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

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..

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

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!

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?

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?

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!

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

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

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...

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!

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!

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?

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...

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?

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

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

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

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!

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

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!