Tesco & Planning

spen666

This story in Evening Standard amused me

Tesco withdraws superstore and flats plan
Evening Standard
08.10.08 Tesco has withdrawn plans for a major redevelopment of its Old Kent Road store after claims that it could undermine new shops at the nearby £1.5 billion Elephant and Castle regeneration.

Tesco's plans for the six-acre site included a superstore and 369 new homes in blocks up to 13 storeys high.

The scheme encountered strong opposition from the Elephant and Castle consortium, led by Olympic Village developers Lend Lease, as well as Mayor Boris Johnson and Southwark council. The Mayor's planning team said it breached the London Plan because it would not be in a designated retail centre.

Transport for London objected to the increase in shoppers' parking from 290 to 563 spaces and the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment compared the blocks of flats to a Sixties housing estate. Tesco said it would rethink, but remained committed to the plan

I'm not interested in Tesco at all, but found it interesting that the Mayor's planning team object to a redevelopment of an existing store as it would not be in a designsated retail centre. Isn't the existing store a retail centre?

Also TfL objecting to increased parking. Could this ber because it will take people away from the busses in the Area


Could the real reason Tesco withdrew it be they couldn't get the funding to pay for it

idaviesmoore

spen666 wrote:

Could the real reason Tesco withdrew it be they couldn't get the funding to pay for it

What happened to thier stupid-hundred-million profit they made this year? Did they lose it down the back of the sofa or something? :?

spen666

idaviesmoore wrote:

spen666 wrote:

Could the real reason Tesco withdrew it be they couldn't get the funding to pay for it

What happened to thier stupid-hundred-million profit they made this year? Did they lose it down the back of the sofa or something? :?

the Shareholders need their dividends you know

chuckcork

spen666 wrote:

Also TfL objecting to increased parking. Could this ber because it will take people away from the busses in the Area

I assume that being responsible for transport issues generally they would be concerned about the growth in motor traffic.

Ever been to one of these large stores? Hundreds of parking spaces and yet almost nothing for bikes. Says it all...

pneumatic

My local Tescopoly was turned down for permission to extend their store a few years back. Since then, they have taken revenge on the local community by gradually reducing the range of choice. Every time I go, something I like has been discontinued. Very soon, all they will have in this eight aisle shop is crisps (a whole aisle already), sugary drinks (a whole aisle already) and biscuits (a whole aisle already).

I swear that they look at my clubcard records as a guide to what items to discontinue next.*

I expect they are hoping to stimulate a campaign for a better (i.e. bigger) store. That wouldn't be needed if they just stocked the existing one properly.

*And, it is all very well thinking that I'm just paranoid, it's not you they are out to get!

idaviesmoore

chuckcork wrote:

spen666 wrote:

Ever been to one of these large stores? Hundreds of parking spaces and yet almost nothing for bikes. Says it all...

Tescos buy cheap, sell hard, stock the worst kind of rubbishy fruit and veg they can dredge up and are heavy on the refined, sugary products.

Why the hell should they be bothered about cycling, or fitness in general? :?

spen666

idaviesmoore wrote:

chuckcork wrote:

spen666 wrote:

Ever been to one of these large stores? Hundreds of parking spaces and yet almost nothing for bikes. Says it all...

Tescos buy cheap, sell hard, stock the worst kind of rubbishy fruit and veg they can dredge up and are heavy on the refined, sugary products.

Why the hell should they be bothered about cycling, or fitness in general? :?

Bit of editring gone on there. I never said what you appear to be attributing to me

idaviesmoore

"]

chuckcork wrote:

[



Ever been to one of these large stores? Hundreds of parking spaces and yet almost nothing for bikes. Says it all...[/quote]


Bit of editring gone on there. I never said what you appear to be attributing to me

It's not a dig at you or chuckcork (who pointed this out initially) it's merely my own feeling about Tescos (and most other prominent chains)

OffTheBackAdam

spen666 wrote:

the Shareholders need their dividends you know

Especially if it's your pension fund that holds some of those shares!

Now, how much of your weekly/fortnightly shopping can you carry home in your saddlebag & panniers anyway?
As for what they stock, they stock what the locals buy the most, so if the locals buy nowt but ready meals, crisps & coke, that's what they'll be selling.

idaviesmoore

OffTheBackAdam wrote:

[
As for what they stock, they stock what the locals buy the most, so if the locals buy nowt but ready meals, crisps & coke, that's what they'll be selling.

If they stocked better would the public buy better :?

I think it's a bit like TV 'dumbing down'.

What came first: Unhealthy people demanding sh1t food, or supermarkets supplying bad food to have bigger profits?

Special K

Tesco is one part of the unholy alliance that makes Britain a less pleasant place to be.

The other half of this axis of evil is The Daily Mail newspaper, also known at our house, anyway, as The Bigot.

Tesco reflects everything that is cheap and nasty and unimaginative about the worse and darkest corners of our country and I am ashamed by its success. I find myself agreeing with Spen (!) and sympathising with anyone who is stuck with Tesco as their local supermarket.

