Good news as Tesco rules out expensive appeal

Anne Main has reacted to today's announcement from Tesco that they will not be appealing St Albans City and District Council's decision to refuse their planning application for London Road.

Anne Main, MP for St Albans, has reacted to today's announcement from Tesco that they will not be appealing St Albans City and District Council's decision to refuse their planning application for London Road.

The company also announced that it will be submitting proposals to redevelop existing properties which it owns on London Road, bordering the site, before Christmas, and will return with a new proposal for the main site shortly.

Anne said:

"Whilst it is good news that Tesco has decided to rule out going down the potentially expensive route of appealing the Council's decision on its plans, many of us had hoped that the refusal would mark the end of Tesco's involvement in this location, and that other uses could now be considered for the former Eversheds site.

I hope that the Council will refuse any new proposal which is not appropriate as an unsuitable development here could have damaging implications both in terms of its impact on the conservation area and on pollution in the vicinity. For years, St Albans has been blighted by this scruffy development site. This problem must be sorted.

On a positive note, I welcome the news that some action will finally be taken to redevelop the properties owned by Tesco on London Road as these have been left empty for too long. A similar scheme for the properties in Inkerman Road needs to follow as residents there are living under a Tesco cloud which is very damaging."

BACKGROUND

Text of Tesco announcement

Release date: 15 December 2008

Tesco to submit new application for London Road

Tesco has today confirmed that it will not be appealing against the Council's Planning Referrals Committee decision in July to reject its proposals for a development on London Road. Tesco will submit a new application in the coming year which will address the issues raised by the Council.

Speaking on behalf of the retailer, corporate affairs manager Nick Gellatly said:

"We were naturally very disappointed with the decision to refuse our scheme earlier this year but have decided that appealing would not be the best option. We want to go back to the community to seek views on a new scheme as we are still committed to developing a store on the site. While there is some opposition to Tesco in St Albans, we know that there is a huge amount of support for a new supermarket close to the City centre and believe that there is still a need for a supermarket in this location."

Details of the initial proposals for the new scheme are yet be finalised but are expected to be ready early in the new year. Tesco will then be in a position to start consulting again.

Mr Gellatly added:

"We know that it is important for us to get the new scheme absolutely right as, while St Albans is a modern and ever-changing city, it also has incredibly rich heritage which we need to be sensitive to. At a time of economic uncertainty across the country, we believe that this multi-million pound investment in St Albans will be boost to the city, bringing jobs, keeping shoppers from going elsewhere and acting as a catalyst for further investment."

Tesco has also recently received guidance on the Council's preferred option for the redevelopment of the properties on London Road. The Council has expressed a preference to Tesco developing a mixed-use scheme for the properties on London Road, maintaining the current retail units, while renovating the residential units. Tesco will be submitting an application for the redevelopment of these properties before Christmas."