Asda rejects centre’s bid
Friday 13th November 2009, 2:41PM GMT.
Developers today launched a last-ditch bid to tempt supermarket giant Asda out of moving from Telford Shopping Centre.
Centre owner Hark has unveiled a multi-million pound plan to build Asda a new branch for it to transfer to, close to its current location in the mall. But the move could fall on deaf ears as Asda chiefs today said they were not interested in the scheme.
Asda is currently on the brink of moving on to Telford & Wrekin Council’s Malinslee House civic headquarters site just on the fringe of the town’s main hub.
Council spokesman Russell Griffin today confirmed Asda had already signed a deal to buy the civic centre site.
But Hark director Rob Cossey said he did not expect the supermarket to win planning permission for the move.
Hark, acting for the trustee owners of the town centre, said it had today written to the council to request “pre-application talks” with planners ahead of an application for a new store being submitted imminently.
If approved, it would be built on part of the Red Oak car park and be integral to the existing town centre.
Mr Cossey said the store would offer a modern trading environment to suit Asda’s current and future requirements, or those of any other leading multiple retailer.
Mr Cossey said transitional arrangements would enable the store to move easily from its old site to the new and construction work would be finished by 2014 when the existing Asda lease expires.
Mr Cossey said: “We regard Asda as a great trader and a key element of both the existing and future town centre.”
But a spokesman for Asda today said: “Asda is fully committed to its planning application submitted in October and to ongoing discussions with Telford & Wrekin Council.
“Our proposals were warmly received by local people, with the vast majority supportive of our plans. We will continue to promote our plans for a major investment in Telford and look forward to working with all of the community over the coming months.”
By Simon Hardy
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If they want to keep Asda in the town centre, scrap the parking charges on Asda carpark at least for Asda shoppers. Why do they think they’re moving? – because Asda Telford loses business to the overly packed Asda Donnington (xmas rugby scrums beckon!) and other supermarkets as shoppers will not pay to park to do their grocery shopping. It’s one thing to have to pay to shop at a shopping centre where you buy non essentials (annoying enough) but quite another kettle of fish to have to pay to park whilst you pop in for a bag of carrots!
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Oh please do it Asda. I’m begging you not to build the awful design you have proposed on the site of the council offices. At least not without some radical changes to the design.
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I think you’ll find if Asda do move, Tesco will move in and have free parking. It makes business sense and will destroy Asda in Telford centre
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Years ago i used to visit Telford town centre shopping mall by car when it was free parking but i refuse to pay to park when i am giving my money to the town.
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I recently came over from the US to visit my family in Telford but I did not visiti Telford Shopping centre. No way will I pay to park and shop. In fact i have a friend sitting with me as I write this and she said “What you have to pay to park and shop over there”!
Parking was free for years at Telford shopping center. parking charges are just pure greed by the center owners as is the parking charges at Princess Royal hospital.
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The trend is for large supermarkets to shift out of town centres and this is a good move from Asda and Telford council.
Maybe Hark should concentrate on more appropriate businesses for the town centre. There is a serious lack of local or independent retailers in the centre Maybe the kind of effort being made to entice Asda would me more productive used on others.
What I would like to see is a diverse and interesting centre
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I think every1 wud prefer to have a supermarket in the actual town centre itself. I don’t care if it is Asda or anyone else, as long as it’s convenient. Maybe we wud nt hav to pay anyway if someone new came in as Tesco (or other) might negotiate…
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Stick to your plan Asda, Hark should have thought before. The parking charge should be scrapped, why should you have to pay to park to shop, they make enough out of the business rents.
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Have you seen what Asda have proposed? Its pretty shoddy. Straight off the shelf of their generic designed out of town stores. Very little thought has gone in to it.
Notwithstanding the free parking which I’ve got no problem with even though they could lessen the impact by having it below ground or Multi storey. We should be demanding the highest quality of design for our town centre after all we’ll be the ones stuck with it for at least the next 30 years. Not only that but we should be using all the redevelopment opportunities presented to us to improve the town centre by doing away with the ocean of surface car parks, dead frontages and buildings placed illogically to try and create streets like a normal town would have.
The building that the Hark have offered Asda is by contrast to their own proposal pretty special. The design looks amzingly unique and dare I say it even ‘iconic’. I hope it gets built whether its for Asda or Tesco or anyone else.
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Grey – What do you expect ASDA to build? The 9th wonder of the world? Anything is better than the eyesore which are T&W Council offices
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They can do better than that. I’ve been looking into some of their other schemes in town and city centres. They usually come as a mixed use development with offices or homes above like in Barnet or Park Central in Birmingham. Or at Lowesmoor in Worcester where they are planning a large retail led redevelopment involving a network of streets and a multi storey car park to reduce the impact of the car. I’m not suggesting that these proposals are perfect for Telford but they at least to do something worthwhile in these places while we in Telford will get yet another bland retail shed of the kind people so dislike.
Follow this link to Propertyweek to see what the counter proposal http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3153310&c=1
It may not be perfect but its of a good size for a building in the centre of a town the size of Telford, its very different and eye catching (see the grass walls) and the parking looks to be above the store reducing the visual impact of it.
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By the way – the new Asda store will NOT have free parking! I emailled and asked when the plans were first released!
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Thanks for the info Michelle. I had just assumed that it would be free considering that was the only thing I could see anyone being happy about. In that case it seems they really are trying to take us for all we’ve got. Buying it cheap from the council, a cheap design, inefficient use of land, dead frontages on three sides and they still expect us to pay to park there. How much profit do Wal-Mart need sheesh?
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I can’t understand the fuss about Asda – give me Waitrose any day of the week.
Anyway, I do like the look of the proposed building: http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3153310&c=1
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I was told that if you spend over £5 then you should be able to get a refund of the parking fee.I was told that if Asda offered free parking that town centre customers would use that car park instead. I still think it should be free, as should the town centre. When I was out of work I had to pay to park to visit the Citizens Advice and the Library!
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Maybe you will have to get a car parking ticket and then get a credit towards payment on production of it if you spend a certain amount of money?
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Asda are idiots. They will end up without a foothold in Telford Town Centre. They are playing a dangerous game! I don’t care where I shop, they are all the same. I hope Hark get someone like Waitrose!
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