Comments | ramtops: Tescowatch (an occasional series)

ramtops

Tescowatch (an occasional series)

Aug 11, 2009 09:24

George Monbiot writes in today's Guardian.I have been writing about it for years. But it's only now, when I'm caught in the middle of it, that the full force of this injustice hits me. Like everyone else here I feel powerless, unstrung as I watch disaster unfolding in slow motion.
There's a similar battle going on in Bedminster, about 3 miles from ( Read more... )

tesco

Comments 3

Local authorities usually only have themselves to blame when their town centres die... khaylock August 11 2009, 17:17:11 UTC

...since the arrival of an out of town superstore always seems to be 'coincidentally' paralleled by an intensive "war on the motorist" in the traditional town centre, designed to make any attempt to shop 'in town' unless you actually live within 5 minutes of the high street on foot either completely impossible or grossly unpleasant ( ... )

john_d_owen August 11 2009, 19:13:57 UTC

Got a similar game of Tescopoly going on in Newport Pagnell. The old Aston Martin site (they moved production up to Gayden a couple of years ago) was originally down as a residential and small business development. Then came the credit crunch so the developers who bought the land were left holding an expensive chunk of land with no prospect of anything happening on it for quite a while. So they sold it to Tescos, who appeared out of the blue announcing a new superstore for the site (just round the corner from me). The response from local residents has been pretty unanimous: we don't want it, and can't understand what Tesco have to gain from it, given they have about four superstores in Milton Keynes already. If they had come in and put a small Express outlet in the old Woolworths store on the High Street, everyone would have been fairly happy (apart from the two other small supermarkets in town). A superstore is just too big for the area, will only draw customers away from their existing stores, and the extra heavy goods traffic ( ... )

ramtops August 12 2009, 05:34:10 UTC

Similar situation here. Bristol City Football Club want to build a new stadium at the end of our village (which is a whole different fight), and they were planning to sell the old ground for housing to fund it. Along comes the recession, and no developer can afford to develop, and in steps Mr Leahy on his white charger ( ... )