Tesco consultation is waste of money, councillor claims

Liberal Democrat councillor Martin Swainston has said the consultation process into the proposed Tesco development in Darlington town centre has been a waste of money and unnecessary.
The Darlington councillor made his comments after receiving a letter from the borough solicitor which says a report, commissioned by the council with consultants Colliers, is likely to conclude there is limited capacity for food retail in the town centre. Coun Swainston said this fact had already been established in a report commissioned from consultants Drivers Jonas in 2001.
"This was a non-starter - how much is it all going to cost? " The latest report from Colliers, which has yet to be finalised, but the conclusions of the report are known to the council, confirms that there is still limited capacity. Coun Swainston said: "The reports have confirmed that there is no additional retail space, so what has all this been about. The consultation should have asked what people genuinely wanted at the site not whether or not they liked Tesco."