St. Albans Stop Tesco Group

St Albans 'Emerging Core Strategy' Says No To London Road Tesco

2009-08-09T13:29:00.005Z

A few months ago, local people were asked for their thoughts on the future of development in St Albans. Well, the results are in and there is a lot of good news for us.

The report, 'Emerging Core Strategy 2009' (formerly known as St Albans City Vision in earlier posts...), recommends that London Road would not be a good site for a supermarket, suggesting instead that it should be used for residential housing or a primary school. The report also states that 'considerable opposition was generated over the possible new food store locations and some respondents questioned the need for another store' - thanks for your comments.

The full report can be found here. Thanks again to Ian for finding this for us! Please leave your comments as well in support of these changes!

UPDATE: Thanks to the St Albans Review for this great article on the topic!

Positive News on Competition Commission Ruling

2009-07-18T18:07:00.004Z

Vanessa emails us (thanks) to let us know of the latest developments in Tesco's battle with the Competition Commission. Following Tesco's successful appeal against the Commission's findings that too many Tesco supermarkets in the same town might not be a good thing for shoppers, it looks likely that the Competition Commission will be able to impose its rules. Good news for cities with lots of Tesco stores (although it won't affect St Albans!).

The details are below...

The competition test for grocery retailers would bring lasting benefits for consumers, the Competition Commission (CC) has provisionally concluded in a report today.

The commission has been carrying out further analysis on the benefits and costs of the test as ordered by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) after Tesco successfully appealed over the proposal in March this year.

The test would block supermarket developments by retailers already powerful in a local area to make room for competing stores from rival retailers.

Peter Freeman, Chairman of the CC and Chairman of the Groceries Inquiry Group, said: "What we were asked to do by the tribunal was to prove the case for the competition test and show that it would have the intended effect — to help bring in competition where it is lacking and to stop individual retailers consolidating their position in local areas to the detriment of consumers.

"Our detailed analysis has shown that the test is likely to have a positive effect over time for consumers by ensuring that they benefit from greater competition and choice between retailers in their local areas," he said.

The commission's report into the UK groceries market, published in April 2008, concluded that action was needed to improve competition in a number of local markets, and so included a recommendation for the inclusion of a competition test in planning decisions on larger grocery stores.

But Tesco appealed to the CAT, which ruled that the commission had not properly assessed the economic costs of the test, and that it had failed sufficiently to address its proportionality and effectiveness.

The tribunal did not dispute the justification for the test itself and remitted the matter back to the commission for further consideration.

The commission's latest analysis estimated the benefits to consumers that would result from increased competition, with retailers already powerful in a local area no longer being able to shut out rivals from those areas and with the test also stopping areas from being dominated by individual retailers in the first place.

The analysis compared these benefits against the costs from any delay between a dominant retailer’s development being blocked and a rival’s alternative taking its place. It concluded that over the longer term, the benefits to consumers would outweigh any such initial costs.

The CC is now inviting responses to the provisional decision by 29 July, and will assess these before publishing its final decision by 5 October.

For further details on the Groceries report, see: http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/press_rel/2008/apr/pdf/14-08.pdf.

Squatter Update...

2009-07-14T18:02:00.003Z

Thanks to Alex Barham for this article in the St Albans Review today. She has interviewed a number of Inkerman Road residents and got to the bottom of the problem with the Tesco-owned houses. We await with interest any response from Tesco...

Of course this is not the first link between Tesco and squatters here. In October last year, Tesco admitted that squatters were living in its London Road houses.

Squatters in Inkerman Road Tesco Properties!

2009-07-10T14:50:00.009Z

Local resident Caroline emails to tell us that squatters have taken over one of the Tesco houses, 25 Inkerman Road. They have posted up the notice pictured left, setting out their rights. The notice is dated 29/6/09.

25 Inkerman Road is one of several local houses that Tesco owns - the house next door is boarded up (see the photo below), as are many houses on London Road - where despite Tesco obtaining planning permission to make them usable for housing, no work appears to have started.

Stop Tesco believes that given the desperate need for housing in the St Albans area, Tesco must put these houses back into use NOW.

Of course, if this is another Tesco strategy to let the potential site for a store decay even further in the hope that local people come around to its opinion, we are pretty sure that the people of St Albans are not that stupid!

Tesco houses in Inkerman Road that are not available for housing (squatted house in the foreground, boarded up house in the background).

PS - another local resident, Deric, has emailed us to say...

'Saturday saw an ambulance called out to attend to a very bloody head injury and the street now has a constant stream of people shouting and drinking in the street. The police were also in attendance over the weekend. If anyone can help / advise on this issue please let me know, I am trying to speak to Tesco which is proving not too easy.' We have passed his comments to local councillors and journalists.

Please let us know (via tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk or by posting a comment) if you live in Inkerman Road and have news about the squatters or related activity in the area.

Planning Permission for London Road houses

2009-04-09T14:44:00.003Z

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?

2009-04-03T13:08:00.002Z

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?

2009-02-23T18:54:00.004Z

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?

2009-01-09T19:52:00.004Z

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

2008-12-22T08:45:00.007Z

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!)

2008-12-21T16:48:00.003Z

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

2008-12-16T18:23:00.002Z

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!

2008-12-16T10:47:00.002Z

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

2008-11-13T18:11:00.003Z

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!)

2008-11-12T16:53:00.003Z

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...

2008-10-24T17:40:00.003Z

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

2008-10-17T21:19:00.002Z

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...

2008-10-01T16:50:00.002Z

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

2008-09-28T14:59:00.004Z

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

2008-09-25T16:13:00.003Z

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

2008-09-23T17:07:00.004Z

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....

2008-09-23T16:33:00.005Z

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

2008-09-11T18:24:00.003Z

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

2008-08-21T13:25:00.004Z

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

2008-08-17T17:02:00.002Z

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...

MP takes up Peter's message

2008-08-06T21:37:00.002Z

Following on Peter Milne's letter to the local papers last week, our local MP Anne Main has taken up the challenge of dealing with Tesco's houses on London Road. Today's Herts Advertiser reports that she has written to both Tesco and the local council 'to ask them to take action over the houses in London Road'. The paper also reports that Cllr Chris Brazier of St Albans District Council is meeting Tesco later in the month to discuss the issue.

On behalf of many local people we'd like to thank Anne for doing this - and hope that there is soon some good news from Tesco. We will of course push for full disclosure of any meeting and let you all know what happens!

Questions of Time

2008-08-02T19:02:00.004Z

As we've now reached a month since Planning Referrals with no news from anywhere really (and given that UK plc is closing for business over the summer), we've had a look around and come up with some timings...

1) Tesco actually has just under five months left to appeal (an application can be lodged up to six months after rejection; see here for more details). That means (unfortunately) that Tesco can sit on its hands until December. However, during this time, there will be further developments in local planning issues and we will need your support. One example is...

2) Peter Milne has written an excellent letter to the Herts Advertiser (we've reprinted it below) concerning Tesco's derelict houses on London Road. Please take any opportunity to remind your local councillors of the importance of chasing Tesco up - and the damage the lack of repairs is still doing to London Road. As pointed out by many speakers at the Planning meeting, London Road is one of the main gateways to the City - and having derelict houses lining it gives a poor image from the start to any visitors.

SIR -

The Tesco-owned houses in London Road have been a disgrace to St Albans for years. Tesco have done a token tidying up but they are still boarded up and decaying. Three years ago the district council started talking about restoring the houses under new powers but have done nothing, as the following press clippings show:

September 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.

January 5, 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..... Cllr 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."

June 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.

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

February 19, 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.

Well now it's nearly August and there's no sign of any renovation - and since Tesco lost their planning application who would believe they intend to do anything? Their inhabited houses in Alma Road remain badly neglected, even though Tesco claim they no longer want to demolish them.

Now is the time for the council, and Robert Donald in particular, to fulfil their promises over the last three years to use their powers to bring the houses back into use and send Tesco the bill.

PETER MILNE,

Alma Road, St Albans.

Property Week Links St Albans to Government Planning Changes

2008-07-18T15:50:00.005Z

This article appeared today in Property Week. As well as a potted version of Tesco's rejection, it also lends weight to the idea that recent Government proposals to protect town centres may help St Albans reject Tesco's plans.

There's still no news from Tesco though, by the way...

Two Weeks Later - What Is Tesco Doing?

2008-07-14T16:39:00.004Z

It's not that much of a surprise given 8 years of delay, but noone has heard a peep from Tesco yet in terms of what they want to do next with the London Road site. General opinion is that it will appeal the council's decision, but does it really want to create even more unpopularity?

Another way of creating unpopularity of course, is to annoy valued customers. A reader emailed this story to us recently about his experiences...

'Tesco have become so wealthy and powerful that they are living on a different planet from their customers - especially those who are disabled. My wife has to use a wheelchair and asked the other day to be taken to Tesco to do her shopping. On our return home I found that I had been fined £70.00 for using a disabled parking bay - even though the arrangements for my wife's visit had been made the day before and the wheelchair had been supplied by the store! Shop at Tesco and be treated like a criminal!
"PS. Not that their anti-disabled policy has done them much good. Five of us meet at Tesco every week to do our shopping: business worth about £25,000 per annum to the store. From next week, of course, this will be spent elsewhere.
"Good luck with your campaign. Decent society can manage without Tesco and their like."

This Sounds Like Good News!

