Tesco have submitted plans to move into Mill Road, Cambridge, one of Cambridge’s most cosmopolitan areas. The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign was been set up to oppose these plans. So far, a huge number of objections to these plans have been submitted to the City Council, and over 5,000 people signed our on-street petition.
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Read our objections to the planning applications and related documents.
Read why you should support our efforts to keep Tesco off Mill Road…
23rd July 2008, 11:51 pm
Council planners have now confirmed that a decision on the new application by Tesco will take place at the next East Area Committee on Thursday 31st July. Details of where and when to follow. Please put the date in your diary.
The council planners have now published their report. As we expected, and as they did last time, they recommend approval. The Campaign is in the process of analysing this report and will publish our views shortly.
In the meantime, please write to your Councillors to tell them how you want them to vote on 31st July. You can find their e-mail addresses at: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/ccm/content/committees/area-east.en and they are listed here:
- Romsey
- Petersfield:
- Coleridge:
- Abbey:
21st July 2008, 12:29 pm
We have heard that some people were unable to submit their objections to the latest Tesco application, because the council’s electronic submission form told them that the deadline for objections had passed several days before it actually had. As you may remember, there were problems with the electronic submission of objections for the first application, and it appears that this problem has still not been sorted out.
We are trying to collect details of all the cases where this has happened. If your objection was submitted before the deadline (8 July) but was not accepted, please let us know. You can email us at info@nomillroadtesco.org
14th July 2008, 05:36 pm
The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign is today celebrating a year without Tesco on Mill Road. July 13th 2007 was the date Tesco submitted their first planning application to Cambridge City Council – and one year on, they’re still a long way from opening a shop on Cambridge’s liveliest street.
In a year of campaigning, the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign has attracted support from hundreds of local people. The campaign has cross-party support on the city council, and the backing of our MP, David Howarth.
At a special East Area Committee meeting on March 6th, over 400 local residents watched city councillors vote unanimously against Tesco building an extension, which would have made it possible for them to open a viable shop on Mill Road. That application has gone to appeal. The campaign is now preparing to fight Tesco again at the July 31st East Area Committee, where a new application from Tesco for an air conditioning and refrigeration plant will be considered by local councillors.
Campaign activist Sarah Whitebread commented, “In the past year, almost everything that could go wrong for Tesco’s on Mill Road, has gone wrong. They’ve been refused planning permission for their extension, and now with the alcohol impact zone on Mill Road, they probably won’t get an alcohol license either”.
Sonia Cooter, Campaign Coordinator added “Tesco were fooling themselves if they thought they could open on Mill Road without a fight. The amount of public support the campaign has enjoyed is proof that most people just don’t want a Tesco here. The campaign has had a hugely successful first year – but the fight isn’t over yet. I hope as many people as possible will come to the East Area Committee meeting on July 31st, at St Philips Church, Mill Road, to remind Tesco how strongly local people feel about this.”
22nd June 2008, 05:09 pm
Tesco have now made a new application for the old Wilco site. This application is for the installation of air conditioning and refrigeration plant only - there is no new application for an extension. (They are also still trying to get the refusal of the last application overturned by the Planning Inspector, but they don’t seem to think their chances are very good.)
Read the grounds for objection.
You have until 8 July to write to the council. Please write to:
Mrs Angela Briggs
Environment and Planning,
Cambridge City Council,
The Guildhall,
Cambridge,
CB2 3QJ.
Or email her at: angela.briggs@cambridge.gov.uk
Or comment through the Council Planning Portal
26th May 2008, 10:07 am
Print out our new Every Little Hurts poster, featuring pictures by John Volynchook of many of the independent traders on Mill Road who would stand to lose out in the face of Tesco’s power.
20th May 2008, 04:29 pm
We understand that squatters have moved into the old Wilco store on Mill Road, the site where Tesco want to open an Express store. This is not connected in any way to the campaign to keep Tesco out of the site.
The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign is not involved in this action and we do not support it.
