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Tesco 'disastrous' for town centre claims

9:23am Tuesday 18th October 2011 in Somerset

CONTROVERSIAL plans for a new Tesco store in Bridgwater could see more than 260 jobs brought to the town – but some claim it could be “a disaster” for the town centre.

More than 1,200 people visited a two-day exhibition in Angel Place last week to see the retail giant’s plans for a new 24-hour supermarket on Northgate.

Tesco claimed that the proposed new store would provide more than 260 full-time and part-time jobs, additional retail units and under-store parking to retain part of the Brewery Field for leisure.

But district and town councillor Ian Tucker believes that a Tesco Extra could drastically hit town centre trade at a time when it should be encouraged.

He said: “I think it will be a disaster for Bridg-water.

“It will take all the trade out of the High Street and is a chance lost to make Northgate a centre for leisure.”

Cllr Tucker claimed that since Asda was built on the outskirts of Eastover, trade in that part of town had significantly dropped.

A spokesman for Tesco said a retail impact assessment and ways to encourage town centre shopping would be produced as part of the planning application, which could be submitted before Christmas.

He added: “We were delighted with the turnout over the two days.

“We had residents reflecting the broader Bridg-water community.

“We have a lot of ideas, issues and points of view to look over and will be releasing that information soon.”

Comments(42)

MBR Extreme says...
10:28am Tue 18 Oct 11

i cant believe how much crap cllr tucker has come out with Asda were not to blame for eastover i suppose your going to blame them for woolworths closing. And as for the top of town what shops will tescos close then, it wont effect wilko so there are no more! Cllrs are a waste of time!

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swjoduk says...
12:05pm Tue 18 Oct 11

The Tesco Extra in Yeovil doesn't seem to adversely effect the shops in Yeovil. In fact the store seems to attract people and I am sure the store in Bridgwater will do too. Maybe it will even attact better shops to Angel Place and be a positive for Northgate and the town centre as a whole.

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esselle13 says...
12:31pm Tue 18 Oct 11

I dont know where these people get these ideas from saying that it will be very disastrous to the town cente. Hello, we havent really got a great town centre at the moment ! I think it will be great if Tesco and other shops come to the town. The town is getting bigger by the day and we dont exactly have fantastic facilitites for these new families that are moving into these new houses. The town certainly needs the jobs that Tesco will create. Bring it on and bring on Hinkley Point too. Sedgemoor NEEDS this.

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the voice of common sense says...
1:49pm Tue 18 Oct 11

Well said Esselle! We need Hinckley, Tesco and the J24 gateway, alongside a southern bypass. The economic benefits to the area are immense

If Tesco start up an in store charity shop, estate agency or a phone shop then perhaps it will affect the shops in town, but they are more likely to attract shoppers than to drive them away.

Remember, no Tesco no pool, it isn't rocket science, its only the sale of land in Northgate that will fund it. So come on all you splash protesters, get behind Tesco to ensure that the pool is built.

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MINIME2 says...
2:28pm Tue 18 Oct 11

So 1200 people went to view and ask about the proposed new Tesco store. Hardly a good turn out representing Bridgwater. All the moaning and groaning .Where were all the Bridgwater residents who wanted to make a point. Before anyone picks me up on this I was on holiday and got back this morning.

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MikeJohn says...
2:35pm Tue 18 Oct 11

Just what ward does Cllr Ian Tucker represent anyway!!!!!!!!!, and whos views, has he asked ALL on his ward, i suspect the anwer is no, this Cllr and his so called Bridgwater Foward Group wants nothing but to keep Bridgwater in the dark ages. The quicker Tesco starts the better. Cllr Tucker a message to you, if you do not like progress, RESIGN YOUR VIEWS ARE OUTDATED, and whats more is the BRDGWATER FORWARD GROUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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utd ian says...
5:26pm Tue 18 Oct 11

To those who oppose: What shops will lose out to Tesco being built?... There is never a specific shop quoted?! The trade is absolutely shambalic as it is now in town! All I will say is there are 260 jobs being made...