2008-07-06T17:44:00.002Z

Is the Government set to change its attitude to supermarkets? We're not suggesting that there's going to be a massive shift, but this article from the People does report Communities Secretary Hazel Blears as saying,

"Popping down to the local grocer's or baker's is more than just shopping. It is where people meet and identify with their community. That's why I am strengthening planning rules to better protect them."

If this is carried through this should help our case further. St Albans Council officials were unwilling to advise against Tesco's plans on the grounds that they would damage other shops, although councillors voted to add this. Hopefully, these new planning rules can be used to support the councillors' views.

We Won! 10 Reasons Why The Council Said No!

2008-06-30T21:21:00.005Z

Around 300 people attended the Alban Arena tonight to witness a major step forward for our campaign and the future of St Albans. Tesco's plan was rejected on 10 grounds, with two being added during the debate! The application rejected on the following grounds (quickly paraphrased!):

1. The plan does not reflect local distinctiveness, is not integrated with its local context, and harms the visual amenity of the street scene.

2. It includes the loss of locally listed buildings

3. The development would have a negative impact on highway safety, capacity and free flow of traffic.

4. The entrance gates to the servicing area interfere with free and safe flow of traffic.

5. The development would overshadow and overdominate 3-27 Alma Road and cause harm to the residential amenity of the people living there.

6. The size and extent of the car park would harm the amenity of local residents through noise and disturbance.

7. The potential of risk of pollution to 'controlled waters'

8. The harm to community facilities caused by the increase in living space.

9. The effect of traffic on air quality

10. The principle of the vitality of the City Centre.

Thanks to Ian Langford, Peter Trevelyan of the St Albans Civic Society and Cameron Lavin of the Whitecroft Residents Association who spoke during the 10 minute public session. A massive thanks to the councillors from all political parties who raised key issues and spoke against the development.

Above all, thanks to you all for your support...

HOWEVER,

As Churchill said, 'this is not the end, it is not the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning'. We have shown that Tesco can be defeated, but it now has a number of options - it can appeal the council decision or it can bring forward another application. Either option will need renewed opposition - we will let you know all developments and what you can do to continue to support the Stop Tesco campaign.

UPDATE: Here's the St Albans Review's immediate report!

Tonight's The Night!

2008-06-30T06:01:00.004Z

Please make every effort to show your support for the campaign tonight at the council Planning Meeting. Please be at the Alban Arena by 7pm (we'd suggest arriving a few minutes early as there may be a lot of people).

If you can't make the event, but have access to a PC, you can follow the live webcast which you can link to from www.stalbans.gov.uk (click on 'Planning Meeting Webcasts').

PS - thanks to BBC 3 Counties Radio and Chiltern Radio for talking to us about tonight!

Isn't This the Best Place for a Supermarket?

2008-06-27T17:38:00.005Z

The Herts Advertiser reports that the site of St Albans Police Station is up for sale. We've already written to the District Council asking for them to consider this as the best place for a medium-sized supermarket that will meet the needs of the growing City, while being extremely well placed for public transport. The site is just opposite the Maltings car park and very close to the main bus exchange.

This would leave the London Road site free for the housing and primary school that is needed in the area! And with a high likelihood that we'll get a sensible cinema design for the centre soon, we could solve three of the major problems affecting St Albans in one fell swoop.

If you think this would be a good idea, why not let your local councillor know!

UPDATE: Chris has emailed to suggest the London Road site as ideal for a police station with the school and affordable housing behind it - what do you think?

Local Traders Saved as Tesco Rejected

2008-06-27T17:33:00.002Z

In what must be a hopeful omen for our case on Monday, local councillors in Worcester have rejected a Tesco plan - this time on the grounds that local traders would suffer from a new Tesco.
The Worcester Standard reports one local trader, David Jones, as saying,

"Shutters are already pulled down and shops are permanently closed - and Tesco would just force even more to shut".

Barack Obama - Tesco's Latest Enemy?

2008-06-25T18:27:00.003Z

Tesco appears to have provoked the ire of the man who could well be the next US president. The Guardian reports that Barack Obama has written to Tesco CEO Terry Leahy 'to urge the UK grocer to start talks with a US trade union over workers' rights at its new California-based business'.

Senator Obama is apparently unimpressed that Tesco's American workers are not entitled to contracts, which means they could be dismissed without warning, and that staff have to count sick leave as holiday.

Message of Support from our MP

2008-06-24T17:50:00.004Z

Thanks to Anne Main MP for sending us this message.

Dear All,

I just wanted to let you know that, unfortunately, I will not be able to be present at the planning meeting on Monday 30th when the Tesco proposal will be decided. I do not usually attend these Council meetings, but obviously when there is a big decision such as this I do my best to attend. Nevertheless, I have just received the Parliamentary business for Monday and it appears that we will be voting late into the night, as we often do, so I will be obliged to be in Westminster .

I hope that, in making their decision, the Council pays attention to the pollution and retail needs studies, as well as the potential of this development to “suck the life” out of St Albans, and squarely refuses this proposal. My understanding from recent conversations is that an officer at the Council is recommending a refusal of the plan and I hope that the committee accepts this recommendation.

I congratulate you on running such a good campaign against this proposal. However, as with many of these large proposals, I would anticipate that Tesco will appeal if the proposal is thrown out, and in that event we need to make sure that we get all our representations to the Planning Inspectorate to ensure they are aware of the strength of feeling in our community about this, and the strong arguments for the proposal to be rejected.

With best wishes,

Anne Main MP
Conservative Member of Parliament for St Albans
House of Commons

It's Actually 1,200 Letters of Objection from 1,400 People! (Still 2 (that's just 2) In Favour)

2008-06-23T16:24:00.009Z

Thanks to all of you for putting your opposition to Tesco in writing - and of course to Pete who spent the morning counting them in the Council Offices.

He reports that there are 1,200 letters and emails - and that 15% of them have more than one signature, making over 1,400 objectors in total. He's also had a go at analysing a sample - as you can see from the graph below, traffic and the damage to local trade are the biggest problems.

(PS - there are still only two letters in favour - one focuses on the need to sort out London Road as soon as possible. We agree that something needs to be done - but disagree that Tesco should benefit from creating the problem in the first place!)

'Largest Irish Tesco' Rejected

2008-06-23T11:57:00.002Z

As if Tesco wasn't having enough trouble in England, the Irish Planning Service has dealt it another blow by rejecting a 130,000sq ft store at the Bridgewater Park complex near Banbridge in Northern Ireland, reports the BBC. Again, the biggest issue was the potential damage to small local traders.

Local Traders Association spokesman Joe Quail said,

"If this application had been successful then our town would have been ruined with the loss of hundreds of jobs and the closure of many local independent retailers in the town centre who would have been unable to compete with such a vast store."

Appeal Upgraded - Let's Pack the Arena!

2008-06-18T17:20:00.005Z

The Herts Advertiser prints the news today that the Tesco planning committee meeting has been moved from the council's offices to the Alban Arena - thanks to the massive and overwhelming number of objections from local people (thanks to you all!)

The Arena seats over 800 people so there should be plenty of room to show Tesco our objections! There is no advance booking, except for disabled people who can contact the council in advance to reserve a seat - so please turn up and show your support.

The paper also updates the objections tally - the number of letters in favour of Tesco has DOUBLED - there are now TWO in favour - with over 1,000 still against of course!

Why Is Tesco Being Called A "Monolithic Chicken Abuser"?

2008-06-18T17:05:00.007Z

A great letter to the St Albans & Harpenden Review today. Local reader Alex Walsh takes Tesco to task over its response to the campaign of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to improve battery chicken rights. He comments,

"I'm no hemp-wearing nettle tea-drinking hippy type, but I was outraged when I read in the pages of a Sunday newspaper that Tesco is charging [Fearnley-Whittingstall] £86,000 to put a question about the treatment of battery chickens to its shareholders - an action he is being forced to take because the monolithic chicken abusers won't actually talk to him directly.

"Is this really the sort of company we want operating in the heart of our fair city? I for one think not."

Thanks for the letter, Alex - and also thanks to Simon Grover of the St Albans Green Party for his letter rebutting Michael Kissman's comments in the paper 2 weeks before.

(If you'd like to find out more about Tesco and chickens, check out www.chickenout.tv here.)

Another Stop Tesco Group is Born..

2008-06-17T16:24:00.002Z

We welcome the 'Shop Weston' group to the long line of groups that are fighting to stop Tesco spoiling their local area and causing retail carnage. The people of Weston-super-Mare are faced with 2 new 'Express' stores and are fighting back! Find out more here.

Defeated Tesco Sells Land On

2008-06-14T22:04:00.003Z

In Darlington, having been denied planning permission three times, Tesco is finally selling the land it wanted to develop - reports the Northern Echo.

We hope this will be the solution in St Albans - Tesco will clear a good profit from the increase in land values over the past eight years and local people will get the housing and perhaps even the school that they clearly want!

And Tesco Keeps Losing!

2008-06-13T20:47:00.003Z

Another day, another rejection for Tesco! The Maidenhead Advertiser reports that Windsor Council has unanimously rejected a plan for a Tesco in Sunninghill.

Interestingly, Tesco's plans had received 600 letters of objection - with only 2 in favour. We've heard from St Albans District Council that Tesco is even less popular here - they have over 1,000 letters of objection - and ONE in favour of Tesco!

Remember to keep the 30th June free - we want to show local councillors in St Albans the scale of our objection just as the people of Sunninghill did.

(Thanks to the Cambridge No to Mill Road campaign for tipping us of about this story!)

