for her letter to the St Albans Review today. She writes, in a letter addressed at Tesco's Michael Kissman,

"In your letter to the St Albans Review which was published on June 6, you say you are consulting local people in respect of the proposals for a new Tesco store in St Albans"

"...I would like to provide you with my feedback. I am completely against the proposed new Tesco store in St Albans. I know many people in the town and everyone I have spoken to about the matter agrees. The extra traffic would spell disaster for the town's character and it will likely put many of our (already struggling) town centre shops out of business."

Many thanks for your opinion, Maggie. A reminder that if you'd like to email a letter to a local paper the Review is revieweditor@london.newsquest.co.uk and the Herts Advertiser is herts.advertiser@archant.co.uk.

St Albans Tesco in Parliament

Sorry for the delay on this, but the land-banking activities of Tesco in St Albans were raised by our MP Anne Main (pictured) in Parliament on 7th June. Speaking about the possibility of businesses facing paying rates on empty property, she said,

"Tesco in my constituency can afford to buy up smaller businesses and keep them waiting while it gets a land bank together. A smaller business would be forced to do something somewhat more quickly, with this extra burden".

Find out more here. Many thanks for this!

Victorian Buildings Block Tesco Plans

Good news! The Waltham Forest Guardian reports that Tesco has been refused permission for a new store by Communities and Local Government Secretary of State Ruth Kelly and the planning inspector of a recent public inquiry. The paper reports that,

"Ms Kelly and the inspector argued the store would be out of keeping with the Victorian or Edwardian buildings in Highams Park and the proposed store would be too big".

Great news for local opposition, and hopefully another good precedent for St Albans - given Tesco's plans to remove our local Victorian and Edwardian buildings!

London Road Retailers - What Do They Think of Tesco?

Earlier this week, we published a letter sent by Peter Milne to Tesco. He has since exchanged three further emails with Michael Kissman (printed below). For reasons of space, we'd like to pick up on one paragraph where Mr Kissman says,

"I have spoken to many local businesses, particular (sic) some of those located near London Road, and I would have to disagree with your statement that a large majority of St Albans businesses are opposed to the development. Of the businesses we have contacted most saw the benefits of regeneration to the area we are proposing."

We thought in the interests of fairness that we should re-examine our local retailer survey - perhaps London Road retailers were in favour of the development but others were not. To be honest, they were slightly more in favour than other parts of the city - in that 77% were against Tesco (compared to 83% across the city), 14% in favour and 9% undecided.

We would also be very interested to find out which businesses Mr Kissman is referring to, and if any of them might be those looking forward to tendering for business from the new development (such as recruitment agencies or builders) rather than fearing the loss of their livelihood (such as newsagents or florists)!

1. Reply from Michael Kissman:

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your email. I am sorry for the technical difficulties with the website. It was temporarily out of order, but should be fixed by now. I can assure you the fault did not discriminate against those putting 'no' in the box, it didn't work for the 'yes' box either!

We have consulted many local people and organisations over recent weeks. In January we held a public exhibition in the Town Hall to share our proposals and receive feedback. This event was advertised in the local newspapers (and also widely reported) and also promoted by thousands of leaflets distributed locally. I am sorry if you could not make this event, but the website www.tescostalbans.co.uk contains most of our ideas for the site.

We have yet to submit a formal planning application so there are still some details to finalise but we felt it best to consult at an early stage. Once the application is submitted all the detail will of course be a matter of public record. In the mean time anyone is welcome to view the website or contact me directly.

Regards,
Michael

Michael Kissman
Tesco Corporate Affairs Manager


2. Reply from Peter Milne:

Dear Mr Kissman,

Your public exhibition was ludicrous for such a large scheme - only open for a very short time outside working hours. I certainly had no chance to see and comment and nor did most people.

The leaflets & web site give a brief impression of your plans but mainly highlight the traffic problem the development will cause and the willful destruction of the street I chose to live in.

You claim to welcome people contacting you as part of the consultation but you make no response to any of the concerns expressed in my email. I hope your consultation involves listening and reacting to peoples concerns and not just providing a black hole for their comments!

I trust you have seriously noted that a large majority of St Albans businesses are opposed to a supermarket on this site and that and over 5% of St Albans residents have (so far) signed the petition against it.

