Sacriston shopkeepers angry over Tesco go-ahead

Mar 12 2010 The Journal

PLANNING bosses were accused by angry shopkeepers of “condemning us to go out of business” after approving a proposal for a village Tesco.

Durham County Council’s area planning committee approved a proposal to build a store on land which was a former church hall in Front Street, Sacriston, yesterday, despite traders warning they could go out of business.

The development also involves the moving of the village war memorial, which some objectors described as “an insult to those who fell in the war”.

Stephen Sanderson, who runs the Village Store with his wife Jill, told the meeting: “One in five high street shops in the North East are currently standing empty and if you allow this proposal to go ahead the shutters will go down in shops along the village street.

“We have a wide range of shops in Sacriston and Tesco would take the trade from the existing shops.

“The existing shops in the village provide a good range of choice of goods and currently operate on a slim profit margin. Tesco will take enough of their custom to lead to the closure of the shops.”

Opponents to the plan included Sacriston Parish Council, local county councillor Anne Wright, and North Durham MP Kevan Jones, who said a Tesco store operating in Sacriston would “detrimentally affect the vitality of the village, potentially leading to empty premises that could become a target for anti-social behaviour.”