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July
28, 2005
Tesco's expansion of its Burnham store put
on hold as inquiry begins
Tesco's
plans to expand its Burnham-On-Sea store have been dealt a blow
after it emerged that a full inquiry into the proposals is
to be launched.
 At
a meeting of the district council's Development and Control Committee
this week, the decision to 'call in' the supermarket giant's plans
and launch the inquiry was announced.
Burnham
residents will therefore once again have a chance to air their
views about the controversial proposals - and feed them back to
the Government of the South West, a body linked to The Office
of The Deputy Prime Minister.
The
decision comes amid concern from some local people that the decision
earlier in the year by district councillors to give the plans
the green light is not in the best interests of the area.
"The
Sanders Garden World expansion plans were also called in and that
inquiry has been ongoing for many months now. If that's repeated
again here, it could mean that Tesco's expansion could be stalled
for several months," said town councillor Cllr Peter Clayton.
Once
the public has had its chance to air views, the Office of The
Deputy Prime Minister will decide whether to give the scheme the
go-ahead.
This
latest twist in the long-running story comes after the
supermarket giant bowed to pressure earlier in the year and made
several concesssions to win the backing of planners.
"Tesco
made considerable alterations to their original plans and these
were felt sufficient for the proposal to be passed by the district
council," said Cllr Louise Parkin at the time.
The
proposal includes a bigger shop floor area, a larger servicing
area, and a mezzanine floor comprising a café and staff
offices. This would be created by a substantial 2,368 square metrec
extension, resulting in a new store measuring 4,817 square metres.
Tesco
had agreed to accept a condition which would restrict durable
goods such as clothing, electrical goods, toys, CDs, DVDs, videos,
sports goods, kitchenware, household goods, and furniture to 25%
of the total floorspace.
The
decision to give the green light to the store's expansion plans
in March had come after more than a year's heated debate in which
some residents claimed the expanded store would better meet the
needs of shoppers in the area, while others said the expansion
would hit the trade of shops on Burnham's high street.
A
petition was submitted to the district council by Tesco in support
of the application, signed by 6,328 customers, which was one of
the largest numbers of signatures they had ever collected in the
UK for a store extension.
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