Who Would Live Next To Tesco?

2008-06-13T15:38:00.003Z

The Norwich Evening News reports more bad news for some of Tesco's neighbours today. A small toy shop has been faced with a £5,000 bill for damage to the wall that separates it from Tesco. Despite making profits of billions of pounds a year, the supermarket was not prepared to accept liability for two incidents - and only paid up when its lorry was seen to hit the wall in a third case!

All those who still think that Tesco will benefit other retailers should read the other main point in the article...

'Just last week the Evening News told how some of the city's smaller retailers were struggling to compete with multi-national chains such as Tesco.

We found more than 40 former out-of-town outlets that had fallen by the wayside due to the monopoly of large supermarkets, the increasing number of chain stores in the city centre and the credit crunch'.

Tesco Defeated in Poynton - a good sign for us?

2008-06-11T17:03:00.006Z

Another setback for Tesco, as the company finally withdrew its application for a store in Poynton, Cheshire today.

The news should give great heart to St Albans campaigners - as here, Poyton's campaign against Tesco was supported by the overwhelming majority of local people, local politicians and the local MP. As here, the objections included the threat to local businesses, local traffic issues, the loss of a petrol station and the unique feel of an historic area. As here, thousands of local people signed a petition against the development, and hundreds wrote letters of objection to the local council. We hope that Tesco will learn from this - there are places where the company is just not wanted!

The Macclesfield Express reports the story here. You can also find out more about the Poynton campaign here.

Over 1,000 Letters of Objection!

2008-06-08T21:21:00.001Z

We're not sure about the total number yet, but we've been told that St Albans District Council now has more than 1,000 letters and emails opposing Tesco's development. Thanks to you all!

We Hear Tesco Again

2008-06-03T18:02:00.005Z

After remaining silent throughout the time to make representations to St Albans City Council, who has popped up today but Tesco's Michael Kissman. Speaking to the thisishertfordshire website, he makes a final (?) appeal to local people. As before, we print his comments below, with our thoughts in red! Please also add your own comments...

"I would like to put the other side of the argument for why a new store, along with a car park for more than 500 cars, new shops and refurbished older buildings, which are all part of the plan, is a good thing for St Albans.

More than 500 cars? Tesco's plans are for 477 car parking spaces, the maximum allowed under planning conditions - has he read his company's proposal? More generally, we'd repeat our view that the store is far too big and will overall cost retail jobs and space that could be far better used! And of course, we surely don't need to point out that the only reason the buildings are in disrepair is because Tesco has owned them for 8 years!

"There has been a lot of talk about the new store affecting the market or the shopping area around it.

"The reality is that, at the moment, people drive out of St Albans to places such as Hatfield and London Colney for much of their food shopping. This new store would lead to them shopping closer to the city centre.

This is a highly specious argument. As our planning document clearly states, the people who drive to Hatfield and London Colney will be those who work in those areas or are travelling elsewhere - there are already lots of supermarkets in St Albans and noone is forced to travel out of town (expect perhaps late at night - and we don't think a 24-hour supermarket in London Road is going to happen!)

"That can only be of benefit to the local economy.

The local economy is doing very well at the moment. A new supermarket will cost loads of local jobs (remember independent research shows that 276 jobs are lost on average with a new supermarket). A new supermarket will also replace local shops and services (including the market) that recycle the majority of their takings locally with an store that sends 93% of its income to Tesco Head Office.

"People in St Albans are concerned about traffic, and so are we. It is not in Tesco's interests for customers to be unable to get to our store.

If you want customers to get to the store, why not build somewhere near public transport (by which we mean near local buses). Secondly, we don't want to be part of a traffic experiment - London Road is getting ever more crowded and pollution levels are rising.

"Ultimately the power over the future shape of shopping in St Albans does not lie with Tesco or even the councillors who will determine our application over the coming weeks. It lies with the people who make a choice over where they do their shopping. A new Tesco store in St Albans can only add to that choice."

This can be taken two ways - as a statement of fact, it ignores the right of local people to oppose unnecessary developments - there are planning laws and even Tesco has to obey them (even if it thinks it is bigger than this). An alternative way of looking at this is as an arrogant and offensive (not uncommon traits from Tesco, unfortunately) attack on local people and the local council - WE ARE RIGHT, he says! However, St Albans does not need to waste more time with an experiment to see if the supermarket works - we want to use the land NOW for housing and a school.

The article ends , 'people who want to raise their concerns with the council have until Friday, June 27, to respond before the decision goes before a planning committee.' This is not what we were told - but if you've not written and want to give it a go, please keep trying!

A New Date For Your Diary

2008-05-16T12:10:00.000Z

Many thanks for your support over the past few weeks. We will provide an update on the number of objections submitted to the council as soon as we have it, but we know that hundreds of you helped to send a clear and unambiguous message - WE DON'T WANT TESCO!

BUT... it's not over! The next key date for the application is Monday 30th June, when the St Albans District Council Planning Referrals Committee will consider the application at 7pm. We'll need as many people as possible to turn up to that meeting and show the strength of local opposition. We'll provide further details closer to the time, but please keep the date free!

APOLOGIES FOR THE INCONVENIENCE...

2008-05-15T19:13:00.001Z

Due to factors beyond our control the main stoptesco.com website is currently down and you've been redirected straight to the stoptesco blog page! We hope you can find all your information here - although it will not be possible at the moment for you to download our objections document.

Can we also take this opportunity to remind you that it's tomorrow or never if you want to object to Tesco's plans! Please scroll down for more information on how to do this.

NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESUMED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (ACCORDING TO OUR ISP ANYWAY...)

StopTesco.com Hits the Big 21 - That's 21,000 By The Way!

2008-05-15T18:30:00.001Z

We've not published much in the way of statistics about this website for a while, but we're pretty pleased that just under 16 months from the first post (19th January 2007), we've come of age, with over 21,000 unique visitors now having made their way to this site. Over the past few weeks, we've been especially delighted by the number of new 'first-time' visitors - last Tuesday we had over 100 in one day for the first time! Thanks to you all for your support!!!!

STOP TESCO : WRITE RIGHT NOW!

2008-05-11T17:44:00.014Z

We're running out of time! The deadline for your personal email or letter to reach the District and County Councils is THIS FRIDAY.

We have received huge support when going door to door, in the city centre and at the public meeting, BUT this will mean nothing to St Albans Council if you don't write a formal objection to Tesco's planned development - even if you signed the petition and put up a poster, please, please write!

Remember to include your name, full address and the planning reference numbers : 5/2008/0369 and 5/2008/0370. Then send the letter or email to:

The Head of Planning and Building Control, Civic Centre, St Peter’s Street, St Albans AL1 3JE or email planning@stalbans.gov.uk

For traffic issues, please copy John Wood, Head of Environment, Hertfordshire County Council, County Hall, Hertford SG13 8DE or email john.wood@hertscc.gov.uk

A reminder of our key objections, which you can refer to in your letter...

This is not a City Centre site; it is a 750 metre walk from the centre. A supermarket would drain trade and vitality from our main St Peter’s Street shopping area, and be a real threat to the City Centre and our historic 1,000 year old markets. 83% of local businesses oppose Tesco.

Traffic in the London Road area is already very bad. This will make it much worse, with 70% more lorries and cars on London Road. Even Tesco admits that air quality would be adversely affected – nitrogen oxide levels already exceed EU limits.

It would have a damaging and irreversible effect on the character and tranquillity of a unique group of Victorian residential streets in the Conservation Area. They survived the wholesale clearances of the sixties: they don't deserve noise and light pollution now.

Once on site, Tesco may apply for extended opening hours – or, as in Hertford, to double the size of its building. It has to be stopped NOW!

The Evershed’s site was once given planning permission for housing – there are much better uses for this site than a superstore. The area is one of the last big development sites left; the opportunity could be lost forever.

Thanks again for your continuing support.

PS - our 110-page submission to the council containing a forensic response to Tesco's application can be downloaded from here. Our planning team, especially Liz, Ian and Pete have produced a masterwork!

Is this Tesco's Attitude to St Albans?

2008-05-08T20:12:00.005Z

Local resident Michael Pagan sends us this story of his experiences with Tesco this week:

'Last Friday I witnessed an incident which to me typifies Tesco's attitude to St Albans. Around 7 p.m. a Tesco home delivery van pulled up in the middle of Paxton Rd. The driver’s helper got out and went to the back to open the rear doors. Meanwhile the driver wound down his window, opened a package of some sort and threw the wrapper into the road. I asked his helper to pick it up which he did.

'I suppose we can’t really blame the driver; after all he’d probably just driven up London Road and seeing the dereliction caused by his company had concluded (correctly) that they don’t give a damn about the communities in which they operate. After all what is one piece of litter compared to boarded up houses, blighted roads and the future destruction of a town centre? Clearly Tesco has successfully communicated to all its employees that disdain towards its host communities for which it is fast becoming notorious.'

Please draw your own conclusions - and thanks to Michael for his support.

Why the Poll Looks Wrong...

2008-05-07T16:51:00.002Z

Many thanks to everyone who has clicked on the poll on the right of the blog to say they've written to St Albans District Council. The reason why it looks empty again is that we've updated the date on the poll in line with the revised final date for letters of 16th May. Before we changed this the figures showed...

Yes, I have written - 45
No, but I will write - 31
No, I support Tesco - 6

So, please add these onto the total!

Today Ely, Tomorrow St Albans?