Regards

Peter Milne


3. Reply from Michael Kissman:

Dear Peter,

We purposely scheduled the public exhibition so that one of the days was on a Saturday and we also opened into the evening during the week to maximise the opportunity to attend. In addition we have also been open to meeting people after the event - something I have personally done with many individuals and groups since January.

Of course, once the application is finalised and submitted to the council all our planning documents will be a matter of public record. There will then be the usual statutory consultation period with the council. These measures will ensure everyone gets ample time to see our proposals.

I have spoken to many local businesses, particular some of the those located near London Road, and I would have to disagree with your statement that a large majority of St Albans businesses are opposed to the development. Of the businesses we have contacted most saw the benefits of regeneration to the area we are proposing.

I am sorry if I wasn't clear in my original email. I have ensured that your comments have been shared with the team and we will consider them as we finalise our plans.

Regards,
Michael

'Private Eye' Makes A Good Point

We're delighted that Private Eye Magazine has given us kind permission to reproduce the cartoon above. Please visit their website and click on any adverts you see...

St Albans Review to Ask Tesco Questions

The St Albans Review is setting up an interview with Tesco's Michael Kissman and wants local people to ask him questions. They ask,

"If you have a question to ask email them to revieweditor@london.newsquest.co.uk and we will pass them on. Please mark all emails Tesco questions and get them to us as early as possible to make sure your views are heard and your questions answered."

Full details here. We'll of course scrutinise any answers given.

Tesco and the Community

Convenience Store magazine reports that Tesco has told 2,500 of it's local managers and staff to spend one day working in the community in the next year. Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco's head honcho, said,

"I believe that business must operate in ways that nurture and sustain community activity and enterprise. Engaging with communities must be central to the way that businesses operate."

Leaving aside the way that Tesco has failed to engage with the community in St Albans, and the irony of making people volunteer to help the community we'll let Nigel Dowdney, who owns a store near Downham Market, Norfolk, give his reply. He told Convenience Store that after a Tesco opened locally,

"The detrimental effect that Tesco had on the town centre was apparent immediately.Within weeks of Tesco opening, the local Co-op closed and then a variety of food and non-food shops started to disappear, many of which had operated in the town for decades.

"I no longer believe Tesco's corporate statements and would say it's safer not to."

We'll let you make your own minds up about the last quote!

Tesco To Bulldoze Market

Not in St Albans, but 27 traders in Gateshead are to lose their livings as a Tesco development removes an indoor market to make way for a 'shopping and leisure complex', according to the Newcastle Journal.

Just a reminder that Tesco's St Albans proposal site claims,

'our developments have helped to boost business for local traders in over 100 market towns'.

Compare that to the Gateshead trader who told the Journal,

"Tesco are a law unto themselves. Four or five years ago, the plans included a market and I was offered a place. But now they've made no calculation for anybody but themselves."

More Letters Making the Point That The Council Report Does Not Support Tesco Plans

Sorry for the long titles - it's not that we've lost the ability to write shorter, pithy ones, but we just want to make the point really clear - Tesco cannot claim that its planned store is the one suggested in the city council retail report, or that the store will help boost city centre visitor numbers.

The Herts Advertiser today has four letters making the same point in reply to Michael Kissman's comments last week - thanks to Simon Grover of the Green Party, Ian Langford, Chris Adkins and Simon Hepburn.

Is that enough, Tesco?

Retail Report Does Not Support Tesco Plans (How Many Times Do We Need To Say This?)

Many thanks to Peter Trevelyan, new Chair of the St Albans Civic Society, and local resident and Stop Tesco veteran Chris Adkins. They both wrote letters to the St Albans & Harpenden Review protesting at Tesco's claim in the paper last week that the city council's recent retail report (great alliteration!) supports its plans.

Peter writes,

"...the council's retail and leisure study did indeed identify a qualitative need for a large foodstore within or immediately adjacent to St Albans city centre. However, no suitable site was found either within the city centre or on the edge of centre.

"[The study] argued that identifying another out-of-centre supermarket location within the urban area of St Albans [such as the Eversheds site] would not adequately address this deficiency and would not have any clear sustainability benefits."

Chris adds,

"The Eversheds site may be within the city boundary, but it is not in the city centre and cannot be connected to it... driving to the Eversheds site (and then home to to unpack chilled and frozen food) will not increase the attraction of the city centre, but is more likely to draw people from it".

Please, Tesco, will you concede that this report does not justify your store!

A Letter to Tesco

Peter Milne copies us in on this letter he sent to Tesco after discovering his online views were not accepted...

