We have just been passed this press release from the “No Tesco in Stokes Croft” campaign from Claire Milne.
Campaign Update!
STOP PRESS!
Imminent opportunity to stop Tesco from opening on Cheltenham Road.
Last week representatives from the No Tesco in Stokes Croft campaign met with Bristol City Council (BCC) to discuss the proposed Tesco on Cheltenham Road. The main outcomes of the meeting were:
Imminent opportunity to stop Tesco from opening up on Cheltenham Road
– Tesco are due to apply for final planning permission w/c 23 March.
– This process is called PAN8 and concerns the impact of a Tesco shop front on local heritage.
– BCC have been meeting with Tesco to help tailor their architectural plans to be accepted through this final planning process
– Thanks to the strength of your campaigning the decision will be made by a Committee at a public meeting in May /June rather than by a case officer behind closed doors.
– Officially the Committee will only take into consideration issues regarding the impact of a Tesco shop front on local heritage.
– The Committee is made up of Councillors who are human beings who can’t help but be influenced by the overwhleming strength and breadth of our concerns.
Current planning law is failing the local community
– Planning law says BCC is not allowed to discriminate bewteen the impacts of an independent retailer and that of a supermarket.
– This means BCC did not consult the local community on whether they want a supermarket
– We pointed out that current planning law is therefore preventing BCC from delivering on its overarching objective of meeting the needs of local communities.
– Efforts continue at the local and national level to lobby for planning policy change but so far the corporate lobby has managed to ensure planning law continues to serve the needs of big business rather than that of local communities.
96% of 700 surveyed believe we don’t need another supermarket
BCC sent letters to 55 local residents back in October asking them how they felt about a retail unit opening on Cheltenham road. They received absolutely no response. This may come as no surprise conidering we have been unable to find anyone who received the letter, despite visiting all the addresses the letters were sent to.
Our own door to door surveys however show that 96% of those 700 we surveyed believe Cheltenham Road does not need another supermarket.
What’s more, more than 2000 campaign postcards will this week be delivered to BCC by local traders shining the spotlight on the community’s resounding ‘No’ to Tesco. This some 2000 is in addition to the overwhelming number of cards BCC have already received directly.
TAKE ACTION!
**Use this final planning process to tell BCC why you don’t want a Tesco on Cheltenham road.
We will be producing new campaign postcards for you to feed into this final planning process and holding another public meeting to explain this stage of the planning process and how you can be most effective.
You will so fail, all over again….
Look – I went all through this with architects, planners and consultants when I owned those buildings, so believe me when I say I know what I am talking about. If you don’t want to, then it’s your own time your wasting, as my primary school teacher would have said to me…
Their application is nothing more than a wish to change the frontage of the building, which will be done with all the due consideration of that building being in a conservation area. I was offered a 75% grant to change the building back to how it would have looked when it was first built, circa 1900, but it didn’t suit the needs of a comedy club, so I didn’t bother.
Not only will you fail in this ridiculously delusional attempt, but you should also know that Tesco will get the same grant money to change the frontage of the building that I was offered. How much is that going to hurt?
Claire – you seem like such a well-intentioned and lovely individual, but really, OPEN YOUR EYES! All the planning points you make above are simply falsehoods. Do you really believe that an application to change the frontage of a building will result in Tesco being denied planning permission to open? If so, then your eloquence really belies your naivety. Planners can’t change the law just to suit the wants of a minority who choose to shout loudly.
Still, I guess you get one last shot at making a point to the council, though I am bound to say that it will fall on deaf ears.
And besides which, there are many around these parts that actually do want a Tesco, but you choose not to see or hear that either don’t you?
Still, what religion ever wants to hear the truth?
No surprise there then from Jesters ! No laughs either !
As for the primary school teacher, mine always said.. try, try and try again..
And it is most definitely not a minority in my community and neighbourhood that object to the Tesco.
Don’t listen to negative, unhopeful, cheerless glums! Keep up the pressure,
you have my support and that of many round these parts.
Always loved the Malaap !
No laughs at Jesters…? Are you kidding? We sell every seat, every weekend. Not bad for a comedy club with ‘no laughs’ eh?
By all means Kevin, keep up your mindless brand of optimism and keep living in the past. The Malaap died 15 years ago, as did your chances of continuing to live in Dickensian Britain. You might dress the part fella, but really, it doesn’t cut it with those that want to see progress and investment.
And in your last post you show your Trew colours. Its all about making money to you, a capitalist Trew and Trew!
Dave – you say that like it’s a bad thing…!
