the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign

Have a look through our timeline of 500 days without Tesco on Mill Road.

Breaking news: Tesco have LOST their first appeal (and the associated non-determination appeal) for the Mill Road site.

The Inspector concluded:

“I find that both of the realistically available servicing options would pose unacceptable risks to highway safety, which would not be outweighed by benefits or the fallback position. I therefore conclude that both appeals should be dismissed.”

Read the full Appeal decision letter from the Government Inspector.

It remains to be seen if Tesco will pursue their second appeal (for an application to instal plant with no extension).

For now, though, we would like to thank everyone who has made this possible. Thank you if you came on the march, wrote letters of objection, emailed your councillors, formed part of our human lorry, trudged around delivering leaflets and posters or just spoke to people about Tesco’s plans. This campaign has been a huge community effort and everyone’s contribution has been vital.

Have a look at the new counter on the right-hand side of this page to see how many days we as a community have so far managed to keep Tesco off Mill Road!

The inspector’s report should come out at the end of November. We will report when we have more information.

Tesco also have a second appeal pending. Again, we will report when we have more information.

Thank you for your support.

It is clear from the evidence at the Appeal hearing currently taking place that Tesco and their transport consultant think that blocking Mill Road for twice 41 minutes per day (or potentially more in practice) for their deliveries with 34ft lorries would not cause “significant” disruption to safety and flow of traffic.

Here is a video we have been sent which displays the kind of chaotic scenes caused by lorry deliveries already. We argue that the problem should not be allowed to be made worse.

[This was followed by our Planning Statement which will be online in due course. This speech below was to set the tone for why we exist.]

I would like to make a brief statement explaining to the inquiry the reason for the existence of the No Mill Road Tesco campaign, before handing over to my colleague Dr Deyermond, who will cover the campaign’s planning objections to Tesco’s applications.

After all, as a Planning Inspector you visit many towns, making decisions in accordance with national and local planning policy. For someone representing Tesco, this is simply another relatively small store in another street in another town. Next week, no doubt, there will be another case involving another store in another street in another town.

For us, though, this is our town, and our community, and we think it is worth fighting for.

Continue reading ‘Public Inquiry Speech – our opening statement’ »

We organised a human lorry to demonstrate the amount of space that will be taken up by their deliveries from Mill Road itself and a sidestreet, if they manage to find a way to do this. Obviously as we were unable to block the road, never mind for the 40 minutes that Tesco propose, but these pictures should give an idea of the disruption that Tesco propose to create.

[Show as slideshow]

Permission is granted to reproduce these images, as long as the source, “No Mill Road Tesco Campaign – www.nomillroadtesco.org” is credited.

No Mill Road Tesco shopping bags are now available, for a £3 donation!

Limited Edition

Free delivery in Romsey – call 07950 656799, or purchase from Libra Aries Bookshop (near the Wilco site).

Here is a quick update on the state of play at present.

Planning Application

Tesco submitted a planning application for air conditioning and refrigeration equipment for their planned small Tesco Express store at the old Wilco site on Mill Road. This application was refused by councillors at the East Area Committee meeting on 31 July.

Mill Road Social Centre

The eviction of the Social Centre and emptying of the site was contracted by Tesco two weeks before the refusal of the latest planning application. No shop fitting has taken place, but the premises have been gutted.

Planning Inquiry

Tesco’s original application for an extension to the site (plus air-conditioning and refrigeration plant) was turned down by the council in March. Tesco has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate to overturn the council’s refusal.

The public inquiry starts on 30 September at 10.00 am at the Guildhall.

Over the course of their applications for planning permission in respect of this site, and their appeals to the planning inspectorate, Tesco have made a number of claims about the need for the proposed Express store and its accessibility by public transport. Some of these have been repeated, and none retracted, in their current application (08/0794/FUL).

We thought it would be useful, therefore, to highlight the existing situation, in the context of which Tesco is making these claims. We have created a number of maps which can be viewed online:

View maps of local stores, and other maps, demonstrating the lack of need for a Tesco

1. The existing grocery stores and off-licences on Mill Road
2. Food stores in the immediate vicinity of the proposed Express site
3. The existing Tesco-owned stores in Cambridge and the surrounding area
4. Existing Tesco-owned stores on train lines from Cambridge