Tesco faces demolishing supermarket extension
Councillors in Bury St Edmunds have refused to grant Tesco retrospective approval for a store extension which was built without planning permission. The council could now force the leading supermarket chain to demolish the extension. The embarrassing case is just the latest example of Tesco being forced to seek retrospective planning permission. Tesco has been forced to seek retrospective permission for wind turbines on stores. Last year the supermarket chain was forced to seek backdated approval after it was discovered that its new store in Stockport was 20pc larger than planned and more recently the retailer has also been forced to seek retrospective permission for wind turbines on stores.
The decision by councillors at Edmundsbury Borough Council - against the advice of the council's own planning officers - has set the set the council up for a David and Goliath battle with the UK's largest supermarket chain. Council sources expect Tesco to appeal against the decision. However a spokesman for Tesco said they hoped to work with the council to resolve the impasse. "The intention was never to go ahead and do this without permission. We consulted with council officers throughout. We will now work with the council to come up with a solution," said the spokesman.
Councillors overruled their own officials and refused to grant retrospective planning permission after hearing from the supermarket's neighbours. Objectors said the building was too big and had inappropriate white cladding instead of the red brick found across the back of the main superstore.
Mayor Margaret Charlesworth, who voted against the Tesco extension, said: "It wasn't in keeping with its surroundings in either scale or material. It is as ugly as you can imagine and it doesn't fit in with anything. Tesco should have been more sensitive - people's gardens should be their own private spaces."
Trevor Beckwith, a member of the planning and development control committee, told the East Anglian Daily Times: "It was dominating the backs of people's gardens. It was blocking the light at certain times of the day. People should be able to enjoy their gardens when they want and not when Tesco wants them to.
"The building itself is also pretty ugly and I don't see why people should have to look at that," he said.
The decision by councillors at Edmundsbury Borough Council - against the advice of the council's own planning officers - has set the set the council up for a David and Goliath battle with the UK's largest supermarket chain. Council sources expect Tesco to appeal against the decision. However a spokesman for Tesco said they hoped to work with the council to resolve the impasse. "The intention was never to go ahead and do this without permission. We consulted with council officers throughout. We will now work with the council to come up with a solution," said the spokesman.
Councillors overruled their own officials and refused to grant retrospective planning permission after hearing from the supermarket's neighbours. Objectors said the building was too big and had inappropriate white cladding instead of the red brick found across the back of the main superstore.
Mayor Margaret Charlesworth, who voted against the Tesco extension, said: "It wasn't in keeping with its surroundings in either scale or material. It is as ugly as you can imagine and it doesn't fit in with anything. Tesco should have been more sensitive - people's gardens should be their own private spaces."
Trevor Beckwith, a member of the planning and development control committee, told the East Anglian Daily Times: "It was dominating the backs of people's gardens. It was blocking the light at certain times of the day. People should be able to enjoy their gardens when they want and not when Tesco wants them to.
"The building itself is also pretty ugly and I don't see why people should have to look at that," he said.
posted by tescno at
11:16 am
