the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign

The No Mill Road Tesco campaign is, and has always been, completely non-party political. We welcome the support of anyone who shares our aims, but we do not endorse any candidate in the local elections.

At a meeting on Thursday 21st February 2008 we presented Councillors on the East Area Committee with a file containing the following documents:

• Comments on the planning officers’ report for application 07/0811/FUL for application 07/0811/FUL
• Response to the Planning Officers’ supplementary report document of 14 January 2008
• Our response to the signage report
• Precedents showing refusals of Tesco Express stores elsewhere
• Evidence of Tesco breaching planning conditions in other stores
• Results of car and delivery monitoring - Tesco Express Cherry Hinton
• Deliveries to existing Mill Road A1 businesses
• Quotes from traders about the impact of Tesco on their business
• FAQs
• A DVD copy of the Channel 4 Dispatches programme about Tesco
• Photo/map document

We also met with David Howarth, Cambridge’s MP and Norman Baker (MP for Lewes), on Friday 22nd February 2008.

We have just published a Newsletter, being delivered to 4,000 houses in the Mill Road area. Please contact us if you can help deliver some.

The minutes of the full City Council meeting of 6th December 2007 [agenda] have been published recently. They show that a motion (8e) put forward by Councillor Nimmo Smith on the subject of the Tesco applications was passed nem con, 19 votes in favour - 0 against.

Continue reading ‘City Council recognises public concern for Tesco proposal’ »

We have created a set of fact sheets - a set of 6 A4 posters containing key facts.

Please print off our new poster - as seen on the recent March for Mill Road - for your window!

Many thanks to Rob for these.

Unlike Tesco, we have been busy engaging and talking with traders about the effects that Tesco would have on Mill Road.

If you can help us with this, please do get in touch.

Volunteers from the No Mill Road Tesco campaign chatted with Cambridge Residents about the campaign at this year’s Mill Road Winter Fair. A number of volunteers braved the chilling winds to hold a stall at the old Wilco site.

Visitors to the stall included hundreds of people local to Mill Road and from all over Cambridge, David Howarth MP and even a troupe of Morris dancers and some of the characters from Star Wars! Volunteers answered questions about the campaign and helped visitors to the stall make funky ‘No Tesco’ badges. The No Mill Road Tesco petition grew by hundreds of signatures too. Visitors also brainstormed lots of ideas for possible alternative uses for the site instead of a Tesco store (see photos below).

Many of the visitors to the stall were supportive of the campaign’s aim to stop a Tesco store on Mill Road. The stall was also great opportunity to also engage with people who felt that a Tesco on Mill Road may be a useful thing. Many of these people felt that a Tesco Express meant cheaper goods - our shopping basket comparison helped to convince them otherwise!

Adults and children alike also took part in a fun quiz, which involved visiting six local shops (Limoncello, Balvs, Al Amin, Cho Mee Supermarket, Interflora and Kailash) to find out answers to questions about products sold there (products which one couldn’t find in a Tesco store!)

The prize draw will take place on Thursday 6th December 2007.

On 7th December, Mr John Cooter wrote to Tesco concerning the proposed new store. Tesco have sent back a response, which we have seen. We have written back to Tesco.

Dear Ms Duke,

We understand that you wrote to Mr John Cooter on 7 December, in response to his letter to you about the proposed opening of a Tesco Express on Mill Road. We were so surprised by some of the claims made in your letter that we thought it was important to respond.

Continue reading ‘Tesco’s response to a letter about the proposed new Tesco store on Mill Road’ »

Thanks to Sarah W for this video.