2008-05-06T22:03:00.005Z

Is this a lesson for the future? The Ely Standard today reports Tesco's plans to extend its store in Ely in Cambridgeshire. Interestingly, the thrust of the plan involves removing car parking spaces and replacing them with more store space.

We've worried about the possibility of this happening in St Albans, if planning permission is given. We've discovered that the planned 477 car parking spaces in St Albans are actually the maximum allowed under planning guidelines for the proposed size of store. This gives Tesco the option in future to reduce the size of the car park and increase the store size. This of course would mean yet more local job losses, more competition for local businesses and the market, and probably more traffic, congestion and pollution.

Another reason to write NOW to STOP TESCO! (Oh, and hello Michael Kissman - good to see you still have a job!)

Petition Handed Over

2008-05-05T12:00:00.000Z

Many people have been asking us over the past few weeks if they can still sign our petition. The answer, from now on, is no - because we've handed it in to the council.

On Friday last week (2nd May) representatives of Stop Tesco St Albans and the St Albans Civic Society handed the petition of 5,827 names to Gavin Cooper, the planning case officer who is responsible for Tesco’s planning applications, at St Albans District Council.

The petition, gathered over the last year, contains 5,137 physical signatures and 690 electronic signatures collected via the www.stoptesco.com website. It calls for the former Evershed’s site in London Road to be used for the benefit of the people of St Albans and specifically opposes any Tesco development.

Mike Dilke of Stop Tesco St Albans said:

‘The petition sends a message to the council that an overwhelming majority of local people are opposed to Tesco’s plans and want something better for London Road.

‘However, because petitions, even those as big as this one, are not legal objections to a planning application, we would urge everyone who signed the petition to write to the council or email planning@stalbans.gov.uk objecting to applications CA5/2008/0369 and 5/2008/0370 before the council’s extended cut-off date for objections of Friday 16th May.’

(The photograph shows Marion Hammant of the St Albans Civic Society and Mike Dilke of Stop Tesco St Albans with the petition outside the offices of St Albans District Council before the presentation)

Another Weekend of Campaigning

2008-05-04T09:47:00.005Z

Thanks to the many volunteers who helped in the City Centre yesterday. Thanks also to Gary for the photos, and to local Liberal Democrat Councillor Michael Green who is the bloke in the leather jacket.

Tesco's Tax Web

2008-05-03T15:14:00.004Z

Those wanting more news about the Guardian/Tesco libel case should read this update today in The Guardian. Assuming this article is correct, the libel case may come down to whether it is more defamatory to be seem to be avoiding paying Corporation Tax or Stamp Duty Land Tax - and whether the amount of tax avoided is a reputation issue for a major corporation.

As we've said before about Tesco, and this applies just as much to its ongoing other libel suit in Thailand (here's the latest news on this), the issue for us isn't so much what Tesco does - it is the fact that it can afford to spend money on legal writs and tax avoidance that smaller shops can't.

Local newsagents, grocers and market traders would love to reduce their tax demands by using overseas companies and hiring expensive tax experts - but they can't afford to. Tesco can, and can then use the tax savings to both improve its massive profits, and cut prices to drive local competitors out of business. So there goes any sense of a level playing field...

Deadline extended! And another address to write to!

2008-05-02T19:02:00.006Z

Great news! The deadline for objections to the Tesco development has been put back to 16th May! However, the Bank Holiday weekend would still be a great time to write!

ALSO: If you are objecting on traffic grounds, could you copy your letter to John Wood, Head of Environment, Hertfordshire County Council, Hertford, SG13 8DE or john.wood@hertscc.gov.uk as the County Council is the body that makes a recommendation on traffic issues. Thanks!

Help Us Tomorrow

2008-05-02T13:22:00.002Z

We're going to be taking our message into St Albans this weekend - starting with a stall in the market tomorrow (Saturday). The stall will be just in front of the tourist information office near the gents' toilets (not that near...). We'll be there from 9.15am - please either turn up any time and help - or email tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk if you can commit to a specific time.

Many thanks for your support!

Yet More Letters of Support

2008-05-01T17:37:00.002Z

Many thanks to those who wrote to the Herts Advertiser today to show their support for the campaign - click here to find letters from local residents Tim Randall, Ian Langford, V.Wing, John Bailey and Alison Redcastle.

Great Support At Public Meeting

2008-04-29T21:01:00.011Z

It was standing room only at the Trinity URC Church in St Albans earlier this evening (Tuesday 29th April) as campaigners, politicians and local residents met to discuss the latest news about Tesco's London Road development and to show solidarity in opposing it.

Speaking at the meeting were:

Mike Dilke of Stop Tesco St Albans: In introducing the meeting, Mike spoke of the importance of the campaign focusing on finding a positive outcome for the former Eversheds site, and not being just against Tesco's current plans. He also emphasised the importance of immediate action, with a tight deadline for objections to be made.

Simon Grover of St Albans District Green Party spoke of the impact of the planned superstore on local shops and the vitality of the City Centre. Simon talked about the negative impact of Tesco on four other UK cities. In one, Cirencester, a new Tesco in a position around as far from the centre as that proposed for St Albans led to a 38% decline in local retail stores. He also spoke of the impact of superstores on local economies - with money being sent to head office rather than being spent in the local area.

Cllr Roma Mills, Labour Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, spoke of the impact on local people. She pointed out the massive local traffic problems and urged those present to write to Hertfordshire County Council as well as St Albans District Council to ensure that the County Council objected to the development vigorously on traffic grounds. She also spoke of the environmental degradation that a new supermarket would cause.

Sandy Walkington, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate spoke of his experience of campaigning in the area 20 years ago and the 'spick and span' houses owned by the Evershed family around the site - comparing them unfavourably to the current state of the area after 8 years of Tesco ownership. He also spoke of other campaigns around the country that successfully had opposed Tesco.

Nadia Davies, Conservative District Council Candidate, spoke of her experiences as a local resident, as well as the importance of using the site to ease St Alban's urgent housing needs. She also read out a statement from MP Anne Main, which concluded 'I am sure that most of you have already formally lodged your comments on the proposal with the Council, but if you have not I would urge you to do so as soon as possible. I sincerely hope that the Council feels, on balance, that it can refuse this proposal on good planning grounds.'

Ian Langford, one of Stop Tesco's planning volunteers, then shared some of the information he had obtained from Tesco's application. In particular, he argued that Tesco had significantly underestimated the problem of pollution in the area. To support this point, he produced figures that showed that Tesco's computer modelling of nitrogen dioxide levels in 2006 had underestimated the actual measured level by 18% and in doing so took the level under the EU 'safe' level. The same computer model was then used to derive even 'safer' figures for a 'post-Tesco' level. Unfortunately the computer model seemed to avoid pollution from stationary cars.

Mike Dilke then read out a message of support and encouragement from the Mill Road campaign in Cambridge - the campaign succeeded in preventing Tesco from opening an Express store in the city.

Peter Trevelyan of the St Albans Civic Society hosted a question and answer session, before Mike Dilke rounded off the event with a call to arms - and handed the Stop Tesco St Albans petition of over 5,800 names to the politicians present.

After the meeting, a number of volunteers signed up to deliver over 1300 extra leaflets and to help campaign in the City Centre. A significant amount of money was also raised to support further work. Thanks to all who attended!

UPDATE: Thanks to the Herts Advertiser for covering the event!

How Did This Get Here?

2008-04-28T16:08:00.004Z

Sunday 7:29 pm 4/27/08 St. Albans, England
Originally uploaded by robinhamman

We know that lots of people have taken our leaflets and support the campaign - but how did this get into Tesco's in St Albans? Is there a mole? (Thanks for the photo Robin!)

What Local People Want Instead of Tesco

2008-04-27T20:30:00.004Z

Over the past year we've had loads of comments and really useful ideas for making good use of the former Eversheds site suggested to us. We've taken some of them and overlaid them on pictures showing the last year of the Stop Tesco campaign. Click below to see them! (And thanks to Nick for doing this.)

Who's Coming to the Public Meeting?

2008-04-26T16:30:00.005Z

We've finalised the list of speakers and expert guests for Tuesday's meeting. The meeting will be an excellent opportunity to find out more about Tesco's development and to ask questions of a wide range of experts. Please come along, even if you've never thought of yourself as a local activist! Although it may appear that a lot of people are speaking, we've asked them all to be brief and the meeting should take around an hour. (It's at Trinity URC Church, Beaconsfield Road at 7.30pm).

At the meeting we will be revealing the impact of Tesco's proposed development on local air quality. Representatives from all four political parties will show their support, and although MP Anne Main is unable to make the meeting as she is needed in the House of Commons, she has prepared a letter of support to be read out. We will then outline the key steps that we can all take to Stop Tesco and answer all of your questions!

Speakers will include:

Simon Grover, St Albans District Green Party
Cllr Roma Mills, Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate
Sandy Walkington, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate
Nadia Davies, Conservative Party
Mike Dilke and Ian Langford, Stop Tesco St Albans
Peter Trevelyan, St Albans Civic Society

PS - many thanks to the volunteers who are spending this weekend delivering thousands of leaflets and campaigning in the City Centre, and to the many market traders and residents who are displaying our new posters.

Please let us know if you're around to help next weekend - with the tight deadline for responses we need to get as many people out and about over the Bank Holiday Weekend.

Some Interesting Tesco Claims

2008-04-25T15:54:00.008Z

Our planning team have spent the last couple of days poring over Tesco’s mammoth application. They’ve started to unearth some really interesting and highly controversial Tesco claims. We’ve listed some of the most amazing below…. although we’re sure we’ll have more of these by Tuesday’s public meeting.