Through/Trew. Brilliant! Man, I’m going to have to get up early to outwit you aren’t I?
well i would just like to say theres nothing wrong with making money or capitalism as long as it doesnt affect everyone, tescos are vermin and will be comming to a street near you im shore mr trew was only to happy to take tescos money for what he must have sold the property to tescos for obviously he doesnt have the same feelings or hold much of an understanding like the rest of the comunity and obviously doesnt need the money unlike other small busineses in the croft that most people do who work there live there i started my small business in stokes croft and i know how hard its been for the last 3 years i have saw shops open and close this is just another sell out but the biggest got to be bristol city coucil obviously in bed with tesco tesco is not there to gernate jobs its all about taking over they are going to undermine the comunitys local shops wich find it hard enough in these difficault times to make a living tescos here will affect at least 10 shops in stokes croft no one including the bristol city coucil must give a damb its peoples lives that being played with here and its no joke !!
Tony – I didn’t sell anything to Tesco. I HAVEN’T OWNED THAT BUILDING SINCE APRIL 2009. Do your research fella.
Tesco won’t kill local trade. If more people are attracted to the area because it has been cleaned up by investment in one of its run down buildings, then that will have a positive effect for the local traders. Those that choose to continue to run dirty shops, selling poor quality goods may well suffer, but who wants those anyway? And no-one is forcing anyone to shop at Tesco. The people that will, are probably the people that already shop at one of their other stores or at one of the other chains.
I believe that shops like Licata, Radford Mill and Herberts, to name but a few, will continue to thrive. What these shops have over the likes of Tesco is uniqueness, and their own locally strong brand identity. Having a bland supermarket in the area will only serve to strengthen this uniqueness.
At the risk of repeating myself endlessly, take a look at Gloucester Road, where Scoopaway sits next door to Somerfield, and the Breadstore has queues stretching out onto the street every day. (There are many more examples, but these two spring to mind right now). Anything these two fine local independents sell can be purchased at a supermarket chain just doors away, but they thrive in their wake.
This is the vision I have for Stokes Croft, and I am really struggling to see why people have a problem with it.
Mr Trew, I agree with you wholeheartedly .
I do not believe that Tesco will be the down fall of one single good business on Stokes Croft or in the surrounding area.
Did I go out of business when the biggest Primark in the country opened not 500 meters from my dressmaking workshop?
Of course not.
Competition is healthy and important and it makes us strive to be better.
Some of the shops in our area are frankly disgraceful and if there was a clean, friendly, welcoming alternative then they might have to up their game in order to survive. Well…so they should.
I love most of our little independent shops and am very proud of them, but even though I live and work locally I rarely get chance to use them, this is because I work 15 hours a day running my own business.
Will I feel guilty about using a clean, convenient supermarket that is open when I need it to be? No I won’t.
Will I choose independent shops when I have the time to? Yes I will. Every time.
I do not expect any of you to get all your clothes made by me instead of buying them from the high street which is far cheaper and far more convenient, of course I don’t, even though the vast majority of high street fashion is made unethically
I recognise that there is a need for high street fashion and I recognise that my business can exist in harmony with it.
I work bloody hard, produce a product that is second to none and give excellent customer service, that is why I’m still in business… in spite of Primark…and that is why our good local shops will stay in business, in spite of Tesco only I’ll be able to buy fresh vegetables on my Road, making it more convenient for me to continue to work such long hours trying to build a business which I hope will be an asset to our community.
A community which I love by the way and want to see thrive.
PLEASE READ BETWEEN THE LINES IF YOU CAN
I do not believe that Tesco will be the down fall of one single good business on Stokes Croft or in the surrounding area.
its easy to say that when there not selling anything that will harm your busines tescos will affect at least ten shops in the stokes croft area !
Did I go out of business when the biggest Primark in the country opened not 500 meters from my dressmaking workshop?
Of course not.
well 500 meters is very acurate i would say the local tesco is more like 100 meters away from there nearest competitor!
Competition is healthy and important and it makes us strive to be better.
competion is healthy if you have the money to invest in your business like tescos making 500.000.000 in three months!! and growing
its about principle not comptetion there like a rat infestaion what do you have to say to the two local shops near me at the top of redcatch hill if you get time go there there are two local asian shops there next to each other and tescos moved in litraly opposite ten
meters away IN THE OLD PUB how can these two thriving busineses compete with this competion how do they raise they game when there already at the top of it there is a bigger picture here!!! perhaps if tecso affects you you might see it!!
