Stourport and the proposed Tesco supermarket
More on Tesco for another push at Google ;-)
janutd said:
Why didn't they do it on the friday of the 3 Kings Parade when the town was crowded.I agree Friday would have been a much better time, perhaps there were constraints in getting forms printed. I of course missed them on Saturday (See Slabbing) but it would be odd if they didn't canvas the shopkeepers whom I sure could be relied on to sign; I'm sure they'd have got more then 600 signatures oh and I wish they'd stop refering to it as "Anti-Tesco". I wonder if they're going out again this Saturday?
At least HJ Beard's (Eutronics) isn't staying empty and we're getting a Subway - yay more people walking around stuffing their faces and dropping litter; though at least it's some way into town and not parked by the riverside.
We know the problem in Bridge Street with the old market and what looks like the small amusement arcade being sold (having blipped past the sign), but hopefully the Basin Link will rejuvenate that part of town and encourage people over to the 'dead' side of Bridge Street - hell we might even get a decent market on it rather than the tatty thing we had tucked down Raven Street. None of that will help though if a supermarket is built on the CoW site.
I've mentioned the local plan a few times, but here's the pertinent quote regarding the Carpets of Worth site
provide for a mix of land uses to include B1 business and C3 residential. Other uses including retail (A1 and A3) may be acceptable, subject to the provisions of the Retail Strategy and the policies of the retail section of this Plan;Hopefully you see the emphasis is on B1 and C3 with A1 (which covers the proposed supermarket) being acceptable only within certain terms.
For those unfamiliar with the class structure here's the general outline -
A1 - Shops
A2 - Financial and Professional Services
A3 - Restaurants and Cafes
A4 - Drinking Establishments
A5 - Hot Food Takeaway
B1 - Business
B2 - General Industry
B8 - Storage or Distribution
C1 - Hotels
C2 - Residential Institutions
C3 - Dwelling Houses
D1 - Non-Residential Institutions
D2 - Assembly and Leisure
So Tesco are looking at a a Class A1 with D2 petrol station whereas the plan favours B1 general business (think Anglo House etc.) and C3 houses and doesn't even mention D2 filling stations. Well we're getting the C3 houses, but wouldn't one B1 business be better then one A1 shop? That's where the fight is - no Class A1 buildings on the site(especially one that size), build them up in town and on the new Basin Link instead. Oh and no D2 either.
[Update: - My error petrol stations are Sui Generis not D2, in other words unique structures.]
Anonymous said:
Council members should go out and mingle a bit more,If you think that's a problem now think what'll be like when they build their new offices in Kidderminster.
2 comments:
On the first round of Tesco's plans for Stourport I went over the use of classes under the 'Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987' which you have listed here. Putting both Stourport and Tesco aside I believe there is a fundamental flaw in the 'A1' classification.
An official source states A1 Shops includes "Shops, retail warehouses, hairdressers, undertakers, travel and ticket agencies, post offices, pet shops, sandwich bars, showrooms, domestic hire shops, dry cleaners and funeral directors". Then you have to remember this was reviewed but not altered back in 1987. I contend that a lot has changed in the retail industry since 1987 and there is a big difference between high street shops (e.g. hairdressers, post offices etc...) and supermarkets and hyper-markets etc..., yet they come under the same classification.
Supermarkets generally command a larger footprint (portion of land); they operate longer opening hours; they have greater implications on the local traffic, local economy and the local environment; and, the buildings are usually fabricated and temporary (sheet steel frameworks).
I therefore propose a class A0 is created for supermarkets, retail parks, hyper-markets etc… and A1 left for 'high street shops'. This would benefit local authority planners in making local plans more effective to their area. It would also help local residents and concerned groups better understand local plans.
For this cause I have created a on-line government petition, A0 Class Petition[http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/A0Class/].
Done and done.
The actual 1987 Order's a hoot check this little bit -
Class A1 "for the retail sale of goods other than hot food,"
Class A3 "Use for the sale of food or drink for consumption on the premises or of hot food for consumption off the premises."
So no restaurants, pubs etc. serving hot food to be eaten on the premises until the 2005 amendment -
"Use for the sale of food and drink for consumption on the premises."
Presumably they were all Sui Generis before that.
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