1. Tesco claims the site is highly accessible by public transport, although no buses pass the store and the nearest bus stops are at least 300 metres away from the store. Tesco say they might try and get operators to change the routes and stops although buses currently avoid London Road because it is too congested. There’s also the problem of where to put a bus stop? Blocking the Tesco filter lane? Under the store? The report also regularly mentions the store closeness to the railway station as more evidence of accessibility to public transport. As local people we really don’t think that people will travel from Radlett, Brighton or central London by train to shop at Tesco St Albans!

2. Apparently Tesco says in the report that, "it cannot be disputed that the existing site is of extremely poor visual quality and is in dire need of redevelopment" – perhaps this might have something to do with 8 years of ownership and lack of investment by Tesco?

3. There has (apparently!) been extensive community engagement by Tesco (we’d heavily dispute this!) Tesco claims that Stop Tesco is 'operator specific' (i.e. is just against Tesco) – despite the fact that we’ve made it obvious from the start that we oppose ANY supermarket development on the site.

4. In a slap in the face for local people, Tesco claims that the 5,500 plus petition should carry little weight as its revised proposals demonstrate that it listened to Stop Tesco concerns and amended the scheme accordingly! A couple of points here - these were our concerns after the meeting, and the petition clearly states that people object to ANY supermarket development on the site. A slightly smaller supermarket than initially proposed does not invalidate the views of thousands of people!

5. Tesco also admits for the first time that its own first public consultation showed 63% of people against the store. And although they mention the second consultation exercise they undertook we can’t see any actual results in the application! They do claim that their business survey that showed 13 of 16 businesses supporting their application is valid – although this took place well before the petition was finished - surely they should have done the survey again once they had changed the design?

6. Finally for the moment, Tesco’s traffic assessment covers only Friday peak times, not Saturdays when everyone knows that London Road is busiest.

The Objections Have Started

2008-04-25T15:16:00.003Z

Thanks to those people who have already written to register their objections to Tesco's development and copied us in at tescocampaign@yahoo.co.uk.

Janet Theakston has kindly let us post her comments, which cover many of the areas that local residents are very worried about. She wrote,

'I object to the Tesco proposal to build a supermarket on the old Eversheds site. There is no need for a further supermarket in St Albans - we are well served already. A supermarket where sited would draw custom away from the town centre, which, like other centre sites are underthreat from out of town shopping sites to the detriment of the heart of our historic city, which must be preserved. I object to the destruction of some of the houses/buildings in Alma Rd/London Road as being unnecessary and altering the character of the area.

'The traffic problems on the London Rd/Alma Rd junction are already terrible - I pass this junction twice daily on my way to the station - it is regularly blocked. Tesco's "solution" of an extra traffic lane on London Rd is a joke - it would do nothing to relieve the huge amount of extra traffic generated by a supermarket, certainly not massive delivery lorries. The noise, light and air polution would be awful.

'There could be so much better uses of that large site: housing, especially low cost housing for key workers in an expensive area would be great; also we need more primary school places - the housing on the old Oaklands College site will add to this need. This would be a much better site for a cinema/arts/theatre/community use development than the suggested site at the back of the Alban Area.

'Come on St Albans Council - think creatively - our lovely historic city is worthy of something much better than an unwanted and much opposed commercial development which will bring misery to those who live nearby. Be the ones that stand out against the Tesco land-grabbers and listen to what local people have to say. Sir Terry Leahy might not be impressed but St Albans residents will be! Please reject this proposal.'

Stop Tesco Announces Public Meeting

2008-04-21T21:28:00.005Z

Next Tuesday (29th April), Stop Tesco will be holding a public meeting at Trinity URC Church, Beaconsfield Road, St Albans. The meeting will start at 7.30pm.

The meeting will provide an update on the campaign against Tesco, including brand new information about the increase in pollution that the proposed supermarket could cause. Local politicians will demonstrate their support and the petition of over 5,500 local people will be formally handed over.

The meeting will also give you a chance to take positive action against Tesco, including writing a formal letter of objection or volunteering to help in other ways.

Further details of speakers will be posted over the next few days - please watch this space!

New Tesco Store Cuts 33% of Jobs Weeks After Opening

2008-04-21T16:41:00.003Z

We've been banging on for a bit about Tesco's claims to 'create' jobs, pointing out that all a new store does is to displace existing jobs, while transferring local money to Tesco's Head Office (where some of the money seems as if it will be used to pay redundancy for Tesco managers, ironically...).

In Nelson, Lancashire, the job losses are coming very quickly, but from Tesco itself, reports the Lancashire Telegraph. Within 'weeks' of a new store opening, 40 people, one-third of those hired, have been laid off. The comments beneath the article are interesting as well!

Tesco To Cut Jobs Locally

2008-04-20T13:51:00.007Z

Not good news for Michael Kissman and his friends at Tesco's head office down the road in Cheshunt it appears. The thisismoney website reports that Tesco may cut 1 in 10 jobs there, 300 in total, with a focus on middle managers.

The article also repeats Tesco's claim that they 'create' jobs. People are becoming increasingly aware that a new supermarket merely transfers a proportion of existing retail jobs to shelf-stacking roles - there are far fewer people working in the grocery retail sector than there were before the rise of supermarkets!

Thanks to the volunteers of Stop Tesco for all your work over the last few days, especially...

1. Those who braved the wind to inform shoppers of Tesco's latest actions in the market yesterday

2. Our web designers who have updated www.stoptesco.com to make it very easy for people to object to Tesco's application, and added a countdown clock...

3. The designers who came up with our new posters (lovely colours...) and leaflets.

4. Our communications people who are arranging a public meeting for Tuesday week (29th April) - more details to come.

5. The planning team who are putting the final touches to our objections document.

6. All those who have made donations or volunteered to help over the next two weeks.

If you'd like to help us, please email us and let us know what you can do!

What You Can Do To Stop Tesco

2008-04-17T16:21:00.005Z

Tesco's plan is finally in, and we need everyone to help us ensure that the council rejects it. Here are the key things you can do to help....

VIEW plans, Ref Nos 5/2008/0369 and 5/2008/0370 . (Click on the link to find them - or you can go to the Civic Centre Council Offices in person if you're in the area)

OBJECT, in writing, to The Head of Planning and Building Control, Civic Centre, St Peter’s Street AL13JE or email planning@stalbans.gov.uk giving your full name and address. Make use of the planning points below, and quote the reference numbers. The date by which objections must be received is 7th May 2008. Remember, if you don’t write, you waste all your previous campaigning efforts!

DISPLAY our campaign posters, which you can download here.

WRITE to the local papers, the St Albans Review and the Herts Advertiser, setting out your objections

VOLUNTEER to help the campaign by delivering leaflets or manning a city centre stall by clicking here

KEEP IN TOUCH. Keep visiting the website or sign up on the right of the blog for email updates.

WATCH OUT for the date of the crucial Plans Referral Committee meeting – and be there!

PLANNING POINTS - these are our key objections to the Tesco plan. You might want to use some of this information in your letter, but please don't just copy and paste it.

Traffic in the London Road area is already very bad. This proposal will make it much worse, with 70% more lorries and cars on London Road. Air quality would be adversely affected – nitrogen oxide levels already exceed EU limits.

A supermarket would drain trade and vitality from our main St Peter’s Street shopping area, and be a real threat to the City Centre and our historic 1,000 year old markets. 83% of local businesses oppose Tesco.

It would have a damaging and irreversible effect on the character and tranquillity of a unique group of Victorian residential streets in the Conservation Area. Some houses are to be demolished. Over 5,500 local people have signed a petition against the development.

Once on site, Tesco may apply for extended opening hours – or, as in Hertford, to double the size of its building. It has to be stopped NOW!

The Evershed’s site was once given planning permission for housing – there are much better uses for this site which can truly revitalise the area and add to St Albans’ economic and social development, including a much-needed primary school. The area is one of the last big development areas left; the opportunity could be lost forever. Over 80% of local people polled by the St Albans Review opposed Tesco’s plans.

Many thanks!

A Story in which Tesco Shows that it lacks a Sense of Humour...

2008-04-12T16:12:00.018Z

We've covered before the opposition to Tesco's plans to knock down houses in Liverpool to create a new superstore with attached Everton Football ground. Of course, the people living in these houses are not happy with the idea.

Today, one of them, Dot Reid, has come up with the impressive idea of applying for planning consent to knock down Sir Terry Leahy's house in Cuffley and build a 'community area', reports the BBC. She, quite reasonably, told the Beeb,

"These are more than just houses, they are homes. I have been living under the threat of losing my home for 18 months now and it is very stressful. I want Sir Terry to have a taste of what we have to put up with."

Rather than either acknowledging Mrs Reid's ingenuity or taking her situation seriously, a 'Tesco spokesperson' once again responded to individual concern by claiming the support of 'the majority'. He or she tells the BBC,

"This is just a publicity stunt*. Unlike this application, for our application we spoke to hundreds, if not thousands, of residents in Kirkby, the vast majority of whom recognise this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which will create 2,000 jobs**."

This, of course, invites two interesting questions.

Firstly, even assuming that most local people are on Tesco's side (and we know what its surveys are like...), why should the opinion of a few local people outweigh the right of someone to stay in their home of 18 years?

Secondly, does this mean that Sir Terry would go along with the plans if local residents think that converting his home into a community area would be a good thing?