Some of the shops in our area are frankly disgraceful and if there was a clean, friendly, welcoming alternative then they might have to up
their game in order to survive. Well…so they should.
i agree some shops here are disgracefull that could be made better with money its not easy
to make money in stokes croft there are propertyS in need of renual and investment the coucil offered goverment money from the lottery heritage
funding but only a few took it up the coucil want the traders owner there to take the shutters off the front of there propertyS in turn
leaving them virtuly wide open to theft and damage the solicitors have had the windows broken and the best shop have posters covering there
i have writen to the coucil to sujest and alternative and they dont reply there not intersted NOT IN MY BACK YARD SORT OF THING DONT GIVE
A DAMB DONT AFFECT US GET ON WITH IT !!!!!!!THE COUCIL ARE AS DISGUSTING AS THE WHAT MAKES STOKES CROFT THE WAY IT IS THERE NO
PARKING FOR ANYONE there have been permission for the building of 14 two bedrrom flats in dynamic heating supplies where will they park ???this is a big issue here
I love most of our little independent shops and am very proud of them, but even though I live and work locally I rarely get chance to use
them, this is because I work 15 hours a day running my own business.
Will I feel guilty about using a clean, convenient supermarket that is open when I need it to be? No I won’t.
Will I choose independent shops when I have the time to? Yes I will. Every time.
is it really you are affraid of shopping there with the drunks now on city road corner instead of opposite jamaica street the whole area needs to be sorted
high crime underinvested no parking drunks walking the streets beggers bothering people for money fighting in the street to name just a few things
I do not expect any of you to get all your clothes made by me instead of buying them from the high street which is far cheaper and far
more convenient, of course I don’t, even though the vast majority of high street fashion is made unethically
I recognise that there is a need for high street fashion and I recognise that my business can exist in harmony with it.
karma anyone!
I work bloody hard, produce a product that is second to none and give excellent customer service, that is why I’m still in business…
in spite of Primark…and that is why our good local shops will stay in business, in spite of Tesco only I’ll be able to buy fresh vegetables on my Road, making it more convenient for me to continue to work such long hours trying to build a business which I hope will be an asset to our community.
not everyone is as talented as yourself or has the same work ethics some people do it for a living and some are just surviving
A community which I love by the way and want to see thrive
See all comments on this post here.
just incaSE ur interesed there is a localgroup that gets together to see what they can do for your local comunity im shore they will make u very welcome
Thanks for your comments Tony.
Just to be clear, if there was a butcher, a baker and a green grocer on Stokes Croft or Cheltenham Road I would be anti Tesco too.
I do not see how any of the shops near by will be in direct competition with Tesco even though I understand that they will sell some of the same goods, this is why I used Primark and myself as an example.
I will still buy my Newspaper and milk in the lovely Post Office as I always have, only I will be able to buy Salmon and veg across the Road in Tesco.
At 1am when I need some beer for a party I’ll go to the best as I always have, only the next day I can pick up some fresh oranges for breakfast from Tesco (to help ease the hangover;-)
Allow me to try and answer each of the points you make…..
Firstly If you think 400 meters makes any difference the argument that there is already a Tesco a 10 minute walk away (which has been used so often) is nul and void I think.
I wouldn’t go out of business if primark opened next door to me, because I’m good at my job and I offer a personal service that big corporates can’t offer, just like our local shops do.
Competition is healthy for all business in my opinion.
I do not have £500000000 to invest in my business (or £500 for that matter) yet I continue to compete and I continue to survive as do all the great independent shops on Gloucester Road in the shadow of the mighty Sommerfield.
I’m afraid I can’t really comment on the shops near you as I don’t know them.
Are they still trading in spite of the Tesco opening so close to them?
If they are at the top of their game then there is obviously no need at all for them to do anything to improve, and if they are at the top of their game and their business is still failing then it isn’t a viable business and they should do something else.
It is not the resposibility of the individual or the community to keep people in business, it is the resposibilty of the business to provide goods or services that people want to buy, it’s not rocket science it’s economics.
It doesn’t cost money to give good customer service, (smile, be friendly and welcoming) it doesn’t cost money not to leer at female clientele and try to intimidate them, it doesn’t cost money to mop the floor and clean the windows.
You raise plenty of important issues in your next paragraph but that’s a whole other debate so for now I’ll stick to the point.
I actually feel very safe in my community, fear doesn’t stop me shopping in local shops, but it is only lack of choice that makes me continue to shop in some of the worse ones.
I’m lucky to love my job and I’m grateful everyday but it is not just raw talent, I taught myself my trade by hard graft, when I was setting up my business I worked 2 full time jobs.
Not everyone has my work ethic? Don’t I know it.
Maybe if more people did have my work ethic things would start improving.
