Tesco will be operator of supermarket
Dec 2 2010 by Brian Daniel, The Journal
SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has been named as the operator of a proposed new store in Northumberland.
The company has been named as the one that will run a planned supermarket at Amble, which is being put forward in partnership with the Duke of Northumberland’s estates.
The partners have submitted a joint reserved matters planning application for the £5m scheme and say it would bring 150 jobs to the town.
Last night, people who have objected to the project in the past repeated concerns over impact on a green area, and the town’s shops.
However, they acknowledged the need for jobs in Amble following the collapse of its biggest employer, Northumberland Foods.
The estates submitted an outline bid for the development – without an operator on board – plus 46 houses, on land north of Queen Street, in 2008.
Objections were voiced by scores of local residents, concerned at the prospect of an access road being built on The Braid, a green area.
A band of homeowners at Rivergreen submitted an application for village green status to stop the road being built. A public inquiry was held following which Northumberland County Council decided the site of the road should not be designated village green.
The estates’ planning application was approved by the county council last summer, despite officers recommending refusal. Yesterday, the estates announced Tesco as its operator and revealed they have submitted the more detailed application to the county council this week.
The scheme is for a 30,000 sq ft store with 200-space car park, and the new access road. Tesco has announced it hopes to create 150 full and part-time jobs. The housing element of the development is not included in the new application.
Barry Spall, development planner at the estates, said: “The submission of this reserved matters application represents a massive boost to the local economy. The principle of developing the site and improving the retail offer in Amble has already been unanimously supported in principle by Northumberland County Council, and now we can move on to the details of the supermarket’s scale and appearance.”
Douglas Wilson, Tesco’s corporate affairs manager, said: “Amble, like many towns in the county, has been badly affected by the recession so we are confident this news will be warmly welcomed.”
Last night, Roger Armsden, who lives at Rivergreen and has fought the scheme since it was announced, said: “My concern is not the supermarket, my main concern is the effect on The Braid but I do accept thatwith the closure of the food factory, although it has reopened with some jobs, that jobs are important to some people at the moment. One has got to wonder what is going to happen to the existing shops, whether there is going to be a net overall gain or loss.”
