Time running out for Tesco, warns Saxon
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TIME is running out for a new Tesco development in Thurso, according to the town’s Highland Council Labour candidate.
Roger Saxon claims the community’s suspicions the supermarket giant is "land-banking" are true.
He said Tesco had had planning permission for a new store at the Ormlie Road site for long enough and its chance should now be up.
"It’s time we told them their planning permission has passed its sell-by date," he told the John O’Groat Journal.
"Tesco had to be pressurised by the community council before they cleared the site, but now they have left us with a moonscape of crushed rubble and weeds.
"This is totally unacceptable, not just for the amenity of local residents and the lack of progress on the development, but it also gives a very bad impression of the town for anyone arriving by train."
Despite continuing attempts by the Groat, Tesco’s corporate affairs manager for Scotland, Gloria Coats, was not available to comment on Mr Saxon’s claims.
Yesterday the Highland Council’s local planning office confirmed once planning permission was granted, a developer had five years in which to act — although this has recently changed to three years for new applications.
Tesco’s planning application to build a new retail store with a petrol station was granted in August 2009.
Mr Saxon said if action was not taken soon, he would press for a full planning inquiry, withdrawal of the planning permission and, ultimately, for the Highland Council to undertake a compulsory purchase so the land can be resold for another development.
"If the council won’t move on the issue, I will petition the Scottish Parliament to set up an inquiry along the lines of the Competition Commission’s 2006 inquiry into how Tesco operates to stifle its competition," he said.
"It’s time someone stood up to big developers playing ‘Tescopoly’ with our town."
Mr Saxon has contacted the Tescopoly campaign website — www.tescopoly.org — an alliance of organisations concerned with the impact on local communities that large stores such as Tesco have.
Members of the campaign include the GMB trade union, Friends of the Earth and independent think-tank the New Economics Foundation.
Mr Saxon said the campaign was keen to be kept in the loop about Tesco developments in Thurso and he had been working with Pentland Community Enterprises since last year to try and find a community use for the supermarket’s existing Millbank store, put on the market in June last year.
"This would allow them to move to the mart site without fear of a competitor taking over their original site," he added.
"Discussions were proceeding as recently as November last year but Tesco just stopped responding."
Mr Saxon said the supermarket giant recently announced 20,000 new jobs — which Thurso could have had its share of.
The Labour candidate said even a smaller express-sized supermarket with a petrol outlet plus a shopping mall, along the lines of the one at the south entrance to Wick, would be an improvement on the current site of rubble.
