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.