Public is divided on superstore's new bid
THE debate has split the district – do we want, or need, a Tesco superstore?
The food giant’s application for a 7,345sq m supermarket off Skipton Road in Harrogate, four years in the planning, is set to go before planners in April.
It will be the closest supermarket to Pateley Bridge, and will provide a valuable resource for shoppers, but this week, environmental campaigners and Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Phil Willis say they cannot support the plans.
Mr Willis said: “I think it is brilliant to have the distinction as the only postcode left without a huge Tesco and I will be very happy if in 10 years time that remains the case.
“Tesco are going to say they have lots of support but in 13 years not a single constituent has walked into my office to say their biggest problem is they need a supermarket.
“I am against Tesco going on that site. It will have a very significant effect on the town centre and increase traffic quite considerably.”
Helen Rimmer, food campaigns manager for Friends of the Earth, said her group would fight the food giant’s application.
“Harrogate will become a national battleground to keep it being the final free postcode,” she said.
“We are supporting community campaigns on the ground and we have a network of local campaigners who are giving advice to other groups.”
She rubbished statistics from the company suggesting overwhelming support for the plans, saying: “These are manipulated figures by Tesco to claim how popular it is and this is just a huge PR offensive.”
Matt Magee, corporate affairs manager at Tesco, said the company had undergone extensive consultation around the New Park site, receiving huge support.
“The people in Harrogate really want this to happen,” he said.
“There is opposition to the traffic but most people think this is a good idea. People don’t care whether they are the last town, they just want a supermarket there.
“What has this got to do with people outside of the town anyway, this is about Harrogate. Consultation in areas around the site has received 70 per cent support.
“It is nothing to do with it being the last postcode without a superstore, nobody sits there with a big battle map pushing little soldiers around.
“We think there is a gap in the market, we have a great site and this is a great opportunity.”
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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