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knightsaver says...
6:51pm Tue 18 Oct 11

utd ian wrote:
To those who oppose: What shops will lose out to Tesco being built?... There is never a specific shop quoted?! The trade is absolutely shambalic as it is now in town! All I will say is there are 260 jobs being made...
and hopefully a new post office will also be placed within tescos

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knightsaver says...
6:51pm Tue 18 Oct 11

utd ian wrote:
To those who oppose: What shops will lose out to Tesco being built?... There is never a specific shop quoted?! The trade is absolutely shambalic as it is now in town! All I will say is there are 260 jobs being made...
and hopefully a new post office will also be placed within tescos

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frags27 says...
9:00pm Tue 18 Oct 11

Although there is little shops at present, build Tesco and bye bye Angel Place it might not have much at present but cannot see Iceland remaining for starters. If the bakers is still there in Angel Place cannot see that remaining either, Superdrug gone away no point having a book shop as Tesco will deal with that. Once Angel Place has gone and bulldozed down more houses I expect and flats with another couple of cheap takeways. Would make a nice leisure complex space for a cinema with many screens not just two like we have now with free parking, ten pin bowling, decent chain restaurants like TGI Fridays, Frankie and Benny's, Chiquitos, Bella Italia something for people to actually visit because even Taunton doesn't have any of these restaurants. Lets face it Bridgwater has never been the town with great chain shops and isn't ever going to be remembered for attracting people to the area to shop. So give it something different which is after all what Splash use to do. Use Tesco's to bring in the people as it will be a superstore and give them something to do leisure wise whilst they are still there or going to visit afterwards.

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Bridgy old Boy says...
10:56pm Tue 18 Oct 11

Glad to hear that so many people on this forum cannot wait for the opening of a fourth large supermarket. Can anyone name me another Town with a population of 38,000 which has not 2 large supermarkets not 3 large supermarkets but actually 4! That is not counting the likes of Aldi, Lidl and Iceland.

Poor old Blue owl you really need to get over the fact you lost fair and square in fact you were not even the highest placed Tory beaten to third place by someone not a previous Councillor. It obviously hurts you that Ian Tucker beat you so soundly but rather than blame the boundary commission maybe you should look in the mirror.

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swjoduk says...
8:31am Wed 19 Oct 11

I do not believe the population of the town to be 38,000. According to the Town Council website the population of Bridgwater in the 2001 census was 36,563, since then many houses have sprung up off the Northern Distributor Road and the houses at Stockmoor and Wilstock (although strictly speaking in North Petherton, they will most likely shop in Bridgwater supermarkets, particularly the Stockmoor people)

Tesco's is not due to be built for a few years, in that time more houses will be built on the old Cellophane site.

I'd imagine the population of Bridgwater to be closer to 45,000 from the 2011 census and possibly closer to 50,000 by the time Tesco's is built.

The big supermarkets are always busy now at peak times with plenty of queues and parking problems. It will be even worse by the time Tesco's is open so by then it will probably be needed!

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IAN TUCKER says...
10:42am Wed 19 Oct 11

I am glad that there is some support for Tesco as it stimulates debate.
Some facts - I won the election at Dunwear, unseating David Preece (Blue Owl) campaigning primarily against the way SDC have gone about demolishing Splash and selling out to Tesco.
Bridgwater Forward has obtained no less than 8000 signatures in petitions against SDC's plans for Northgate, far more than the Northern by pass. At a public meeting attanded by nearly 200 people only one person stood in favour of Tesco.
Sainsburys have stopped almost all overtime as their trade has gone down.
Far from looking backwards Bridgwater Forward have been looking at other ways to improve Bridgwater without having four big supermarkets all within 10 mins walk from each other. How can campaigning for leisure and open park spaces for our young and old alike be a bad thing. As you can see in the Mercury we are also arranging swimming trips to Brean for families at only £3 a head, giving more people a chance to go swimming.
Lastly on a very serious note Blue Owl. Kathy Pearce was not ousted by the new councillors, where is your proof of this? and should you really be putting things like this on the web without substantiating it?

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swjoduk says...
1:18pm Wed 19 Oct 11

Cllr Tucker, is the new road between Showground Road/Marsh Lane and Colley Lane still going ahead? If it is do you know when it may start?