To try to answer the second question, we've put a poll up on the right of the blog. If you think that turning Sir Terry's house into a community area would be the right thing to do, please tick one box. If you think he should be allowed to keep his house, tick the other. We'll send the results of the survey to Mrs Reid to see if they can be used to support her campaign.

Some notes:

* - Tesco's spin doctors may see this as a 'publicity stunt'. I doubt they would be so flippant if they were told that a house that they (or perhaps their mother?) had lived in for 18 years was being knocked down for another supermarket!

** - of course supermarkets don't 'create' jobs. People have always shopped for groceries, so jobs are just moved around and taken from existing retailers. In fact, as supermarkets provide efficiencies of scale, they need fewer and less skilled workers - research shows a new supermarket will on average cost 276 jobs. That's where Tesco's impressive profits come from.

UPDATE: The poll we did on this subject is now closed, but we have sent the results up to the campaign group in Liverpool. Of the 75 people who voted 89% (67) thought that the best use for Sir Terry Leahy's house would be a community area, while only 10% (8) thought it was best used as his house. So, Sir Terry, the community wants you out - will you go along with this?

TESCO PUTS IN APPLICATION (WE THINK THIS IS THE REAL ONE!!!)

2008-04-10T19:24:00.006Z

We understand that Tesco has now submitted a complete planning application. We will post details here of what you can do to object as quickly as we get them! To be the first to know, please sign up on the right for email updates!

In the meantime, what can you do?

Let us know if you would be able to help during the campaign (which will include petition signature gathering and leaflet distribution), even if it is just for 30 minutes. if you can, click here to register and we will contact you again.

Consider drafting a letter of objection to the Council (maybe get it ready to send, but don't send it until you can refer to the specific application by number - we will send this as soon as we have it). Please mention in the letter that you believe that there are better uses for the site, there will be a significant traffic problem, pollution will increase, and the development will kill our City Centre market and businesses.

Please contribute to our campaign - we need to book venues for public meetings and to pay for posters and campaigning material - you can send cheques to Stop Tesco St Albans Limited, 33 Alma Road, St Albans. AL1 3AT

Thanks for your continuing support. Our voices need to be heard loud and clear in the coming weeks.

Tesco's Lawyers Sue Guardian

2008-04-05T09:59:00.008Z

Following Tesco's recent lawsuit against people who oppose its stores in Thailand, the company's UK lawyers now have The Guardian in their sights. Apparently, Tesco objects to recent articles that alleged it was using offshore banking to avoid paying £1bn in corporation tax (it appears to admit to using it to avoid paying £50m+ of stamp duty though, which is a lot of tax to most people!). A Guardian spokesperson commented,

"Instead of frankly explaining their position and/or engaging in a public dialogue Tesco has taken the extraordinary step of suing for libel in a clear attempt to close down the debate and discourage others from looking too closely.

"It's hard to think of another large public company which would resort to such bullying tactics."

The full story is here. There's also an interesting commentary on the issue in Director of Finance magazine here, which points out that when large companies sue, they can often suffer badly!

Pete Asks Why Tesco Houses Are Still Unoccupied

2008-04-04T21:12:00.002Z

Local resident Pete Milne wrote to the St Albans Review earlier this week with a history of Tesco's houses in London Road. Here's the letter in full. Thanks Pete!

The Tesco-owned houses in London Road have been a disgrace to St Albans for years. Tesco have done a token tidying up but the houses are still boarded up and decaying. Three years ago the district Council started talkng about restoring the houses under new powers but have done nothing, as the following extracts from the Review illustrate:

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.

Mr Pollard said this week: "Last autumn Tesco assured me that they would press on as quickly as possible with their plans to develop London Road, promising not to leave empty and boarded up valuable properties which could be used to house local families desperately in need of accommodation.

Jan 5th 2006 - Mr Pollard said: "I have asked St Albans District Council to use its new powers in the recent Housing Act to take possession of these derelict homes, do them up and then offer them to homeless families. 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.

Dec 1 2006 - Council leader Robert Donald said the firm had improved the appearance of the area since the beginning of the year.

Oct 15th 2007 - With the company rethinking its plans for a store, 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.

Why have the council let Tesco drag their feet for so long over the derelict shops when they have the power to do something about it? Who believes that Tesco will actually do something in May/June? Their houses in Alma Road remain badly neglected, even though Tesco claim they no longer want to demolish them.

How many times have Tesco promised - and failed - to submit their planning application for the store?

When will the council stop listening to Tesco's empty promises about the houses and get on with what they talked about in 2005 - take over the houses and make them habitable!

PS - The new application still isn't in...

Every Little Spin Doctor Helps, Tesco...

2008-03-31T21:10:00.007Z

Tesco needs to hire more 'corporate affairs managers' (spin doctors), or else it runs the risk of them spinning themselves to death - if the busy schedule of Michael Kissman is true of all of them. Over the past few weeks he has been trying to spin around the country and support six different Tesco developments*, all of which seem to have massive local opposition. Just look at the last 2 weeks...

19th March - In St Albans, Michael comments on the St Albans Review poll that found 83% of people against Tesco's plans for the city.

20th March - Up North, Michael is commenting in Liverpool on Tesco's plans to redevelop Everton FC's stadium in the Liverpool Echo.

20th March - At the same time by miles away in Suffolk, Michael comments tackles concerns over gridlock in the historic market town of Hadleigh in the East Anglian Daily Times.

26th March - The Liverpool backlash arrives and Michael is trying to persuade locals via the Liverpool Echo that Tesco's plans will not lead to massive job losses and business failures.

(27th March - Michael is not available for comment to the Herts Advertiser, so non-Tesco consultant Eben Black is called in.)

31st March - Michael is speaking to the Suffolk Free Press, trying to answer the concerns of protestors in Hadleigh who are worried about the impact of traffic pollution on listed buildings and a nature reserve.

(*As well as those above, during March Michael has also been working on Tesco's unpopular developments in Mill Road, Cambridge, Halesworth, Norfolk and of course Gerrards Cross)

Perhaps this is why Tesco's St Albans application is STILL NOT IN?????

Our MP Criticises Tesco Pollution

2008-03-29T10:18:00.004Z

Big thanks to Anne Main MP, who has publicised in the St Albans Review the fact that even Tesco's own figures show that a supermarket in London Road will increase pollution. Levels of nitrogen dioxide in the area already exceed EU limits and a projected increase of 70% in local traffic will make things much worse.

Stop Tesco's own report on pollution will be out soon as part of our response to Tesco's application - but of course we need to have an application in first... watch this space for more details!

Thanks also to all the local politicians who are keeping people up to date with Tesco's plans in their election literature - be they Green, Liberal, Conservative or Labour!

So, When Did You Say the Application Would Be In, Tesco?

2008-03-27T23:02:00.009Z

The Herts Advertiser today follows up its story of two weeks ago, when Tesco's Michael Kissman told the paper that Tesco's revised application would be in by now. The council's planning portfolio holder Cllr Chris Brazier isn't happy with the delay, as he makes obvious in the article.

What does Tesco have to say about this? In the absence of usual spin doctor Mr Kissman, 'Tesco spokesperson Eben Black' says the missing details will 'be submitted very shortly, possibly in less than a week's time'.

We're not going to let up on this, and nor will the Herts Advertiser or Chris Brazier, although it is interesting that once again Tesco has not given an absolute date - we hope that Tesco's logistics people don't work with the same degree of uncertainty or we'd have lorry loads of food defrosting and going off all over the country...

PS: We assume this is Eben Black here - interesting that he doesn't actually work for Tesco! It seems that Michael Kissman has been occupied with another locally unpopular Tesco scheme in Liverpool - here's the view of the Liverpool Echo on the scheme.

Tesco Buys (and Closes) a Holiday Park!!

2008-03-25T11:21:00.008Z

The Independent reports today that Tesco has bought the Lyme Bay Holiday Village in Seaton, Devon and immediately sent out redundancy notices to 152 staff.

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...

Final Results from the Poll

2008-03-18T10:47:00.003Z

Just heard from the St Albans Review direct - a total of 1607 votes were cast, of which 83% were against Tesco. Apparently the website only shows 472 web votes, of which 93% were 'no'.

Thanks to all who voted - an obvious message to Tesco that its store is not wanted!

St Albans Review Poll Update

2008-03-17T16:48:00.005Z

As we enter into the last few hours of the St Albans Review poll (voting closes at 10am on Tuesday, if you still haven't voted!) it seems obvious that the people have spoken and firmly opposed Tesco. The facts (as of 5pm) are...

Online poll: Do you back the proposed Tesco store?
The results: Yes: 7.4% No: 92.6%
Number of votes: According to the paper, almost 1000!

Number of comments posted (in response to 2 articles): 81
Number in favour of Tesco: 3 (3.7%)
Number against Tesco: 67 (82.7%)
Number of repeat comments / for information: 11

Of course, Tesco's spin doctors will be revving up to oppose this - please let us have any suggestions as to what they will say...

Tesco and Free Speech in Thailand

2008-03-16T13:57:00.003Z

Don't think of opposing us seems to be the message Tesco is sending in Thailand. The Observer reports that Tesco's subsidiary in the country is suing two anti-Tesco activists for £18 million for making an error in anti-Tesco speeches.

Hopefully, UK bosses will spot this and stop the lawsuits - free speech is a great British value and it is frankly stomach-turning to see this sort of process being used by Tesco.

