Villagers' fears over Idle Tesco Express plans

8:40pm Friday 25th November 2011 in Bradford By Tanya O'Rourke

Coun Alun Griffiths with the responses to the Tesco Express plan by villagers Coun Alun Griffiths with the responses to the Tesco Express plan by villagers

A supermarket giant’s plans to build a convenience store in Idle have sparked an “astonishing” response, a ward councillor has said.

Local shopkeepers have set up a petition against the plans for a Tesco Express store in Leeds Road, which they believe could “destroy” their business.

Concerns have also been raised about the potential for increased traffic and parking problems on nearby residential streets.

A planning application is being considered by Bradford Council, which would see the construction of the convenience store on the site of what is now the car park of The George pub.

Councillor Alun Griffiths (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) and his colleagues representing the ward sent letters to 600 houses in the area and received more than 100 replies.

He said: “We have had an incredible response, 80 letters and 30 emails, which is an astonishing response.

“About six people have said they are okay with it but the vast majority are concerned.

“Traffic in the area is a concern, and a general feeling there’s quite enough supermarkets in the area anyway. There are worries about the effect it will have on small shops, parking on the surrounding residential streets and so on.

“We would be concerned about the effect on the village, on small stores and the traffic. It’s a residential area, there’s a quiet cul-de-sac next to it and the people that live there are concerned.”

Thakor and Manjula Patel run T&V Off Licence and News in Fourlands Road, opposite the proposed site.

Mrs Patel said: “It’s not needed here, it could destroy our business, we’ll have to shut it down, board it up, how would that look?”

A Tesco spokesman said: “We’re proposing a small convenience store beside the George Pub so there will be plenty of parking in the car park although we do typically find that around two thirds of our customers in our community Express stores are very local and come from within 1km, many of them by foot.

“We plan to bring convenience and good prices for customers and a new store would create around 20 full and part-time jobs.”

Comments(12)

Joedavid says...
9:55pm Fri 25 Nov 11

Good it will be nearer to me than thier present nearest store, save me diesel, hope it opens soon.

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Vegan Justice says...
12:03am Sat 26 Nov 11

TESCO is taking over the world. Boycott them and support your real local shops.

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Willard says...
9:39am Sat 26 Nov 11

Vegan Justice wrote:
TESCO is taking over the world. Boycott them and support your real local shops.
For the first time I find myself in some agreement with Vegan Justice. I am off to lie down and take a couple of aspirin. Why? when we have Morrisons, Sainsbury, and all the shops in Idle do we need another Tesco.

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MontyLeMar says...
10:52am Sat 26 Nov 11

It's reaching saturation point. Tesco seem to think they have to build just to show they are progressing and don't give a **** about local businesses. There's a thriving commercial community just down the road (nice walk, call in The Albion for a pint of real ale) in Greengates where there are shops galore. No I think this is a silly site to choose. Block it! I bet the owners of The George are happy though. They let the pub go down the pan and are rescued by selling land to Tesco.

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Albion. says...
11:41am Sat 26 Nov 11

Willard wrote:
Vegan Justice wrote:
TESCO is taking over the world. Boycott them and support your real local shops.
For the first time I find myself in some agreement with Vegan Justice. I am off to lie down and take a couple of aspirin. Why? when we have Morrisons, Sainsbury, and all the shops in Idle do we need another Tesco.
It's only a local convenience store, If it's anything like the Lower Baildon one most people won't be able to afford to shop there anyway.

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sjbetts says...
3:01pm Sat 26 Nov 11

This "small convenience store" (as described by Tesco) is to be less than 2m away from our garden fence, taller than our home and would block the afternoon sun from our west-facing conservatory and rear garden. From our point of view (or lack of it) it would be neither small nor convenient!

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sjbetts says...
3:03pm Sat 26 Nov 11

This "small convenience store" (as described by Tesco) is to be less than 2m away from our garden fence, taller than our home and would block the afternoon sun from our west-facing conservatory and rear garden. From our point of view (or lack of it) it would be neither small nor convenient!

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vikksy says...
3:46pm Sat 26 Nov 11

I find it sad. Tesco's, apparently, are no longer sponsoring 'Race for Life'. However, they are giving to London's gay parade. Now do they really care about a village.

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Albion. says...
6:17pm Sat 26 Nov 11

vikksy wrote:
I find it sad. Tesco's, apparently, are no longer sponsoring 'Race for Life'. However, they are giving to London's gay parade. Now do they really care about a village.
Cottage maybe?

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idleone says...
12:48pm Sun 27 Nov 11

Not needed. The coop is just a short walk away in Idle Village. I fully support the local shops. T&V stores are great-friendly and well stocked. I will still use them if Tesco do get permission to build. I will also from now on boycott the George pub. Owned by a big faceless chain, it's no part of our community.

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Bone_idle18 says...
12:37pm Tue 29 Nov 11

The George has been rubbish for quite a while now. It used to be a nice pub but last time I went it felt very shabby, the beer was poor and the food uninspiring.

anyway, I don't think a Tesco is needed in the area. There's already a the coOp, plenty of small convenience stores, a Nisa at Thackley corner, a Premier a bit further along and the new Asda and Sainsburys at Greengates, not to mention Morrisions at five lane ends.

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savebrickhillparade says...
5:21pm Wed 7 Dec 11

20 NEW jobs which will cause 20 jobs to be lost elsewhere. Look on the web and see how many people they have upset. More than all the other 3 big supermarkets put together. Someone somewhere have got to stop TESCO'S

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