When I am making a comfortable living and can afford to take a day off I would be honoured to get involved in a useful community project, (Dave Trew Chis Chalky and I did put on a fashion show last year to showcase local talent and raise awareness for the PRSC, we achieved quite a bit of nice PR, this is something we would all like to repeat in the future.)
For now I do what I can but as you say it’s not easy and squatters getting roads closed for hours (meaning customers couldn’t get to me or other local businesses) and costing the tax payer £60000 is not helping anyone….in my opinion that is.
If Tesco’s gets built, theres a slim chance it might attract the sort of people who give a fuck if someone is lying in the middle of the street, unconcious in a pool of their own piss rather than people who would choose to cross the road for fear their comedown might worsen.
Heroes – not hippies!
Dear all, I thought I’d pass this on, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this fine work from Tescopoly……………………
Welcome to the twelfth Tescopoly Local Campaign Bulletin.
Following Tesco’s record profits announcement on Tuesday and their announcement of a 20 per cent increase in its store opening programme to 2.4 million sq ft (the equivalent of 80 superstores according to The Times
we thought it would be good to focus on some recent success stories!
Recent Campaign Successes
Leek, StaffordshireApril 2010 – Staffordshire Moorlands District councillors voted unanimously to reject plans for a Tesco store off Buxton Road. Reasons for refusal included concerns that the Tesco store would draw trade away from the town centre and could lead to an increase in the number of empty shops. Planners maintained that Tesco had not fully explored alternative town centre locations. Please visit the campaign case study
for further information.
Milngavie, ScotlandApril 2010 – East Dunbartonshire councillors unanimously voted to refuse the application for a new two-floor store on an existing Tesco car park and a new two-storey car park on the site of the present shop. Reasons for refusal included concerns about the size and scale of the store being proposed and impact on amenities, concerns it would be out of character with the surrounding area, the future viability of Milngavie and Bearsden town centres, and the increase in traffic and air pollution.
Padiham, LancashireMarch 2010 – Traders in Padiham opposed plans for a 30,000 sq ft Tesco store. The local traders association, Padiham Town Centre Partnership, launched a campaign, producing posters and flyers which invited locals to support the objection to the store. On 4th March 2010, the Development Control committee rejected the plans by 6-2 votes on traffic grounds and on the impact to other traders in the town centre.
Sandiacre, NottinghamshireFebruary 2010 – Following a strong campaign from local residents Tesco withdrew its plans for a 24 hour 4,000 sqm eco store opposite the existing Lidl supermarket in Station Road, as part of a redevelopment of land alongside the Erewash Canal, in Sandiacre. The plans also included 380 car parking spaces, 8 home delivery van parking spaces and 8 x 100 sqm units of non food retail. In February the planning officer’s report was published and recommended the application was refused because of traffic issues, lack of retail need and environment issues relating to site and flood plain. On the 16th February Tesco withdrew its application.
Ashtead, SurreyFebruary 2010 – Tesco’s first application for a 12,000 sq ft store on a former Esso site was refused in March 2009 by Mole Valley District Council. In November 2009 Tesco submitted a new application for a slightly smaller store but this was refused in February 2010. Grounds for refusal included: the size of store, off street parking, excessive hours of opening, increase in traffic at Woodfield Lane and The Street junction, and pedestrian crossing too close to junction. Tesco is appealing the decision and a public inquiry is set to start on 20th July 2010.
Appeals
Now the bad news….Tesco continues to appeal a lot of refusals. Appeals heard after January 1st 2010 will be judged at appeal on the new PPS 4 – even if they were submitted under PPS 6. Supermarkets have 6 months in which to appeal a decision. For more advice on preparing for an appeal please email email hidden; JavaScript is required
Friends of the Earth Power Up training weekend – 7-9th May, St Albans
It’s not too late to sign up for the fantastic Power Up training weekend on the planning system and your legal rights organised by Friends of the Earth. Campaigners from local groups opposing supermarkets have attended previous Power Up weekends and found the training invaluable and inspiring. Friends of the Earth may also be able to help cover your travel costs. For more information email email hidden; JavaScript is required and see here
.
The aim of these short email bulletins is to share best practice, campaign updates and highlight any policy developments at the national level.If you do not wish to receive these emails then please email us asking to unsubscribe.
Very best wishes,
The Tescopoly Team
Why isnt anyone concerned about Sainsbury’s which is opening up on Gloucester Rd? why come down hard on just Tesco?
New Sainsburys is really nice. Hope the new Tesco is as good. Free Market wins every time it is tested. A lot of people in Bristol have to grow up.
The planning meeting to be on held Tuesday 8 December, which will include parts of Tesco’s planning application in Stokes Croft , will be webcast live on the internet.