A Letter from Cambridge

2008-03-16T10:30:00.002Z

We've received good news from the Cambridge Mill Road anti-Tesco campaign, who have also had the pleasure of dealing with Tesco's Michael Kissman over the past few months. They write,

"Just thought you'd like to know that last Thursday the council threw out Tesco's application to build an extension, which they needed in order to open an Express on Mill Road. Tesco, in the usual form of our friend Mr Kissman, are now trying to claim that it was a victory for them because they have been given permission to put up a sign and install a cash machine and that they could open the store without the extension. Unfortunately for them, we have a copy of the email that they sent to the planners a couple of months ago, spelling out in some detail why they couldn't open the store without the extension. Oops."

If you'd like to find out more about the campaign, click here.

Say No to Tesco in the St Albans Review

2008-03-12T17:39:00.006Z

The St Albans Review is running a major poll on whether people want Tesco in St Albans. Please take part (and say 'NO' of course...) by either...

1. Visiting www.stalbansreview.co.uk/news and clicking 'NO' on the poll about half way down the right hand side of the page.

2. Sending a text to 80360 saying 'Tesco No' (texts cost 25p plus your normal charge)

3. Phoning 09012 210207 (calls cost 25p from BT landlines, and may cost more from mobiles and other networks)

4. Emailing 'No' to revieweditor@london.newsquest.co.uk

If you'd like to leave a comment for the Review, please do so by clicking here.

The other news story today is that the Herts Advertiser has followed up the Tesco application rejection story - and Tesco's Michael Kissman has said that a new application may be in at the end of the week. See the whole story here.

Tesco, Negative News and Negative Reputation

2008-03-09T15:03:00.007Z

One of the interesting things about the Internet is the access to information you get from it. Just a few years ago, keeping people informed about Tesco's expansion plans around the country would have been almost impossible. Today, however, thanks to Google News feeds and the like (like the one that sits at the top of the blog) we can see and report Tesco's struggles around the country.

For example today, here are the top Google stories about Tesco....

As you can see, all is not good for the company - stories report opposition to stores in London, Ireland, Radford, Manchester, Hyndburn in Lancashire and Cambridge, as well as the tale of a former Tesco senior executive who left the company after (she claims) suffering intense pressure and abuse from senior managers. The final story covers the media backlash over the company's use of (legal) tax avoidance.

We'd like to link all this negative news to our ongoing survey (on the right of the blog) which shows that Tesco's reputation in St Albans is nose-diving. Tesco claims to want to work with local communities, but surely there comes a point where we have to say that the company is not listening to the people of Britain at all. And at that time, we probably have to look for alternative sources of food...

Friction TV takes up Sandy's Oppostion to Tesco

2008-03-07T07:12:00.003Z

Here are the views of local Lib Dem MP candidate Sandy Walkington on Tesco, as seen on opinion website Friction TV.

Wacky and Weird Surveys Get Weirder

2008-03-06T18:25:00.007Z

The Adroit e-Research survey of 2 weeks ago, which Tesco used to try to spin the fact that two-thirds of people were against its planned store into a 'silent majority' in favour, has now been followed up by a further one from the bizarrely named research start-up.

The company now claims (via thisishertfordshire) that 'only 18 per cent of local people are opposed [to the Tesco store], and nearly half are positively in favour' (without specifying what 'nearly half' means, of course). Adroit Director Johnathon Brill tells the website 'The improvement is statistically significant, while admitting that 'responses such as "I don't care" or "They should just get on with it" were not included in the results, even as neutral responses'.

The fact is that this 'shift' reveals that the survey is in no way representative of public opinion. During the period between the two surveys, Tesco has taken no positive action to promote its store, and in fact is currently infuriating local people even more by wasting more time with its incomplete application. Yet we're expected to believe that a 'significant' number of people have changed their mind! Just to reiterate our other points from last time - we know that people want something to happen to the Eversheds site, and we know that shoppers might initially be in favour, because they like the Tesco brand, but once they look at the impact on local people and the community, and consider the alternatives, they rapidly become opposed. Our petition of almost 6,000 people is evidence of this.

We'd also like to suggest that Tesco's Michael Kissman stops wasting his time with these desperate surveys and spends some time getting the Tesco application in, so that it can be rejected and we can start doing something better with the land.

UPDATE: We've just heard on the grapevine that Tesco paid for the second survey, but not for the first one. Now you can all draw your conclusions about the results. Congrats of course to Mr Brill, who has snared perhaps his first blue-chip client.

Yet Another Tesco Plan Rejected

2008-03-05T18:46:00.002Z

Not a happy time for Tesco's planning people at the moment, we fear. The Macclesfield Express reports that the company's plans for Poynton, Cheshire have been rejected. Interestingly, part of the reason given by the council for the rejection was that Tesco had refused to deliver a 'retail impact assessment', explaining the impact of the store on local traders.

Well done to the protestors of Poynton!

Another Environmental Reason to Oppose Tesco

2008-03-05T18:39:00.002Z

Supermarkets have come under fire recently for handing out billions of plastic bags, which then damage the environment for many years. Unlike its rivals, especially Marks & Spencer, Tesco is playing hardball and refusing to take significant steps to reduce its use of bags.

In response the website thisislondon (part of the Evening Standard) took a look around the country to see where some of the bags ended up, taking these pictures. Do people really want these scenes repeated in St Albans? Does anyone think that a school and housing would produce anything like as much rubbish?

On an unrelated topic, we've not heard anything new about Tesco's rejected application yet, although we have heard that there were quite a few mistakes in it... Hopefully the company will recycle the paper at least.

More Fine Letters

2008-02-28T20:00:00.003Z

Thanks to Sara Phillips and Ian Langford for their letters to the Herts Advertiser this week. Sara has a problem with the corporate optimism of Tesco's Michael Kissman, and Ian wonders why Tesco has not released the results of its second consultation, but instead a survey showing that only 1 in 3 shoppers in St Albans wants its store!

Thanks for all these letters.

By the way, there was a letter in the St Albans Review yesterday supporting Tesco - but the letter writer lived in Enfield! Anyone nearer like Tesco?

More Tesco Traffic Congestion Attracts AA Opposition

2008-02-23T11:50:00.002Z

Another Tesco plan has run into fire over the potential for massive traffic congestion. The Automobile Association, Friends of the Earth, two Conservative former ministers and local campaigners are fighting Tesco's proposed 'MegaShed' - a massive distribution centre close to Stonehenge, reports The Guardian.

The planned distribution centre would be a massive 85,000 sq m (forty times as big as the St Albans store!) and would lead to thousands of lorries rolling down the picturesque (and massively crowded) A303.

The article also shows Tesco's usual disdain for local people - the company refuses to engage with them and tries to support its plans with claims that lots of jobs will be provided (although they will presumably replace jobs elsewhere) and that 'traffic improvements will get around the problem', without saying what these will be.

Tesco's Weak Survey

2008-02-21T19:27:00.005Z

Readers of the Herts Advertiser will have noticed this article today, about a survey Tesco undertook in St Albans City Centre. Tesco claims the results show 'a silent minority not opposed to Tesco's plans'. The survey of 301 people apparently found that 34% were against a Tesco store, 36% in favour and the rest undecided.

We have many problems with the survey, some of which were mentioned in the article. Firstly, the survey methodology seems a bit curious - Tesco claims to have asked people to score their opposition or support on a scale of 1 to 100, but then converted this into three categories.

We suspect this is because the survey showed a high level of committed opposition, along with weak support - this would fit well with our experience of talking to people in St Albans City Centre - a lot of people who don't live near the site aren't too bothered initially about the idea - until they find out about the traffic problems and likely damage to the market and other local shops.

Secondly, it is interesting that Tesco don't say what questions it asked. Many people to be honest might well prefer Tesco to the current wasteland, but if given the choice between use of the land for a supermarket, or for a school and housing, the vast majority in our experience will choose the school and housing!

Thirdly, surveying shoppers in St Albans will only give a partial picture of the feeling of local people. We know from our own survey that 83% of local business people oppose the store. The Green Party and Liberal Democrats both report that an even greater proportion of people who live near the site are opposed.

Finally, we find it very gratifying that despite its massive PR machine, 15,000-strong leaflet drops and 'extensive local consultation', after eight years of owning the land, Tesco is celebrating the fact that only just over 1 in 3 of just one of the three important groups of local people actually want its store.

Tesco Application Invalid!

2008-02-20T19:25:00.002Z

No, it's not time to celebrate yet, but we thought it worth letting you know that the planners at St Albans Council have rejected Tesco's application as 'invalid'. In practical terms it just means that Tesco have to rework their application and resubmit it, but we can imaging some unhappy people at Tesco's head office tonight!

All those billions of pounds and they can't buy in the right advisors to get an acceptable planning application in!

Let Battle Commence!

2008-02-15T11:15:00.003Z

At long last (eight years and counting) Tesco has finally submitted its application for a store in London Road. Having said that, it couldn't stop one last error - sending out the press release announcing the planning application before checking the application itself had arrived - not the best way to get the planning people on your side, Tesco PR people!

The details of the application are reported in the Herts Advertiser and the St Albans Review. Both articles show unanimous opposition from local politicians, with council leader Robert Donald (albeit speaking with his local councillor hat on) joining the opposition.

Now is the time for the people of St Albans to unanimously send a message to Tesco that we don't want the store - so we can move on and do something good for the City with the land. We will find out very soon who you can write to at the council to register your objection to the development, but in the meantime, please could you...