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IAN TUCKER says...
1:26pm Wed 19 Oct 11

I feel there are some more facts that are worthy of note.
Asda may not be to blame for the situation in Eastover however they did not help. They stated that their store would revitalise that area of town and SDC themselves have had to admit mistakes were made by them when they applied for planning. SDC to be fair have said this will not happen with Tesco?????
Yeovil has not been effected so much as it has M&S and other big stores.
The small trader in Princes street has however, with greengrocers and butchers going out of business.
Bridgwater Forward have written to M&S asking them to consider Bridgwater but they are not interested. Yeovil cannot be compared to Bridgwater.
Tesco have stated that there will be 240 new jobs but had to admit some could be lost at the other supermarkets. Agreed we do not have fantastic facilities for families moving in so why build yet another supermarket.
Only 1200 people turned out to view the proposals. The presentation was tucked away in an empty shop easily passed by, and only for two days, one of which was when a lot of people were at home watching the rugby. Tesco was only going through the formalities as they know now that the store will in all probability go ahead.
The labour group on the council and Bridgwater Forward will continue to campaign for the good of the town as we see it, this does not mean we will not listen to others,but does mean
that a meaningful debate will be sought. Hitherto this has not happened with the ruling party of SDC who have gone down this particular road dismissing any other suggestions out of hand.

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MBR Extreme says...
1:27pm Wed 19 Oct 11

angel place wont go anywhere as long as wilkos is in there which is the reason for 90% of people to go there . And as i said before tescos are as big as they because of the kind of stores they build, as for the poorly managed splash i think we should look at the bigger picture it had so many problems that it couldnt be fixed. Remember tescos are not buying the splash just a piece of dog poo filled waste ground.

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MikeJohn says...
2:35pm Wed 19 Oct 11

MBR Extreme wrote:
angel place wont go anywhere as long as wilkos is in there which is the reason for 90% of people to go there . And as i said before tescos are as big as they because of the kind of stores they build, as for the poorly managed splash i think we should look at the bigger picture it had so many problems that it couldnt be fixed. Remember tescos are not buying the splash just a piece of dog poo filled waste ground.
On that point i entirely agreee with you, Tesco is not being built on the site of the old splash, lets get that right from the start.

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BraveSirLancelot says...
2:45pm Wed 19 Oct 11

swjoduk wrote:
I do not believe the population of the town to be 38,000. According to the Town Council website the population of Bridgwater in the 2001 census was 36,563, since then many houses have sprung up off the Northern Distributor Road and the houses at Stockmoor and Wilstock (although strictly speaking in North Petherton, they will most likely shop in Bridgwater supermarkets, particularly the Stockmoor people)

Tesco's is not due to be built for a few years, in that time more houses will be built on the old Cellophane site.

I'd imagine the population of Bridgwater to be closer to 45,000 from the 2011 census and possibly closer to 50,000 by the time Tesco's is built.

The big supermarkets are always busy now at peak times with plenty of queues and parking problems. It will be even worse by the time Tesco's is open so by then it will probably be needed!
Mmm not sure I'd agree with you comment on Stockmoor residents shopping in Bridgwater. In fact I don't know any of my neighbours who shop in Bridgwater. They either go to Taunton or shop online for home delivery. Why? Because it's a pain in the ar$e to get into Bridgwater, a struggle to park and then you have a limited choice of products compared to Taunton stores.

SDC seems to keep making planning decisions in isolation with no thought for how one development will impact on another or on future development. Even the Core Strategy doesn't appear to address that problem.

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MikeJohn says...
7:11pm Wed 19 Oct 11

IAN TUCKER wrote:
I feel there are some more facts that are worthy of note.
Asda may not be to blame for the situation in Eastover however they did not help. They stated that their store would revitalise that area of town and SDC themselves have had to admit mistakes were made by them when they applied for planning. SDC to be fair have said this will not happen with Tesco?????
Yeovil has not been effected so much as it has M&S and other big stores.
The small trader in Princes street has however, with greengrocers and butchers going out of business.
Bridgwater Forward have written to M&S asking them to consider Bridgwater but they are not interested. Yeovil cannot be compared to Bridgwater.
Tesco have stated that there will be 240 new jobs but had to admit some could be lost at the other supermarkets. Agreed we do not have fantastic facilities for families moving in so why build yet another supermarket.
Only 1200 people turned out to view the proposals. The presentation was tucked away in an empty shop easily passed by, and only for two days, one of which was when a lot of people were at home watching the rugby. Tesco was only going through the formalities as they know now that the store will in all probability go ahead.
The labour group on the council and Bridgwater Forward will continue to campaign for the good of the town as we see it, this does not mean we will not listen to others,but does mean
that a meaningful debate will be sought. Hitherto this has not happened with the ruling party of SDC who have gone down this particular road dismissing any other suggestions out of hand.
It is not as you see it, you are there to represent your electorate, it is how they see it that matters, and if you cannot accept that you should also do the decent thing and stand down.