The meeting begins at 2pm, if you are unable to make it to the Council House, you can watch the meeting live online at http://www.bristol.gov.uk/webcasts
actually it will be on weds. 8 Dec.
Excellent comment J – I too love the new Sainsbury’s.
As ever, Claire Milne is giving her dwindling band of sycophants false hope. Did anyone read the noise report? This is effectively Tesco’s last hurdle for complete planning consent, (which has been recommended for approval by the way). The report stated that the air-conditioning and refrigeration plant that Tesco plan to use will generate -11Db of sound. That’s barely audible unless you go stand next to it. I’d be fascinated to see just how Ms Milne plans to object to this in the correct legal context… (she won’t of course, she’ll just keep playing the same, tired, old record about how nasty she thinks Tesco is).
This trip to the council is yet another waste of everyone’s time and effort and the people that are taking part should be ashamed of themselves. It’s a battle they lost months ago. In fact, it was a lost cause to begin with.
So… Gentrification for Cheltenham Road…AT LAST. Fantastic.
If anyone reading this wants to keep Tesco out of Stokes Croft, then the very best way to proceed from hereon, is to properly recognise where Stokes Croft actually is, and delineate your borders accordingly.
why is opening new tesco stores so bad? not only are thousands of people employed directly by tesco, some of which i know and they love to work for them, but also all the people constructing the sites in a difficult time for the building industry. People need to support local small businesses, i do where they offer something that i want, but i use supermarkets for all the things they are good at. i do not understand why people try to stop a company trying to open a previously closed property in a road which is full of empty shops. The answer is quite simple if you do not like tesco, dont shop there. stopping all of these projects will mean a lot of people in the building industry not having work. Consider these peoples jobs as well, i know a lot of them.
A letter that i have sent in response to Sam Allens comment to the Guardian ‘’Bristol City council must support the community and reject Tesco’’.
I am a long standing member of Bristol’s Stokes Croft community and one of the shopkeepers in the area that the protestors are supposed to be representing. They don’t represent me,I don’t love Tesco’s and dislike the homogenisation of our streets but like many people in the area I’d rather a clean, people employing, rate paying Tesco local than another empty building covered in pigeon poo and pee. Like it or not, the fact that Tesco chose to come to Stokes Croft is testament that the community’s hard work is paying off and that the area is improving.
I feel utterly disillusioned by what happened on Thursday, I don’t blame the Police, the council or Tesco, I blame the protestors and their ”victim mentality”.
Sam talks about how circa 2000 people have been totally ignored by the authorities despite coming up with a multitude of creative ways to make it clear how much the local community don’t want this kind of development.
Contrary to Sam Allens views about how the ”Say No to Tesco in Stokes Croft” campaign has been handled, I blame Thursdays on a lack of real creativity and perspective (a much larger Sainsburys opened two mintues up the road not 6 months ago in a much more commercially sensitive area with much more potential to damage the local economy and there wasn’t a whisper).
The protestors believe that because the Tesco local is now boarded up that they may now have reached a watershed where the council will realise they made some awful mistake, and might now tell Tesco to leave. That is so wrong. The cause is basically lost. How can the Council ”support the community” and tell Tesco to go? 8 policeman injured, passers by and locals frightened, the Tesco firebombed and it’s neighbouring independent shop vandalised, there is paint all over the road and the protestors have rekindled the perception that Saint Pauls and the surrounding areas of Bristol are basically a ”no go zone” despite years of hard work and millions of pounds spent on rehabilitating the area. The council should not and must not bow to this kind of violent protest, it is a huge set back and actually Tesco should open it’s doors and be trading again as soon as possible.
Sam Allens talks about a feeling of powerlessness! I think this feeling is being mixed up with weakness. Weakness is losing the plot and smashing things up because you do not get your way. Weakness is believing you are a victim to Tesco. On this occasion there are actually many reasons why we don’t have to be victims.
Stokes Croft is an area with many empty or squatted buildings, the rents and rates are low. There is so much potential for lots of great independent businesses to open up. That means that if a business wants to open up and thrive in the area it isn’t too hard. Tesco’s seized the chance to take one of these properties because they saw that.
Instead of being a bunch of victims (and in some cases expecting to be able to have buildings for free) why don’t these people write a business plan, raise some money and start a viable business and take up the space so Tesco can’t.
Surely that’s creativity, even in this day and age of homogenised streets and big business it is still possible to be independent and do well. In fact If you have a entrepreneurial mindset you would go so far as to say that as long as Tesco’s exist and continue to grow (and are hated for it) the more the good independent shops that represent the exact opposite will thrive too.
Mitch Wise – Local home and business owner, Stokes Croft, Bristol.