CEN article: Tesco hit with noise notice over city store
[Note: The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign has no view beyond Tesco’s potential effect on Mill Road. However, we are highlighting this article, as it comes only a week after Tesco was refused the Mill Road store on noise grounds (and others).]
SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has been served with a noise abatement notice on its Newmarket Road store.
Residents claim they are constantly aware of the hum of fans on the site and are woken each morning at about 5am as a unit tied to the in-store bakery is started up.
The problems were first brought to the attention of Cambridge City Council’s environmental health team in April last year, and have been ongoing since that time.
The notice, served “recently” according to a Tesco spokesman, comes after the retail giant was denied crucial planning permission for a refrigeration unit for its proposed new Express store in the city’s Mill Road last week.
Cllr Margaret Wright, whose Abbey ward includes the Newmarket Road Tesco, said: “Since I was elected in May I have had a number of complaints from residents about this and have brought them to the attention of the environmental team.
“Many residents in the block of flats in that area have just one window that points towards the back of the shop and are being woken every morning at around 5am.”
A resident of Riverside Place spoke to the Newsabout the effect the noise is having on him and his neighbours.
He declined to be named but said it was making life very difficult.
The resident said: “All I want is to be able to sleep with my window open. Everyone is pretty ratty with the lack of sleep and it’s like living with the noise of a 747 frankly.
“Not only do we have the constant hum of the cooling compressors on the roof, but we also have the fans linked to the bakery which come on at 5.14am each morning.
“We’ve had the environmental health officer round to come and do testing and so have our neighbours, but it’s about the lack of respect Tesco seem to have had for the community.
“We have asked them nicely, but they have failed to sort it out, so now we’ve had to complain officially.”
A spokesman for the Riverside Place management company confirmed the notice had been served.
“We do regard Tesco as a good neighbour. However, a refitting of the cooling systems on the site for the purposes of energy efficiency has led to unacceptable levels of noise. We are looking forward to a speedy resolution of the matter with Tesco.”
A spokesman for the city council said complaints had been received and the environmental health team was investigating them.
A Tesco spokesman said: “We’re working closely with the environmental health officers and are keen to resolve any issues.”