The fact that squatters could occupy the building is further, unfortunate evidence of Tesco’s failure to properly secure and maintain the back of the site, which has been allowed to deteriorate over recent months. Rubbish has been left to rot in the car park, posing a health risk to local residents, and windows at the back of the building have been left broken.
In the interests of local people, we hope that Tesco will now start behaving like responsible leaseholders and ensure that the back of the site is kept clean and secure.
On the broader question of the Wilco site, many residents of Romsey have become very concerned in recent months about the empty shops on Mill Road in the Romsey area, not just the Tesco site. As a result of this the No Mill Road Tesco campaign has taken the lead in an initiative to try to revitalise the area. Following recent discussions with local Councillors, the initial work and report on this will be made available shortly to other interest groups with the intention of setting up a working party involving local people and groups who want to improve the area - and give Mill Road the shops and facilities it wants and needs.
5th May 2008, 09:07 pm
Press release, 5 May 2008
We understand that one of Tesco’s PR representatives is currently claiming that Tesco have decided to open a store on the old Wilco site on Mill Road without the extension that they have spent almost 2 years planning and arguing for. (Their proposed extension was refused by the council in March and is currently the subject of an appeal by Tesco to the Planning Inspectorate.)
We have been told that Tesco have drawn up new plans that now enable them to bypass the planning process and open without the proposed extension - despite the fact that they previously told the council planners that this would be impossible, as the documentation sent to the Planning Inspectorate confirms.
There are a few problems with Tesco’s claim. Even if they were able to operate a profitable store despite a reduction in the proposed shop floor of nearly 40% - which would be the amount of the existing store taken up by their “behind the scenes” stock storage, waste storage, office, staff facilities, bakery, etc – they would still face the following obstacles:
Continue reading ‘Press release: A smaller Tesco on Mill Road? Why it won’t happen’ »
9th April 2008, 04:37 pm
The No Mill Road Tesco campaign is, and has always been, completely non-party political. We welcome the support of anyone who shares our aims, but we do not endorse any candidate in the local elections.
7th April 2008, 10:00 am
Press release
For immediate release
Local residents in the Mill Road area celebrated a first win for the No Mill Road Tesco campaign last night as their councillors voted against Tesco’s application for an Express store on Mill Road. Over 250 people attended the meeting to watch the councillors make the decision.
All seven voting councillors of the East Area committee unanimously rejected Tesco’s planning application to build an extension to the rear of the proposed site. As Tesco have said themselves that the extension is crucial to their plans for opening the store, a no from the councillors is a No to Tesco on Mill Road.
Councillors voted on the grounds of the threat to local residents and highway safety posed by Tesco’s plans, as well as the need to preserve parking spaces and other facilities. They also noted the arguments made by the campaign on the threat to the vitality and viability of the local area - they acknowledged the importance of a recent All Party Parliamentary report which found that the closure of small shops is ‘inevitable’ when one of the Big 4 supermarkets open for business nearby.
Sonia Cooter, coordinator of the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign said ‘We’re thrilled that our councillors listened to their constituents and voted against Tesco. We would like to express our thanks to them and to the thousands of people who have writen letters, signed the petition and made their voices heard. Today is a real win for local people and local democracy.’
www.nomillroadtesco.org
ENDS
Notes for editors;
1. The East Area committee meeting was held on Thursday March 6th at St Phillips Church on Mill Road.
2. All planning arguments made by the No Mill Road Tesco campaign can be found at www.nomillroadtesco.org
3. The report by the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group can be found here:
http://www.nfsp.org.uk/uploads/pdfs/High%20Street%20Britain%202015%20report.pdf
4. PHOTO attached: the 250 members of the public attending the meeting held up signs when the vote was cast to tell their councillors what to say to Tesco’s plans.
5. Please contact Shilpa Shah on 07779 658211 for more information
9th March 2008, 07:50 pm
On Saturday morning, two days after the Council’s East Area Committee voted unanimously to refuse Tesco’s application to build an extension at the back of the old Wilco site, I did my usual round of the half-dozen Mill Road shops that provide almost everything my household of five people needs.
Continue reading ‘Opinion piece for ‘Local Secrets’’ »