1. Write to the local papers setting out your objections - email the St Albans Review at revieweditor@london.newsquest.co.uk, or the Herts Advertiser at hertsad@hcn.co.uk. We need to make sure that they see local people are against the development.

2. Write to your local councillor - details here

3. Make a donation to our campaign - please make cheques payable to Stop Tesco St Albans Limited and send to 33 Alma Road, St Albans.

4. Print out a new Stop Tesco poster if the one you have is looking tired, or persuade your neighbours to display them as well. You can find them here.

5. Sign up for our email updates so you'll know about our forthcoming protest meetings and activities. Use the Yahoo Groups sign-up on the right of the blog.

More Support in the Herts Advertiser

2008-02-07T22:37:00.001Z

Thanks to the Herts Advertiser for publishing an article and a letter supporting our campaign today. The letter is from Simon Grover of the Greens in St Albans and asks why Tesco has still not put its planning application in, despite promising to do so by the end of April. The article covers our research on traffic problems.

Tesco’s Traffic Nightmare on London Road

2008-02-06T18:36:00.000Z

A number of Stop Tesco volunteers have been spending their Saturdays counting cars even though the middle of the winter - we salute you! We can also reveal their findings, which should make grim reading for Tesco.

The research found that building a Tesco store in London Road, St Albans could cause a 70% increase in traffic movements in the local area. It predicts over 2,000 traffic movements per hour between 11am and 3pm on Saturdays. Tailbacks in London Road that already block the end of Alma Road would be made significantly worse, causing gridlock in the area.

Our volunteers spent several Saturdays counting existing traffic levels on London Road as well as the traffic in and out of the Sainsbury’s store in Everard Close, which is a similar size to Tesco’s proposed store. When added together, the massive increase in traffic movements is seen on the graph below.Tesco’s planned store will rely hugely on car-based visitors as the majority of buses from the East of St Albans pass the existing Morrisons store and then go down Victoria Street away from the proposed site. In addition, if the Tesco car park is full, there is no available overflow parking, which will lead to further pressure on nearby residential areas.

Tesco’s published plans for its new store show a total lack of awareness of the scale of traffic problems its store would bring to this part of St Albans. The store will gridlock the entire local area, but all Tesco has suggested is a short slip lane and one controlled crossing, plus some rephasing of existing traffic lights.

We cannot see how any further improvements would alleviate the problem, given the narrow streets and Victorian street plan of the local area – there is nowhere else for traffic to go!

Thanks also to the St Albans Review for this article on the research! Please add your comments.

Thanks To Our Donors

2008-02-01T17:29:00.000Z

Many thanks to those who sent us cheques following our appeal for donations. If you're one of them and wonder why they've not been cashed, we were waiting for formal clearance of our new company, STOP Tesco St Albans Limited.

The good news is that the company is now up and running. This will allow us to accept and account for donations ourselves - up to now we've relied on help from the wonderful St Albans Civic Society!

Further donations would be gladly accepted - we all know the size of Tesco's pockets. Cheques can be sent to STOP Tesco St Albans Limited at 33 Alma Road, St Albans, AL1 3AT. Thanks!

Tesco Extension 'An Eyesore' - And No Planning Permission Either!

2008-02-01T16:47:00.000Z

The Bury Free Press reports the latest from the dispute between Tesco and local residents in the town. Tesco built an extension to an existing store without planning permission, and were then refused retrospective permission. Now Tesco has come up with a new plan, but it still doesn't seem to have worked. One local said,

'I think they should take the whole thing down. It just looks hideous. We haven't got a view because of it. We used to be able to see the sky from the kitchen window but all we see now is that building."

Of course, we wouldn't expect Tesco to pass up the opportunity to put in a bit of spin, and we were very excited when we read that it was from our friend Michael Kissman.

By the way, Michael, it is now February - could you let us know why you've fallen behind the timetable you published on your website (reproduced below)? You said we'd have a planning application by now!

Issues and Options Results Are In - And It Doesn't Look Good for Tesco!

2008-01-31T22:35:00.000Z

St Albans Council has now published a summary of the results of its 'issues and options' consultation that took place last year. The whole summary can be found here (start at page 26 of the PDF and keep reading!). However, we've summarised the key findings that relate to London Road here, with especially interesting findings in red! Many thanks to all of you who contributed your thoughts!

SUMMARY OF THE ISSUES AND OPTIONS CONSULTATION STAGE FOR THE CORE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT PLAN DOCUMENT AND NEXT STEPS

EXEC SUMMARY
xix) The consultation has generated considerable opposition to another food store in the District, in any of the three possible locations. A number of respondents have questioned whether there is proven need for additional convenience goods floorspace.

Option 29a – Improving and enhancing the range of shops, facilities and services?

Officers note that a Tesco store in London Road is not generally supported (see also Q55 regarding other possible uses for this site).

Q32: Given the lack of opportunities for additional convenience (i.e. food store) floorspace on City Centre or Edge of Centre sites in St Albans, do you think that any proven quantitative need should be met on an out of centre site?

Those supporting: 10
Those objecting: 58
Summary Response included:
- Strong objection to a new Tesco store in Alma Road/London Road.
- A significant number of respondents considered that there was no proven need for further food store development in St Albans, despite the findings of the Council’s Retail and Leisure Study (2006).

Officers’ Comments and Recommended Action:
The Council accepted the consultants’ findings (GL Hearn Report) in terms of the quantitative and qualitative need for additional food store floorspace within St Albans. However, Officers consider that it would be appropriate to revisit some of the assumptions made for calculating retail need, in the light of information that is now available and to take into account any changing circumstances since the work was originally carried out. In particular, Officers consider that it would now be more appropriate for assumed population growth within the District to be based on the housing growth figures for St Albans City and District as set out in the draft RSS14, rather than on the growth estimates from the 2001 Census.
The re-assessment work will need to take place prior to the Preferred Options stage of Core Strategy preparation, as it could potentially have a bearing on the consultants’ overall findings, in terms of quantitative need for convenience floorspace.
Respondents have raised various concerns regarding the potential location of a new food store, which will need to be taken into account if the updated retail study still identifies any need for a new store that cannot be accommodated on a City Centre site (see Officers’ response to Q35 and Q36).

Q33: If the Core Strategy was to propose an out of centre location to accommodate a new food store, would you support the Evershed Site
Those supporting: 6
Those objecting: 42
Observations: 1

Summary Responses were:

Strong opposition on the following grounds:

• Increased traffic congestion and pollution
• Damage to local businesses in City Centre
• Loss of locally listed buildings
• Wasted opportunity for residential or mixed use development (including a primary school or leisure/arts facilities)
• Already sufficient supermarkets
• Fails to meet qualitative deficiency for a City Centre store.
• No linked trips – people unlikely to walk from the site up London Road into the City Centre and back.
• Scale of development would be excessive in the context of the surrounding townscape
A foodstore on this site would prevent the development of a store on the sequentially preferable Civic Centre South site.
HCC Passenger Transport Unit considers that the site is poorly served by local town bus services.

Tesco considers that the site has the closest relationship to the City Centre shopping area and is located on an established commercial thoroughfare, directly linked to it. The company considers that the development would encourage linked trips and support retailing in the City Centre. Site is accessible by public transport and is a brownfield site.

Officers’ Comments and Recommended Action:
See Officers’ response to Q32 (regarding quantitative need for a new food store). Whilst no conclusions can be drawn pending the outcome of the Council’s updating work on convenience retail need, Officers note the strong opposition from residents to Option FS1 (and also the comments made by Tesco Stores Ltd). It is understood that Tesco intend to carry out a further public consultation exercise with regard to the possibility of a food store on this site in November 2007, with a view to submitting a planning application by the end of the year. See also respondents’ comments to Q55 (r.e. other proposed uses for this land)

For other the other proposed supermarket sites: Option 33b – FS2 North of St Albans City Centre Those supporting: 14 Those objecting: 22
Option 33c – FS3 North of St Albans Those supporting: 9 Those objecting: 30

Recycling off the Agenda?

2008-01-30T22:45:00.000Z

'The Environment' is one of the headings on Tesco's tescostalbans.co.uk website, which contains the company's spin on its proposal for St Albans. It makes a big play of new innovations such as 'low-energy fans, cold air retrieval systems, timers on lights and high efficiency refrigeration units' (while of course ignoring the fact that not having an air-conditioned store that attracts 500+ cars per hour and generates thousands of plastic bags would use less energy).

However, Tesco's green credentials have taken a further knock. In response to an email from Stop Tesco's Ian Langford asking about recycling facilities, Tesco's Michael Kissman (hello again!) replied, saying,

"Detailed consideration has been given to the siting of recycling facilities within the car park. However, the height of the ground floor and the construction of the podium level of the proposed car park would not enable the manoeuvrability of the vehicles needed to empty the units. We are, however, considering alternative options".

We think this means that there won't be recycling bins. So there goes the simplest way a supermarket can help the environment.

PS. Environmentally-concerned readers may also remember that last year Tesco was found out exporting CDs to Switzerland and then sending them back to the UK to avoid paying VAT, despite the obvious environmental damage this was causing!

Our Poll Finds Principled People

2008-01-30T22:37:00.000Z

Our latest poll asked whether visitors to this site would shop at Tesco's new store. It's not that surprising that few said they would, but we were encouraged that 70% of those who voted (41) said they would not shop at the new Tesco store 'on principle'.

Looks like Tesco may find few takers for its store - so why waste time building it?