the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign

The planning officers have (as usual) recommended approval of Tesco’s most recent application, for the installation of refrigeration and air conditioning plant. We think they are wrong, in planning terms, to recommend approval – in fact, we think that their report cannot be a sound basis for approval because it depends entirely on two false assumptions. We will be presenting a detailed response to the planning officers’ report in the next few days. In the meantime, the two main points are:

Read the rest by downloading the report here download

Following a recent article in the CEN, our Planning Co-ordinator has responded as follows:

If, by this, you mean that I find it unfortunate that the planners have failed even to note that the grounds for approval are completely unsound, then yes, I’m disappointed. If you mean I think it’s surprising that the planners are relying entirely on an acoustic report paid for by Tesco - a report which a professional in the field has told the planners is unreliable - then yes, I’m disappointed. If you mean I think it’s very regrettable that the council website wrongly told local people trying to object on line that the deadline for for objections had passed when it hadn’t, then yes, I’m disappointed.

It’s also disappointing that Tesco are wasting local taxpayers’ money with this application when they clearly don’t intend to open a store with it. It’s disappointing that Tesco care so little about this application that they couldn’t even be bothered to submit all the correct documents (such as an accurate site plan) when they applied. It’s disappointing that a company that claims to listen to local communities is happy to ignore thousands of local people on issues as important as road safety and traffic congestion.

But am I disappointed in the sense in which you claimed? No. Tesco have lost every battle so far and I do not expect their losing streak to end with this slipshod application which has all the same problems as the other, failed applications before it.

Ruth Deyermond
Planning Co-ordinator
No Mill Road Tesco Campaign

Here is the original article:

Tesco poised to win Mill Road battle

TESCO is set to win its battle for Mill Road as its plans for air conditioning and a refrigeration unit are recommended for approval.

The planning application is the final hurdle for the company which first submitted plans for the former Wilco store in the popular Cambridge street last September.

It seeks permission to install three air conditioning units at the back of the shop and erect a refrigeration compound.

Tesco says the planning permission it already has for signs and a cash machine means it can open a store in Mill Road.

If the current application is granted by councillors on Thursday,July 31, work will start as soon as possible.

The site is currently occupied by squatters who have set up the Mill Road Social Centre but the supermarket giant has already secured a possession order which will force them to move before work starts.

Hundreds of objections to the plans have been received by Cambridge City Council but case officer Angela Briggs said the issue was not whether Tesco should open up on the street, but whether the application was in line with the rules.

In a report to councillors, Mrs Briggs wrote: “Despite being very aware of local concerns about the perceived implications of this development and the genuine concerns raised, I do not consider there to be good, clear cut and sound reasons for refusing the application for the condenser and the air conditioning plant and approval is therefore recommended.”

The No Mill Road Tesco campaign said it was disputing the acoustic report submitted with the application and also claimed the inclusion of a condition on delivery times conflicted with the report’s assertion that debates over car parking and deliveries were not relevant.

Ruth Deyermond, from the campaign, said: “We are obviously disappointed that they have recommended approval again.”

Michael Kissman, speaking on behalf of Tesco, said: “We are pleased with the recommendation and will now wait for the final decision.

“If the plans are approved we have got a team in place and can look at completing the work which needs to be done in the following weeks and months.”

Cambridge City Council’s east area committee will consider the application when it meets at St Philip’s Church, Mill Road on July 31 at 7.30pm.

Council planners have now confirmed that a decision on the new application by Tesco will take place at the next East Area Committee on Thursday 31st July. Details of where and when to follow. Please put the date in your diary.

The council planners have now published their report. As we expected, and as they did last time, they recommend approval. The Campaign is in the process of analysing this report and will publish our views shortly.