Dear Mr Kissman,

As your tescostalbans web site is refusing to accept comment from anyone selecting 'no' to a supermarket in St Albans I'll have to respond to some of your recent comments by email.

"We are consulting local people and reviewing our proposals following the many comments we've received..."

Well, you haven't consulted me, even though you seem to be proposing to destroy a fine row of listed houses to build a wall of flats opposite my house and my neighbours' that will destroy our view of the city skyline and ruin an interesting Victorian street.

"...We've not heard from everyone - some have refused our offer to view the proposals and comment despite campaigning against them".

I'd be delighted to see the detailed proposals and comment on them - but you haven't chosen to share any details with us.

"Stop Tesco is not interested in what is best for St Albans but only in blocking Tesco."

Stop Tesco is against the proposed development, not against Tesco. If Waitrose were proposing it, we would be 'Stop Waitrose'.

The campaign is very much about what is best for St Albans as we have no other vested interest. You are in no position to tell us what is 'best for St Albans'.

I've lived in St Albans for 30 years and think I have some idea what we need. How long have you lived here? While there has always been some public demand for a city-centre supermarket (and a department store), the three supermarkets that have been genuinely in the centre have all failed for lack of trade (Cater, Presto, Gateway). Your proposal is even more doomed to fail as it is not in the city centre (whatever you may think) and would be much harder to access by car than your competitors. You cannot possibly believe that enough people will try to drive through or into St Albans to reach this site, when they have the choice of far more car-accessible supermarkets in the area, including a very accessible Tesco at Hatfield.

The London Rd / Alma Rd area would benefit greatly from a Tesco Metro store, which would be accessible on foot by several thousand people but the main need for the site, as the District Plan says, is for housing and a primary school. I am sure you are aware that planning permission has previously been granted for that and sincerely hope that you will consider this option for the site rather than damaging the area and the city with an utterly unsuitable supermarket development.

Thanks for doing this!

Fight Club-card

The Worcester News reports that local Tesco stores are being investigated following reports of;

"a bizarre food-fight ritual in which staff are locked in a metal cage and pelted with eggs, flour and sugar on their last day at work".

Apparently a national newspaper (unnamed) has claimed that this happens across the country. Perhaps this is one way for Tesco to keep staff turnover down!

Loyalty Cards and Local Stores

A reader emails to let us know of an article in the Daily Telegraph about how supermarkets can use information from loyalty cards to plan where to build a new store. Stores use the information to find areas that have customers but no big supermarket. The article quotes MP John Denham as saying,

"I may want to shop at a supermarket but I may also want to keep my local district shopping centre. But it's not being explained to people that this information could be used to put the local shopping centre out of business."

So, be careful with your Clubcard!

And please email us with any more news you see!

'Hygiene horror at Tesco's huge flagship store'

We'll just leave this to icBerkshire, which also came up with the great headline! It reports that

"Tesco's flagship Reading store was given a rock-bottom zero rating when health inspectors swooped to uncover a catalogue of hygiene horrors - including a "filthy" bakery. The Napier Road 'Extra' store was also condemned for selling bacon nine days past its use-by date."

This comes less than three weeks after similar findings on the BBC's 'Whistleblower' programme. Please, Tesco, throw away old food - every little doesn't matter when it's nine day old bacon.

More From Mr Kissman

Two readers emailed us today to say that the tescostalbans.co.uk website seems unable to accept their views on Tesco (they admit they were a bit negative!). If this is a problem, we suggest emailing Michael Kissman at Tesco directly on michael.kissman@uk.tesco.com and copying your email to us at tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk.

If Mr Kissman or anyone from Tesco reads this, perhaps this is why you've not received enough feedback?

We're also aware of a truly breathtaking piece of arrogance from Mr Kissman in the Herts Advertiser today. We're obviously hitting a nerve somewhere as he accuses Stop Tesco of being 'not interested in what is the best for St Albans'.

If he seriously rates access to yet another supermarket as being better for the City than more primary school places, social and family housing, saving the 1,000 year old market and 250+ local retail jobs, stopping congestion and pollution and saving locally listed buildings then he needs to think again. If he thinks that the 4,750 people who signed our petition don't reflect the people of St Albans, will he please find some people in favour of the store to say so?

Mr Kissman Wants Your Feedback

A letter from Michael Kissman arrives in the St Albans & Harpenden Review today. In the letter he says,

"We are consulting local people and reviewing our proposals following the many comments we've received..."