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MINIME2 says...
7:54pm Wed 19 Oct 11

swjoduk, 36,563 Bridgwater residents. Where were they when Tesco had their plans on display , according to reports only 1200 people attended. That about says it all for Bridgwater !! Residents know that whatever their views no one is listening.

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IAN TUCKER says...
7:58pm Wed 19 Oct 11

swjoduk - the road in question I believe is still under consideration. A lot will depend on EDF's eventual plans
for the transport infrastructure.
I'll find out more for you if you could let me know your email by contacting me at ian.tucker@sedgemoor
.gov.uk

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chunks1504 says...
8:52pm Wed 19 Oct 11

One need look no further than Shepton Mallet to see what has happened to its town centre on the arrival of Tescos and its retail centre. I will admit a commercial interest as I have a business in the Market Square there. However when they opened they dragged the 'centre of gravity' away from the town centre/Market Square. Boots the Chemist followed them as did New Look. It is quieter and businesses have suffered od closed. The redevelopment of the town centre is slower as retailers don't see it as viable. Empty units are everywhere. Parking is free at Tescos, so people park at the top of towm and they do not walk down to the Market Sq. People routinely say to me that they never come down from Tescos. I could go on and on and on....

Don't do it Bridgwater, it will be a disaster!

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chunks1504 says...
9:02pm Wed 19 Oct 11

I recommend that campaigners visit Shepton and talk to traders and the public and find out the truth. Tescos is hugely powerful but accurate info will thwart them.

Look at this way...which of the current town centre businesses will move out to the retail centre in Bridgwater. WH Smith? JJB Sports? Superdrug? Edinburgh Woollen Mill? Claire's Accesories? Julian Graves? New Look? Burton? Specsavers? Any of the phone shops?

Go down the High Street and imagine who will leave and their empty premises after they've gone.

That is the reality of Tescos prescence.

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chunks1504 says...
9:03pm Wed 19 Oct 11

I recommend that campaigners visit Shepton and talk to traders and the public and find out the truth. Tescos is hugely powerful but accurate info will thwart them.

Look at this way...which of the current town centre businesses will move out to the retail centre in Bridgwater. WH Smith? JJB Sports? Superdrug? Edinburgh Woollen Mill? Claire's Accesories? Julian Graves? New Look? Burton? Specsavers? Any of the phone shops?

Go down the High Street and imagine who will leave and their empty premises after they've gone.

That is the reality of Tescos prescence.

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YoungRobin says...
9:51pm Wed 19 Oct 11

Of the 36000 lets remember that nearly half would be the elderly who can't get into town that easily let alone hang around to view an exhibition and also kids who don't really know anything about it and small children who couldn't care less and only want to run around.
And Blue Owl, shut up. The Right will get us nowhere.

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swjoduk says...
9:05am Thu 20 Oct 11

I would love to have seen the display but did not realise it was on until too late Friday and has commitments on the Saturday.

I was hoping I could find the plans online, on the Bridgwater Town Council or the SDC website but haven't found them so far.

From the picture on this website and paper it looks quite good.

The town centre is already dead in Bridgwater so the Shepton arguement doesn't really stand up. Sports Soccer wont leave and I can't see some of the larger stores like WH Smith going either.

I wouldn't mind seeing a change to the town centre, more cafes/restaurants would be nice, there is a lack of decent restaurants in the town.

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swjoduk says...
9:05am Thu 20 Oct 11

I would love to have seen the display but did not realise it was on until too late Friday and has commitments on the Saturday.

I was hoping I could find the plans online, on the Bridgwater Town Council or the SDC website but haven't found them so far.

From the picture on this website and paper it looks quite good.

The town centre is already dead in Bridgwater so the Shepton arguement doesn't really stand up. Sports Soccer wont leave and I can't see some of the larger stores like WH Smith going either.

