the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign

Thanks to all who helped or attended our stall at the Mill Road Winter Fair.

As darkness descended, we projected news about the Campaign onto the Wilco site.

The NMRT campaign is having a stall on the Mill Road Winter Fair this Saturday 6th December and is seeking helpers to staff the stand for an hour or two.  This would involve handing out leaflets giving the current status of the Campaign and other information, getting people the opportunity to sign up to the mailing list (if they are not already on it) and selling the new NMRT torch key rings (price £1.50 each).

Ideally we would like to have 3 or 4 people staffing the stall at any one time. The stall will be there from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm. At present there are committee members (one at a time) covering the whole day but they will need support. If you would like to volunteer to help for an hour or two, please contact us stating what time you would like to be on the stand.

Please do come along and say hello on the day, even if you do not want to help with the stall!

Information about the whole Winter fair can be found at:
http://www.mill-road.com/winterfair_timetable.aspx

The Public Inquiry forced by Tesco’s appeal to the Planning Inspectorate will start on Tues 30 September 10am, at the Guildhall Council Chamber, Market Square.

• Please download and display the poster

It’s very important as many people as possible come along to show the strength of local feeling.

Please be there by 9.45am.

The Campaign will be speaking, but anyone else wishing to speak (the more the better) may inform the Planning Inspector then, and you can say if you do not wish to be questioned by the lawyers present.

The atmosphere should be non-confrontational.

The Inquiry is scheduled to continue on Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd October.

You do not need to be there all the time, or every day – just for the 10am start on Tuesday 30th September and stay for as long as you can.

A member of the public has added this video of the end of our speech to the East Area Committee, 31st July, 2008, to YouTube.

The student-run CUSU Ethical Affairs Campaign are running a Discussion Café on Monday 10th March at 7.30pm at the new student-run cafe on Jesus Lane.

A representative of the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign will report on progress with our Campaign.

(This meeting is rescheduled from last week’s postponed meeting.)

Councillors have rejected Tesco’s plans for the extension to the building, which was the key planning application, following our Campaign.

Thanks to everyone who helped achieve this first victory!

More news will be posted shortly.

Architecture Sans Frontiers Cambridge in association with the No Mill Road Tesco campaign are to hold a presentation of awards of the 1st ASF design competition. There will also be a display of the competition entries.

Architecture Sans Frontiers Cambridge is an independent student society at Cambridge University and part of the global ASF network. Its objective is to learn from architects and architectural practices around the world to develop and promote sustainability and community in architecture. As part of this we also see working at a local, community level as hugely important.

The design competition applies the ASF principles of: innovative sustainability, community Involvement and ethically considerate design to a real local context.

The ‘Wilco site’ has been the location of an ongoing battle between Tesco who wish to develop the site and the local community who oppose this. The ASF competition seeks to find an alternative to the alternative most adapted to sustainability and the needs of the community.

The presentation will take place on Saturday 1st March at 5:00pm in the Lecture Room at the Department of Architecture, 1-5 Scroope Terrace, Cambridge CB2 1PX.

There will be snacks, wine and soft drinks provided.

For more information on Architecture Sans Frontiers please consult www.asf-uk.org

Elected Councillors of the East Area Committee will make the decision on the Tesco planning applications for Mill Road on 6th March. Details of the meeting are:

Date: Thursday 6 March 2008
Time: 7.15pm for 7.30pm start
Place: St Philips Church, 185 Mill Road, Cambridge

Please put this in your diary now, and come to the meeting.

Papers:

• Main agenda paper which then links to:
  • 3.1 08/0099/FUL 163 – 167 Mill Road, Cambridge
    Erection of single storey rear extension and installation of plant.
    Pages 1 – 38
    3.2 08/0098/FUL 163 – 167 Mill Road, Cambridge
    Installation of new shopfront including ATM unit
    Pages 39 – 52
    3.3 08/0095/ADV 163 – 167 Mill Road, Cambridge
    Installation of one double sided internally illuminated projecting sign and one internally illuminated fascia sign.
    Pages 53 – 68
    3.4 07/0811/FUL 163 – 167 Mill Road, Cambridge
    Erection of single storey rear extension and installation of plant.
    Pages 69 – 124
    3.5 07/0810/FUL 163 – 167 Mill Road, Cambridge
    Installation of new shopfront including ATM unit
    Pages 125 – 138
    3.6 07/0809/ADV 163 – 167 Mill Road, Cambridge
    Installation of one double sided internally illuminated projecting sign and one internally illuminated fascia sign.
    Pages 139 – 154

The Campaign is in the process of analysing these reports and will publish our views shortly.

The latter three applications listed above are in relation to the previous submission of planning applications by Tesco, which are now the subject of an appeal. [Read more ...]

In the meantime, please write to your Councillors to tell them how you want them to vote on the 6th March. You can find their e-mail addresses at: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/about-the-council/councillors/ and they are listed here:

• Romsey
  • Catherine Smart <chlsmart@cix.co.uk >
  • Sarah Ellis-Miller <sarah.ellis_miller@ntlworld.com>
  • Raj Shah <raj.shah@cambridge.gov.uk>
• Petersfield:
  • Ben Bradnack <ben.bradnack@cambridge.gov.uk >
  • Kevin Blencowe <kevin.blencowe@cambridge.gov.uk>
  • Lucy Walker <lucy.walker@cambridge.gov.uk>
• Coleridge:
  • Jeremy Benstead <j.benstead@cfr-uk.co.uk>
  • Lewis Herbert <Lewis.Herbert@cambridge.gov.uk>
  • Tariq Sadiq <tariqsadiq@btinternet.com>
• Abbey:
  • Caroline Hart <caroline.hart@cambridge.gov.uk>
  • Miriam Lynn <miriam.lynn@cambridge.gov.uk>
  • John Durrant <john.durrant@cambridge.gov.uk>

The weekend, outside the proposed Tesco site, a group of singers from the Campaign sang songs celebrating local communities around the world. Thanks to all who took part!

Singing outside the proposed Tesco site