(sounds good, but then...)

"...We've not heard from everyone - some have refused our offer to view the proposals and comment despite campaigning against them".

This repeats the allegation made by Sandra Oldfield of the Chamber of Commerce that somehow anti-Tesco campaigners are guilty of not engaging with Tesco when Tesco has been invisible for six months! However, we don't want to disappoint Mr Kissman, so please use this link to look at Tesco's proposals and tell him your views if you haven't already (you might want to remind him that well over 4,500 people and 83% of local businesses oppose the plans).

Interestingly, Mr Kissman assumes in the letter that people who see Tesco's plans might be more favourably inclined that those who have not. Our experience is precisely the opposite - it's only when they see Tesco's mock up design that some people really become annoyed by the proposal!

Thanks also to Denis Owen for his letter putting Sandra Oldfield of the Chamber of Commerce straight as to why talking with Tesco might not actually be the best thing for St Albans. As he puts it,

"It is very unlikely that Tesco would be inclined to say 'Oh well, we see your point and we've decided to sell the site and go away'".

Yet Another Unwanted Tesco in Herts?

Residents of Cuffley, only around 10 miles from St Albans, are also facing up to an unwanted Tesco development. The Welwyn and Hatfield Times reports that the local action group, Keep Cuffley Rural, is planning a referendum of local people to demonstrate opposition to a planned Tesco Express store.

A spokesperson for Tesco (identified as female - where is Michael Kissman?) said,

"Past experience and independent studies show that our stores increase footfall for neighbouring traders".

Perhaps Cuffley's shopkeepers and residents would like to look at the examples on this website, for example Wolverhampton's recent experience, and the independent research by the British Retail Planning Forum that shows large superstores cost hundreds of local jobs, before being taken in by this!

We wish Keep Cuffley Rural success in their campaign.

UPDATE: Keep Cuffley Rural now has a website here! Looks good!

Our Retail Survey Results Are In - 83% of 196 Local Retailers Don't Want Tesco

Back on 22nd March, an article appeared in the Herts Advertiser in which Tesco stated that it had carried out a survey of local businesses and that a significant majority were in favour of having a Tesco superstore built on the old Eversheds site on London Road.

We here at Stop Tesco were not entirely convinced, so we carried out our own survey of retailers in St Albans. We went out and about and visited 196 retailers. We went up and down London Road and Victoria Street, Alma Road and Lattimore Road, and the Maltings Shopping Centre. We also spoke to all of the market stall holders at the Saturday Market and the Farmers’ Market.

And guess what? We were correct in our assumption. We asked 196 businesses “Are you in favour of the proposed Tesco Superstore on the Eversheds site?” and they told us “NO” in no uncertain terms. 83% of the retailers who took part in our survey do NOT want a Tesco store on London Road.

Our retailers fell into many different categories. Those falling into the “Other” category including toy shops, shoe repair, finance and insurance advice, stationers, newsagents, luggage, mobile phones, dry cleaning, pet food and fabric retailers.

We also did not find one single business that said that they had been part of Tesco’s “survey”.

Over to you, Mr Kissman!

'How the planning laws were TESCO-ed'

A story in the Mail on Sunday reveals the pressure that supermarkets exerted on the Government's recent White Paper on planning. In particular, the proposed new planning laws will remove the 'needs test' that forces supermarkets to demonstrate the need for a new store before planning permission can be given. The Mail on Sunday argues that,

'the disclosure will fuel suspicions that Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda have a stranglehold over Government policy, while small business owners struggle to be heard'.

Mission Creep

A story from Falkirk today shows the folly of trying to put boundaries around Tesco in the planning process. Two years ago, the supermarket giant was given permission for a 3716 sq m store (40,000 sq ft). According to Falkirk News Today, in the middle of construction last year Tesco laid down tools. It has now gone back to the council to ask to almost double the size of the store to 6490 sq m (70,000 sq ft)

The website reports that before construction began an initial application for a non-food store was withdrawn 'when it appeared unlikely the store would win approval'. It would not come as shock to us to find out that the extra space in the new planning application will be used for non-food items. This would put the council in a quandry - would they then refuse the planning application on the original grounds and risk leaving the site with a half-built supermarket on it, or give permission?

And in the meantime, the people of Falkirk seem to be getting on fine without the supermarket!

Here's a reminder of a similar case in Abingdon.