Reply to Tesco comment

An anonymous comment on my Look Mom we're on the telly entry requires a lengthier reply then I'd want to put in the comment section.

If this does go ahead no shopping will be done in the centre of town,because dispite the councillers saying ppl will go to the new tescos then walk to the town thats just bullshit tbh.They wont at all they will do one lot of shopping at tesco get in their car and go home.

Supposedly this is what the links are supposed to assist in. It'll provide a better pedestrian route into town for the two new housing developments to encourage them to shop in town. Pointing out the length of said walk and that they've a one-stop Tesco on their doorstep doesn't seem to make an impression on some people.

Gigal/Mitton Street/Severn road will all have pedestrian crossings on yes sur they will,but ppl wnt be using them.The biggest problem will be the traffic lights that will be put on Mitton Street and Severn Road,these will not help the flow of traffic,they will just continue to hinder the already overflowing horse and cart roads.Lichfield Street will be one way ONLY and that will mean that EVERY single peice of traffic will have to go Mitton Street.

Okay there's been mixed speculation about what is actually happening here, the plans show a split crossing at the mouth of Severn Road, and a single crossing at the other (Lichfield Street) side. The nature of these crossings is indeterminate, they may be similar to the current Gilgal/Mitton Street crossing points. (I'm ignoring speculation about a Pelican on Vale Road here)

The difficulty arises under two circumstances - Firstly the only crossing points on Mitton Street are at either end, whereas the Tesco main entrance is half-way along it. Try to walk on the 'correct' side of Mitton Street from Gilgal and the pavement vanishes as you get to Stour Lane. So either you're walking on the road with your back to the traffic or you're trying to cross the road there (or back at the crossing) with the intention of crossing back over a little later on (or walk up to the other crossing then all the way back down).

The second problem is the nature of the pavements themselves on Mitton Street, the best and widest pavement is the one opposite the Tesco site. It's been commented elsewhere about Tesco's naive idea to widen the pavement by narrowing Mitton Street which prompted much laughter.

This means the two main pedestrian routes (ignoring the long-winded river walk) are Lichfield Street and the Pinta Way Stour crossing, with only one of those actually leading into town.

So naff pedestrian routes into town mean everyone either stopping at the Tesco or driving to it and then turning around and going home.

Oh and yes there has been talk about turning Lichfield Street one-way (which let's face it, it is too damn narrow) except no-one seems to know which way to set it.

Oh and the clever asses at district council that turned down our idea to have a separate road for tescos lorries and petrol tankers to at least attempt to take some of the extra HGvs off our roads should be ashamed of themselves.

Hmm where would this road go? IIRC Tesco have already said they weren't going to use the extended Discovery Road for their lorries so that leaves Severn Road, which used to cope with the carpet factory deliveries before.

Once again they dont give a damn about residents are saying,they only care how much they can make for themselves in taxes and ahem other deals....

Well you might say that I couldn't possibly comment. I will point out that the residents' meeting did have at least one council member, though due to the rules he wouldn't have been able to comment directly either.

Another one tonight at 8pm Old Rose and Crown, Worcester Road; handy for the locals.

And the new Lichfield basin when we are here,what a joke,this is suppost to help tourism,...how exactly ? Can Stourport forward kindly explain how 140+ houses will bring ppl to Stourport ?

I don't think it's a tourism thing more a new home thing, the Midlands is supposed to provide X amount of new homes under the government's initiative and it's better then building on a green belt. Haven't seen any prices yet so locals may well find themselves priced out and the houses being bought as holiday homes.

Local and district council are showing themselves to be just as useless as Mr Brown and his muppets in goverment...

In some respects their hands are tied. As I've said they can only turn them down for official planning reasons "We (the people) don't want it here" isn't a reason they can use.