The paper reports Lizzie Bewsher, head of a community group opposed to the plans, Stand Up 4 Seaton, as saying:
"In one fell swoop, Tesco have bought up and shut down Seaton's single biggest source of employment and income. A lot of businesses in the town rely on the passing trade that the holiday village brings in. The people who live in the holiday village face being made homeless and working parents will have nowhere to leave their children. The nearest nursery will be 10 miles away. The village also has the only gym and swimming pool in a town with very few facilities.
"Tesco has done this without offering any assurances that these facilities will be replaced next January or indeed without putting forward any plans for what it wants to do after the closure. It is acting with breathtaking arrogance. We have absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that Tesco will not bulldoze the holiday village, put a big fence around it and leave it untouched for a decade. They are throwing around their financial weight but we are determined not to stand for it."
Local people believe the only reason why Tesco has bought the site is to stop Sainsburys opening a store there. If a Tesco is eventually built on the site it will apparently be the 10th Tesco within 22 miles, with no real local competion.So come on Terry Leahy, Michael Kissman and Tesco - how does this help people and communities????
PS - it is now nearly 2 weeks since Michael Kissman told the Herts Advertiser that ' he expected the planning application to be back on track by the end of the week'. We are watching... and of course waiting...
UPDATE: The Daily Telegraph carries the same story today with a few more comments from local businesspeople. One thing that must really concern the people of Seaton is that, despite what Tesco might say, a holiday village will attract people from miles away, and that they will then spend money in other local shops, boosting the local economy. A supermarket is only ever going to recycle the money that already exists in the local economy and in Tesco's case, only 7% of this money will remain local! So the future for the community is not good...
4 comments:
Have a look at this blog, the campaign website for Seaton.
standup4seaton.blogspot.com
I live in Seaton, Devon and am affected by what Tesco has done in our town. It now owns about eighty percent of the regeneration site and so basically controls everything about it.
What you may not know is that the site is on a flood plain and on the world heritage coats. To build on it you have to raise it by bringing in lorryl0ads of rubbish for 3 or 4 years through the town.
I dont think Sainsburys have a chance of winning as the council will just give the job to the people who give them most money and we all know who that will be.
Who is going to stop these people they think they own the universe.
Regrettably the story you have posted in inaccurate. Tesco have bought the site, which has not been closed. It wlll close in January next year. No one has been sacked. Consultations between the staff and the owners are underway.
Thanks PR Dogs for your comment - we have changed the article to reflect this. Of course, the people will still lose their jobs in a few months time...
PS - if you are anything to do with Tesco, please don't sue us - we know Tesco doesn't like campaigners who make little mistakes!
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