Save our Sheringham - Say NO to Tesco

Friday, December 18, 2009

Stores decision delayed until January

A final decision on the two competing Sheringham supermarket plans will not be made until after Christmas, it was announced today. Those for and against the long standing Tesco plan and the more recent Greenhouse community project had been hoping for a resolution to the debate on December 17, which was the expected date of a development control meeting at North Norfolk District Council. But the sheer weight of submissions received on the two applications has meant the committee will not consider the plans until either January 21 or 28 - although it could theoretically end up being postponed again. The news was met with very different responses from the teams behind the two plans. Speaking on behalf of the Greenhouse project, Clive Hay-Smith said: “We think this is absolutely the right decision.“There are many critical consultee responses still outstanding, and this brief delay gives the district council's planning officers every opportunity to fully inform elected council members on all aspects of this important issue.” But Nick Gellatly from Tesco said: “This delay will be frustrating for many people who were hoping for good news this Christmas when household budgets are so tight. “I'm disappointed because we're certain our store meets all the planning policy requirements councillors should make their decisions on, it will be a stone's throw from local shops.” Peter Battrick, spokesman for the district council, said December 17 had never been confirmed as a definite date, but it had been the aim of the council to bring it to committee on that day. “We are still receiving some fairly weighty submissions, evidence that needs to be looked at carefully and incorporated into everybody's thoughts,” he added.“It would have been useful to have it done before Christmas, but the council is not going to rush through things.” The two competing sides in Sheringham's continuing supermarket war have both lodged formal objections to the planning application put forward by their rival. Among the raft of supporting and objecting statements which will be considered by council officers and elected members both in the run up to January's meeting are an objection from the Greenhouse team to the Tesco plan and another from the Tesco team to the Greenhouse plan. Each lengthy objection raises a number of points. Clive Hay Smith, the man behind the Greenhouse plan, has claimed that the Tesco plan will see affordable housing removed and not replaced and that there are highways ground to refuse the application.Tesco for their part say their plan is a “more viable, sustainable and policy compliant scheme”. But both objections go into far greater detail than this and are many pages long.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Sheringham supermarket war latest

The two competing sides in Sheringham's continuing supermarket war have both lodged formal objections to the planning application put forward by their rival. The long running attempt by Tesco to build a store in town and the newer, rival Greenhouse 'ecostore' plan will both come before North Norfolk District Council's west area development committee on December 17. Among the raft of supporting and objecting statements which will be considered by council officers and elected members both in the run up to and during the meeting are an objection from the Greenhouse team to the Tesco plan and another from the Tesco team to the Greenhouse plan. Each lengthy objection raises a number of points.Clive Hay Smith, the man behind the Greenhouse plan, has claimed that the Tesco plan will see affordable housing removed and not replaced and that there are highways ground to refuse the application. Tesco for their part say their plan is a “more viable, sustainable and policy compliant scheme”. But both objections go into far greater detail than this and are many pages long. Mr Hay Smith, who was the first of the two to enter an objection, said: “The Tesco objection is not unexpected and we don't think that the general public or district councillors will be fooled by Tesco's latest attempt to discredit our scheme with this kind of self-interested misinformation and spin.” And Nick Gellatly from Tesco said: “We have written to the district council explaining why the Greenhouse store would not be right for Sheringham.“We have also found irregularities in the information provided on important issues such as traffic and the store's green energy proposals.”