Published: July 11, 2012
Expanded Burnham Tesco 'to open in November' amid council concern

The multi-million pound expansion of Burnham-On-Sea's Tesco supermarket is set to be completed in mid-November, it has been confirmed this week, despite council concern about some of the new facilities.

The supermarket giant told Burnham-On-Sea.com that the expanded store is due to open to customers on November 12th.

"It will double in size and offer a wider food range, a new bakery and fish counter, a new clothing area and pharmacy, plus an improved store layout with wider aisles and more checkouts," said spokeswoman Sophie Akokhia.

But the news that the store is to include a pharmacy has sparked concern among some town councillors, who say it was not part of the original plans and will hurt the trade of existing chemists in Burnham town centre.

The matter was raised at a Town Council Planning Applications Committee this week, where it was confirmed that the council has written to Sedgemoor District Council's planning department expressing concern about the pharmacy.

Town Council Clerk Eileen Shaw stated: "I know that my council objected to the inclusion of a pharmacy and that the report that went to committee when this application was considered suggested Tesco was not intending to include a pharmacy."

During this week's meeting, a statement from Sedgemoor's planning case officer Rob Morgan confirmed that Tesco appears to have changed its decision not to have a pharmacy after the planning application was passed.

However, he added that Tesco has a clause within its application that allows it to use up to 20 per cent of its floor space for non-food products, so the chemist has been allocated to this space.

Burnham councillor Peter Burridge Clayton, who chaired the meeting, said: "The district council has no objection, but we will be interested to monitor the store's use of space as it develops."

The supermarket is giving more than £300,000 of community funding towards the regeneration of Burnham town centre to offset any damage to traders.

Pictured: The Burnham-On-Sea Tesco store under development this week and, above, posters promoting the new pharmacy and new facilities