Calls for action to be taken against Tesco for planning breach
Tuesday 14th September 2010, 6:30PM BST.
Calls were today made for action to be taken against supermarket giant Tesco for breaching its planning consent for a store in Shrewsbury for the past three years.
The calls come after councillors this month rejected retrospective plans by the supermarket to increase the amount of space it uses for non-grocery goods at its Shrewsbury Extra store.
Tesco submitted the plans for its Battlefield store after admitting it had “inadvertently” breached its planning consent at the site since it was built in 2007.
It has been using an additional 624 sq m over the permitted figure.
The store was applying for a condition to be amended to allow it to have 4,789 sq m of sales floorspace including 2,071 for non-grocery goods.
Today Dr Maxwell Winchester, a Shropshire councillor, called for Shropshire Council to take enforcement action against Tesco and has written to officers asking what steps will be taken.
Councillor Winchester said: “This company has been breaching a planning condition for three years with no action ever taken.
“While a planning application was being considered we kept getting told that the enforcement couldn’t happen because the application was being considered.
“Now a decision has been made, enforcement action should be taken.”
But Stuart Thomas, Shropshire Council’s central area manager, said although the central planning committee had given its decision, no decision on any possible action could be made until the application had been considered by the authority’s strategic planning committee.
Tesco was unavailable for comment on the application today.
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Dream on Dr Winchester
council has no money to be squandering on lawyers that will be torn to pieces by the far more expensive lawyers that Tesco will respond with.
If you think the democratic process will win in a court of law then you are naive in the extreme.
While I absolutely believe Tesco should be punished I will not be happy if the council throw hundreds of thousands of pounds at it and end up not only losing but paying Tescos hundreds of thousands in legal costs. Were that the case I will not feel I have had value for money out of my council tax.
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Give tesco premission to use the extra 624 sq m but charge them and extortinate price for doing so. result for the council save a fortune in costs and make some money in the process.
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I don’t know why anyone should be in the least surprised by this outcome. Councils right up and down the country cave in to Tesco daily. According to the Government’s Planning Policy Statement 1 it is the right of the community to decide the future shape of their environment – there is so much collusion and if not that then cawardness arround. Tesco threaten and the local authority cave in. Inspectors are often far from even in their conclusions even when you do get the Council on your side and fight your way to appeal.
See Friends of the Earth’s two reports on the abuses to the system and dirty tricks played by Tesco (every item legally proved) they are called ‘shopping the bullies/ and ‘calling the shots’ and include a case where Tesco actually built their store 22% bigger than the permission so what’s a bit of movement from convenience goods to comparison goods here or there.
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After all this banter it all boils down to the fact that Tesco is a much much bigger, richer, organised and successful organisation than disorganised, wasteful, toothless, faceless and broke Shropshire Council.
Andy has it absolutely right and if it comes to court then I will be the first in the queue to buy tickets for an event that will endorse Shropshire Council as the laughing stock amongst councils that it has been the length and breadth of the country for quite a while now.
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tesco are taking over the world
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