In the meantime, please write to your Councillors to tell them how you want them to vote on 31st July. You can find their e-mail addresses at:  http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/ccm/content/committees/area-east.en 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>
  • Chris Howell <chris.howell@cambridge.gov.uk>
• Abbey:
  • Caroline Hart <caroline.hart@cambridge.gov.uk>
  • Miriam Lynn <miriam.lynn@cambridge.gov.uk>
  • Margaret Wright <margaret@corona4.fsnet.co.uk>

We have heard that some people were unable to submit their objections to the latest Tesco application, because the council’s electronic submission form told them that the deadline for objections had passed several days before it actually had. As you may remember, there were problems with the electronic submission of objections for the first application, and it appears that this problem has still not been sorted out.

We are trying to collect details of all the cases where this has happened. If your objection was submitted before the deadline (8 July) but was not accepted, please let us know. You can email us at info@nomillroadtesco.org

BATTLE plans to stop Tesco opening in Mill Road are being drawn up by protesters.

The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign is meeting next week to thrash out its next move.

They are determined to stave off the march of the supermarket giant into the street famed for its unique independent shops.

The move comes after Tesco bosses vowed to start work on the controversial shop in July, as the News reported.

They decided to go ahead with the store despite being refused planning permission for an extension.

That proposal was kicked out by councillors in March after more than 1,000 letters of objection and street protests.

Now Tesco chiefs have one more bridge to cross - planning permission for an air conditioning and refrigeration plant.

But the next meeting of council planners will be on July 31, which protesters say may scupper Tesco from starting work as planned.

Campaigners believe the bid will be blocked because Tesco’s announcement that it will start work in the store before the application is heard will “alienate” councillors.

And they have vowed to carry on fighting the supermarket giant, which already has more than 50 per cent of the grocery trade in the city.

Campaign spokeswoman Ruth Deyermond said: “Obviously they could, in theory, start work on the site before the council vote, but I can’t think of a quicker way to alienate the councillors than Tesco giving the impression that they expect any application they make to be simply nodded through.”

In the last six months, Tesco planning applications for stores in Poynton, Cheshire, Stourbridge, Inverness, Sheringham, Norfolk, Bradford and Mill Road in Cambridge, have been rejected, giving hope to campaigners.

A Tesco spokesman said: “The planning application will go through the normal democratic process, and we will await the outcome.”

INDEPENDENT stores like those on Mill Road, Cambridge could be protected from the arrival of big-name stores if planning rules are tightened.

The Government has announced plans to change the rules to protect small shops and curb “clone-town Britain”.

A tougher “impact test” is being introduced to give councils a better tool to prevent big developments that put small shops and town centres at risk.

It could help residents fight off unpopular commercial developments like Tesco’s plans to open up on Mill Road in Cambridge which was met with a storm of protest. However Cllr Ian Nimmo-Smith, leader of Cambridge City Council, who reported the supermarket’s plans to the Office of Fair Trading, demanding an investigation, said it was too early to tell whether the changes proposed would help to preserve the character of Cambridge.

He said: “We will welcome planning policies which give local people an opportunity to express their preference for individuality and character in their shopping areas and we will look with interest to see whether the Government brings forward anything which helps to achieve this.

“Clearly the issues raised during the Tesco debate are ones which local people felt their preferences were not being adequately expressed through the planning system.”

The proposed changes which would affect guidance known as Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning for town centres were announced by Hazel Blears, Communities and Local Government Secretary.

She said: “Our priority is to ensure we do not see more and more stretches of the nation’s high streets turned into bland ‘every towns’ where every high street has the same shops, the same look, and the same sterile feel.
“We need more individuality, more small scale independent shops, and a new spirit of independent enterprise on our high streets.

“That’s why we plan to give councils more scope to curb ‘clone-town Britain’ and to block large out-of-town developments that can rip the heart out of town centres and threaten the survival of many high streets and smaller shops.”

The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign is today celebrating a year without Tesco on Mill Road. July 13th 2007 was the date Tesco submitted their first planning application to Cambridge City Council – and one year on, they’re still a long way from opening a shop on Cambridge’s liveliest street.

In a year of campaigning, the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign has attracted support from hundreds of local people.

