the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign

We have already had various messages of support for the March:

“We send you our support. Preserve your local shops as we have tried to do in our town. keep Mill Road Local. There are enough supermarkets in Cambridge.”

From Saffron Walden & District Friends of the Earth

Message of support from the home village of Tesco chief exec Terry Leahy. David and fellow campaigners have been fighting off the planned tesco in their village for some time and they have offered to do what ever they can to support our campaign here in Cambridge.

David Holland – “Keep Cuffley Rural”

The Keep Chorlton Interesting group has been campaigning since March against the application to build a Tesco Express in Chorlton, Manchester and is a coalition of local people, councillors and independent retail businesses. Last Thursday we won an important step forward in the campaign against the Tesco application.

The Council Planning Department’s recommendation was to approve the application. But following our campaign the planning committee councillors voted unanimously for a “Minded to Refuse” motion. We still have a lot of work to do – but this was an important victory.

We take heart from Finchley where the Council’s decision to refuse a Tesco Express was upheld by the Planning Inspectorate. We can – and will – win – so can your campaign.

Keep Chorlton Interesting group, Chorlton, Manchester

Tesco have submitted plans to move into Mill Road, Cambridge, one of Cambridge’s most cosmopolitan areas. Over 4000 people have signed a petition against this and there remains huge public concern. Please join our announcements e-mail list to receive occasional updates about the Campaign and read why you should support our efforts to keep Tesco off Mill Road…

Mill Road area residents, shoppers and traders will march in a show of opposition to Tesco’s plans to open a store on Cambridge’s liveliest and most cosmopolitan street. 10,000 postcards advertising the march have been distributed in the city, and the organisers expect a huge show of support from people who value the real choice and diversity offered by Mill Road’s independent shops [1].

The marchers will gather on the green beside Parkside swimming pool (known locally as Donkey Common) at 12 noon on Saturday 24th November.

Before the march begins, Mill Road shopkeepers and concerned local politicians will say a few words, and there will be messages of support from other groups who are fighting to keep Tesco out of their communities -including some who have succeeded [2].

The march will end at the former Wilco site on Mill Road Broadway, which Tesco had already secured with a 15-year lease before making its plans public.

“As we want to cause minimum disruption to the busy life of Mill Road, when we reach the Wilco site we will keep the proceedings brief before dispersing,” said NoMillRoadTesco campaign coordinator Sonia Cooter.

Tesco already has three supermarkets and three smaller Express stores in the city, and according to the UK’s Competition Commission, pockets 51 pence out of every pound spent on groceries in Cambridge [3].

Research has shown that money spent at independent shops continues to circulate locally, supporting a range of jobs from window-cleaners to accountants. Supermarkets tend to make use of large cleaning, accountancy and other business services companies from outside the area, and this money – and the jobs it pays for – are lost to the local economy [4].

“When we first proposed the march, somebody suggested that we make it a funeral for Mill Road, complete with hearse,” Sonia Cooter added. “But the huge groundswell of public opinion reflected in the 4000-plus petition signatures and 1100 written objections have convinced us that Tesco can be beaten. We have therefore decided to make the march a celebration of Mill Road’s life and culture.”

For interviews on the day, contact Richard Rippin

For other contacts see http://www.nomillroadtesco.org/contacts/

Notes for editors

[1] A shopping basket comparison between a local Tesco Express store and the independent shops on Mill Road, debunked the myth that Tesco brings lower prices. See here for details: http://www.nomillroadtesco.org/resources/shopping-basket-comparison/

[2] The campaign against Tesco on Mill Road is supported by groups and parties across the community and the political spectrum. See: http://www.nomillroadtesco.org/action/supporting-groups/ for details.

[3] http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2006/grocery/provisional_findings.htm . For a summary, see http://www.nomillroadtesco.org/resources/competition-commission/

[4]  “Buying local worth 400 per cent more”, New Economics Foundation and Northumberland County Council, March 2005: http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/news_buyinglocalworth400percentmore.aspx