Durham Council u-turn on Tesco store causes anger
Jul 22 2010 by Kerry Wood, The Journal
A MAJOR supermarket development has been put in jeopardy by a council U-turn.
Tesco said it would create 250 new jobs and safeguard 150 existing ones in Consett, County Durham, with plans for a new store on the edge of the town.
The plans were approved by the then Derwentside District Council last year, subject to full approval by Durham County Council.
In March this year the plans were due before the county council – now the sole authority in County Durham – with recommendations from planners for approval. But the meeting was cancelled and now the plans are due before the county again with officers recommending councillors reject the plans.
That recommendation has been criticised by Tesco, whose corporate affairs manager Douglas Wilson said: “We are extremely frustrated planners have recommended refusal of our application when it was given the go ahead in March last year by Derwentside Council. At a time of recession it is a terrible waste of public money that this is being scrutinised yet again.
“We would not have committed millions of pounds to a project like this if we thought there was not a demand for a bigger and better store.
“We have been told over and over again by Consett shoppers that they travel as far as Hexham, Kingston Park and Durham to shop in Tesco because they cannot get what they want locally. When we carried out a public consultation in Consett 93% of people in the town were in favour of a new Tesco.”
The recommendation is an about-turn from March this year when councillors were advised to approve the eco-superstore with developers agreeing to plough £400,000 back into Consett and help turn it into a thriving shopping centre.
With its promise of new jobs, councillors on the former Derwentside District Council in 2009 believed the positives of the new store outweighed any potential negative effect it could have on taking shoppers away from the town centre. The only objection to the scheme came from rival supermarket Morrisons.
The chain store, which also has a premises in Consett, objected on the grounds Tesco had failed to prove a need for the development in Consett, it could adversely affect the existing town centre and its size was inappropriate.
In the latest report, due to be discussed next week, county planners say the new store would divert trade from the town centre.
The new recommendation has concerned some members of the council.
Consett North councillor Owen Temple said: “It was recommended with a couple of conditions such as £400,000 for the town but now the report is coming back to the council with a recommendation to refuse it and it begs the question: ‘Why?’
“From what I’ve read of the new and old reports the only thing that seems have changed is the acceptance that Consett’s retail offers were less than desired.
“And now they are saying Consett does not need any new retail and I can’t find the justification for that.”