At a special East Area Committee meeting on March 6th, over 400 local residents watched city councillors vote unanimously against Tesco building an extension, which would have made it possible for them to open a viable shop on Mill Road. That application has gone to appeal. The campaign is now preparing to fight Tesco again at the July 31st East Area Committee, where a new application from Tesco for an air conditioning and refrigeration plant will be considered by local councillors.

Campaign activist Sarah Whitebread commented, “In the past year, almost everything that could go wrong for Tesco’s on Mill Road, has gone wrong. They’ve been refused planning permission for their extension, and now with the alcohol impact zone on Mill Road, they probably won’t get an alcohol license either”.

Sonia Cooter, Campaign Coordinator added “Tesco were fooling themselves if they thought they could open on Mill Road without a fight. The amount of public support the campaign has enjoyed is proof that most people just don’t want a Tesco here. The campaign has had a hugely successful first year – but the fight isn’t over yet. I hope as many people as possible will come to the East Area Committee meeting on July 31st, at St Philips Church, Mill Road, to remind Tesco how strongly local people feel about this.”

By way of demonstration that campaigning can work - as if our own two wins against Tesco aren’t enough - we highlight other cases from around the UK where Tesco have failed to receive Planning Consent. Not however that our campaign concerned with Tesco on Mill Road, rather than Tesco as a company per se.

• St Albans - We Won! 10 Reasons Why The Council Said No! (30th June 2008)
• Worcester - Thumbs down for Tesco plans (27th June 2008)
• Sunninghill - Tesco plans rejected / Tesco plan thrown out after 600 objections (12th June 2008)
• Poynton, Macclesfield - Tesco is no match for people power (5th March 2008) - only a few days after our own success!

In the Sunninghill case, the grounds for refusal appear to be very similar to our case in Cambridge, and the refusal withstood an Appeal

Tesco have now made a new application for the old Wilco site. This application is for the installation of air conditioning and refrigeration plant only - there is no new application for an extension. (They are also still trying to get the refusal of the last application overturned by the Planning Inspector, but they don’t seem to think their chances are very good.)

Read the grounds for objection.

You have until 8 July to write to the council. Please write to:

Mrs Angela Briggs
Environment and Planning,
Cambridge City Council,
The Guildhall,
Cambridge,
CB2 3QJ.

Or email her at: angela.briggs@cambridge.gov.uk

Or comment through the Council Planning Portal

Those of you who submitted objections to Tesco’s original applications should have been notified by the Council that Tesco have now launched a second appeal, this time appealing the decision taken by the East Area Committee.

The appeal says, amongst other things, that:
“The appeal site is highly accessible with a number of transport links in the area” (!)

The appeal also focuses on deliveries - Tesco say (wrongly) that they can deliver to the front of the site - i.e. stop on Mill Road. Not surprisingly, the appeal document makes no mention of the facts that:

1. conditions attached to the existing planning permission for this particular site expressly prohibit on-street deliveries;
2. the Cambridge Local Plan also states clearly that deliveries must be made off street (Local Plan 8.21)
3. at least 30 on-street deliveries of up to 40 minutes each in 10.35 metres (34 foot) lorries would obviously cause terrible traffic problems (congestion, emergency vehicles not being able to get down the street).
4. Mill Road already has one of the worst accident records in Cambridgeshire.

They mention that they will also seek to have the top of Sedgwick Street made two way and to have some parking spaces on Sedgwick Street removed.

Please resubmit your objections to the Planning Inspectorate. If you submitted an objection to the first appeal (ref APP/Q0505/A/08/1202697) you can simply resend the same document, changing the reference number to
APP/Q0505/A/08/2073579/NWF. You need to send 2 copies of your letter to the following address:

The Planning Inspectorate
3/16 Eagle Wing
Temple Quay House
2 the Square
Temple Quay
Bristol
BS1 6PN

Letters need to be received by 17 June.

If you submitted your original objections by email, you may not have been notified of the appeal by the council (we have previously told them about this problem). You are still free to make submissions to the Planning Inspectorate, as is anyone who did not make objections to the original applications.