I wouldn't mind seeing a change to the town centre, more cafes/restaurants would be nice, there is a lack of decent restaurants in the town.

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chunks1504 says...
10:55am Thu 20 Oct 11

Supposing that WH Smith or any others will leave the town centre, fails to understand that these businesses are completely without sentiment. They have no loyalty except to their share price and shareholders.

If they can get out of their leases, cover their refit costs and make more money , they will move to follow the footfall.

Do we really think that Tescos will create 260 'more' jobs? Hinkley Point will create new ones, but the Tesco vacancies are merely a redistribution of other jobs from elsewhere.

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MINIME2 says...
11:47am Thu 20 Oct 11

YoungRobin. I am elderly but I was away untill Tuesday. The elderly have bus passes so unless they live in the sticks it would have meant an hour or two out.I believe the weather was good here at the weekend. So that is no excuse.People just are not interested because because ,as I said before , no one listens to the residents point of view all these displays etc, are just for show.

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cidreman says...
1:01pm Thu 20 Oct 11

Interesting to note that a Ex councillor ...who blames boundary changes for his not being re-elected to a ward he represented for 8 x years , being beaten by a New Labour Councillor ....
Come on Blue Owl wake up ...maybe its you , your views
Bower & Dunwear & Fairfax all voted you lost .(Came last )
The area consists of familys with young children ..you supported the closure of the Splash , The Towns only leisure facilty ...
The Splash could of remained open until Tescos purchased the Land but the Councillors @the time said no ...
The Town knows that the Tescos will be built ..
But lets give support to the likes of Councillor Tucker maybe they can bring other major retailers into the Town ...likes of say Primark @least he says he as written to some other ones likes of M&S .
Under the Conserative led Council & Councillors the Town as declined over the past 5 --10 years
The Labour councillors couldnt do any worse that it already is !

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MBR Extreme says...
1:17pm Thu 20 Oct 11

i hate all this political crap all cllrs , mp's ect are a total waste of time, as for marks and spencer they didnt want to leave bridgwater they were declined a extension by the council so why would they come back, the council also turned down Trago mills coming to Bridgwater , so you only got yourselfs to blame council.

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the voice of common sense says...
5:52pm Thu 20 Oct 11

Marks and Spencer were the first retailer to move out of Bridgwater, setting a trend for others to follow them to Taunton. Then they persuaded Leffmans to become their supplier of Ladies underwear, on the proviso that they ditched all their other customers that they had, then Leffmans became Bairdwear, built a shiney new factory at huntworth. After a couple of years Marks' pulled the rug out from under them, and changed supplier to factories in the far east who employ child labour in sweatshops, working for peanuts, to make their garments (and increased their profits). The closure of this factory took 250+ jobs out of the local economy. So don't hang out the flags for M&S, coz they don't give a stuff about Bridgwater

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MBR Extreme says...
8:59pm Thu 20 Oct 11

just heard from somebody that knows that tesco will be opening a tesco express store in angel place when superdrug go. Very soon.

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grisleyreg says...
9:02pm Thu 20 Oct 11

I took the trouble to visit but answers were very poor and any difficult questions regarding items such as the percentage of non food items in the new store and the effect on traffic were were unable to be answered,
They did agree however that the customer base would come from existing stores so how is this going to help the town?

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chunks1504 says...
10:01pm Thu 20 Oct 11

grisleyreg wrote:
I took the trouble to visit but answers were very poor and any difficult questions regarding items such as the percentage of non food items in the new store and the effect on traffic were were unable to be answered,
They did agree however that the customer base would come from existing stores so how is this going to help the town?
My point exactly. The 'pie' can only be sliced in so many ways. Tescos will not make the 'pie' bigger.

Like the other supermarkets, Tescos are only in search of market share. they want to rob others of their turnover. They pay for their goods so tardily - ask their suppliers who are forced to share their accounts with them to force cost prices down and to accept Tescos credit terms of 90 -120 days - that they can build these new developments with cash, the difference between what we pay them for our groceries and what they pay the suppliers 120 days later. That equates to millions of pounds per week...

