Town business leaders have launched a scathing attack on supermarket giant Tesco, claiming its actions could force many traders out of town.
Shop in the Loop, which represents the town centre, has accused the company of eroding Shrewsbury’s vitality as a retail and leisure centre by ‘cynically’ breaching planning consent.
Members are angry at the impact the supermarket has had on town centre trade, accusing store bosses of breaching planning consent to sell more of the items available in the shops within the river loop.
Tesco is applying to Shropshire Council to retrospectively approve two violations of its original permission.
Its Harlescott store was built three years ago with a retail sales area of 4,789 sq. metres as opposed to the 4,520 sq. metres approved – an increase of six per cent.
An area devoted to ‘comparison goods’ – those items Shop In the Loop businesses sell themselves – was also increased from the permitted 1,597 sq. metres to 2,071 sq. metres.
Members of Shop in the Loop have now written their letter of objection to Shropshire Council ahead of a decision on the retrospective application being made in September. They believe Tesco is not playing fair and if the application is passed it would be disastrous for the town.
In the letter to the planning committee, John Hall, chairman of Shop in the Loop, said: “The increasing out-of-town retail offer on Sundays has led to a significant reduction in Sunday trading in Shrewsbury over the past few years.
“We believe that there is no reason to vary the original consent other than to enhance Tesco’s already massive proportion of retail in Shrewsbury.
“To retrospectively approve this ridiculous series of ‘inadvertencies’ on Tesco’s behalf is simply wrong,” he added.
Mr Hall said he hoped planning bosses would take a stand on the issue.
“Tesco has been given planning conditions to keep to to protect the town centre and it looks like they’ve inadvertently or not ignored them.
“If it’s approved it will be a disaster and many businesses could be forced to move out of town,” said Mr Hall.
“It appears to us that Tesco is adept at making monkeys of planning authorities. We have cited examples that show their cavalier disregard for conditions imposed to protect other local businesses in other areas and it seems to us they are doing the same here,” he added.
A spokesperson for Tesco said: “The council’s independent retail consultant recently carried out a comprehensive assessment of Shrewsbury town centre. This clearly concluded that our Battlefield Road store has not had an adverse impact on the vitality or viability of the high street.
“What’s more, we firmly believe that the nearby Park and Ride provision is encouraging shoppers to link their trips to the store and the high street.”
What do you think? Email awilliams@shropshirestar.co.uk
by Anna Williams