Their business model may be similar to the others but their is something both stupid and calculating about the whole deal that it somehow reminds of George Bush...

Right, that's it. I'm off to Borough Market to buy some food which has not been tortured or grown with water stolen from displaced peoples.

spen666

OffTheBackAdam wrote:

...

Now, how much of your weekly/fortnightly shopping can you carry home in your saddlebag & panniers anyway?....

I get all mine in my panniers & rucksack

spen666

Special K wrote:

Tesco is one part of the unholy alliance that makes Britain a less pleasant place to be.

The other half of this axis of evil is The Daily Mail newspaper, also known at our house, anyway, as The Bigot.

Tesco reflects everything that is cheap and nasty and unimaginative about the worse and darkest corners of our country and I am ashamed by its success. I find myself agreeing with Spen (!) and sympathising with anyone who is stuck with Tesco as their local supermarket.

i'm not sure what it is you are agreeing with! I'm not sure I was making any real point re Tesco

Their business model may be similar to the others but their is something both stupid and calculating about the whole deal that it somehow reminds of George Bush...

Right, that's it. I'm off to Borough Market to buy some food which has not been tortured or grown with water stolen from displaced peoples.

boybiker

Special K wrote:

Tesco is one part of the unholy alliance that makes Britain a less pleasant place to be.

The other half of this axis of evil is The Daily Mail newspaper, also known at our house, anyway, as The Bigot.

Tesco reflects everything that is cheap and nasty and unimaginative about the worse and darkest corners of our country and I am ashamed by its success. I find myself agreeing with Spen (!) and sympathising with anyone who is stuck with Tesco as their local supermarket.

Their business model may be similar to the others but their is something both stupid and calculating about the whole deal that it somehow reminds of George Bush...

Right, that's it. I'm off to Borough Market to buy some food which has not been tortured or grown with water stolen from displaced peoples.

The way they torture those poor carrots is a disgrace.

pneumatic

idaviesmoore wrote:

OffTheBackAdam wrote:

[
As for what they stock, they stock what the locals buy the most, so if the locals buy nowt but ready meals, crisps & coke, that's what they'll be selling.

If they stocked better would the public buy better :?

That's the problem with the business model. There is an assumption that "the public" is homogenous. If I live in a town where a slight majority of people prefer ready meals and carbonated syrup to fresh food, why should it be assumed that I have the same tastes? It is insane, insulting, insensitive and it makes me incensed! :evil:

beverick

spen666 wrote:

This story in Evening Standard amused me

Tesco withdraws superstore and flats plan
Evening Standard
08.10.08 Tesco has withdrawn plans for a major redevelopment of its Old Kent Road store after claims that it could undermine new shops at the nearby £1.5 billion Elephant and Castle regeneration.

Tesco's plans for the six-acre site included a superstore and 369 new homes in blocks up to 13 storeys high.

The scheme encountered strong opposition from the Elephant and Castle consortium, led by Olympic Village developers Lend Lease, as well as Mayor Boris Johnson and Southwark council. The Mayor's planning team said it breached the London Plan because it would not be in a designated retail centre.

Transport for London objected to the increase in shoppers' parking from 290 to 563 spaces and the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment compared the blocks of flats to a Sixties housing estate. Tesco said it would rethink, but remained committed to the plan

I'm not interested in Tesco at all, but found it interesting that the Mayor's planning team object to a redevelopment of an existing store as it would not be in a designsated retail centre. Isn't the existing store a retail centre?

Also TfL objecting to increased parking. Could this ber because it will take people away from the busses in the Area


Could the real reason Tesco withdrew it be they couldn't get the funding to pay for it

Sorry. I don't understand the concept of Tesco applying for planning permission in the first place. They just know how to work the system.

Tesco have a habit of submitting outline planning permission to develop building (a) and then go on to develop building (b) which is usually something completely different (their store in Stockport is a classic example. It's virtually double the size that the local authority permitted yet they had to provide retrospective planning permission after it had opened).

In one town (in East Anglia I seem to remember) they kept re-applying for outline permission but, when they were pressed by the local authority, confirmed that they had no intention to build anything. It's just that whilst the council were considering their application they wouldn't consider applications from the other supermarkets.

If tesco have pulled out it's because they either have a 'plan B' or they've managed to spanner someone elses development and can now move on.

Bob

DavidBelcher

idaviesmoore wrote:

OffTheBackAdam wrote:

[
As for what they stock, they stock what the locals buy the most, so if the locals buy nowt but ready meals, crisps & coke, that's what they'll be selling.

If they stocked better would the public buy better :?

I think it's a bit like TV 'dumbing down'.

What came first: Unhealthy people demanding sh1t food, or supermarkets supplying bad food to have bigger profits?

It's the old unethically-reared chicken and battery egg situation.
If they did stock better in terms of quality/variety, the danger then is that the competition in the fresh goods market - i.e. small and usually independent butchers, greengrocers, bakers, etc. - often gets forced out of business.

David