Here endeth the lesson in supermarket economics

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swjoduk says...
12:41pm Fri 21 Oct 11

By the time Tesco is built there will be another few thousand homes in Bridgwater. These people will probably do their weekly shop in the town. Tesco will simply take a share of those customers and maybe some existing customers of existing stores but there will be plenty to be shared around.

The current big stores in town get so crowded at peak times it takes ages to get through the tills and park.

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vanman20 says...
12:53am Sun 23 Oct 11

Cant wait to be honest, will save me having to drive to Taunton to get my Tesco's shopping. Bridgwater town centre is dead anyway, get over it and move on!

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Orzula says...
2:22pm Sun 23 Oct 11

Tescos will come to Bridgwater whether we want it or not. They will sell at a loss (BOGOF offers and the such) driving prices down everywhere. Once all the small businesses have been driven out through competition they can't compete with, Tesco will put their prices up.

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London_Commuter says...
7:20pm Sun 23 Oct 11

I've lived in Bridgwater most of my life and travel to London 3 times a week on Business (before anyone shouts me down because of my username).

I am finding this debate very interesting. A few points.... I think we have to face facts that society has changed and you can see that by walking down Bridgwater High Street on a Saturday morning to see people swigging cans of larger on the Cornhill, spitting, swearing, pound shops, charity shops and alike. Unfortunately it is a downward spiral and because of this Bridgwater is unlikely to attract the main high street chains such as M&S.

I’m sure there are many towns in a similar position all over the South West.

The main issues with the town are simple: PARKING IN THE TOWN and ROAD CONGESTION. Address these 2 fundamental issues and the town will slowly but surely attract visitors to boost the economy.

I leave my car at home on my days off and walk a good 20 minutes to the local shops as I would much rather spend my money in the High Street to support the local community than the major Supermarkets.

However, there are occasions like most of us when I do go to the Supermarkets. There was a comment in a previous post about Sainsburys losing trade, I can comment on here that every time I have been into Sainsburys they have far fewer tills open and staff just chatting. Also at peak times they run out of essentials such as Milk and Bread etc. A positive aspects to Tesco is their customer service. Tesco go out of their way to open more tills and have plenty of full shelves. So I say that if Tesco does come to Bridgwater then it will be survival of the fittest and Tesco will probably win (as long as they don’t have a nightmare of a car park like ASDA where you have to squeeze in and out)

On the negative side of things if the traffic congestion does significantly increase within the next year or so then I will be reluctantly moving from Bridgwater where I was born (a long time ago) as it can take me up to 40 minutes just to get to the M5 junction so I can get onto the Motorway for work. I really hope the traffic congestion is taken seriously by Sedgemoor District Council as they will be driving people like me away who are willing to spend my hard earned wages in the town.

I am pleased that companies are investing in the Bridgwater area but this should not be at the detriment to local residents.

Sedgemoor District council need to get the basics right:

• Opening a permanent Post Office rather than an obvious lack of project planning, it shows incompetence

• Some leisure facilities for everyone

• Road Congestion and infrastructure

• Parking in the town

Simple as that.

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Mr Pedant says...
7:47pm Sun 23 Oct 11

Oh Mr London commuter, if only it was "as simple as that!"

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Nooptions says...
1:37pm Mon 24 Oct 11

I think that the whole Tesco argument is detracting people from one fundemental fact;
The town is already dying on it's ar*e! Take a walk up St John Street, Eastover and High Street and count the number of empty shops, add to that the volume of Estate Agents, phone shops and Charity Shops and it should be plain for all to see!
More and more houses are being built in and around the town, with insufficient leisure facilities and more importantly JOBS to sustain the people that live in them.
Encourage employers to the area, that will improve the economy, put money in people's pockets and when they start spending the shops will fill up.
SDC get working on this now and everyone else stop getting blinded by Tesco!

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MINIME2 says...
7:46pm Mon 24 Oct 11

London. Well said. The comment about the road congestion will never be resolved to me it appears that the council only think about money not people. Look at the new building going on at the area around the site of the Morrisons building ,did they think about road infrastructure then NO ! Whats happened to the traffic lights promised for the Puriton hill / Silver Fish junction ? Nothing. The improvements at the Canon roundabout ? Nothing and these are the roads that are going to carry all the extra traffic. London if you have to move away it just shows the dire state of Bridgwater and it's very sad for you.

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