Tesco loses battle for Keyworth store

Icon_article Published: September 11, 2011 08:08 by Love Keyworth Hate Tesco |

Tagged as: local_communities supermarkets tescos
Neighbourhoods: keyworth

Relieved residents of Keyworth heard on Friday 9th Sept that Tesco’s were not to be permitted to build a store in Keyworth, near Nottingham.

Back in 2009, after several years work, the Keyworth Village plan was completed by an independent group of volunteers who live in Keyworth. One of the clearest outcomes was that 89% of residents did not want another supermarket in the village.

Gates shut on Tesco in Keyworth

So you can imagine the consternation when in march 2010 Tesco announced, with just five days notice, that they would be holding a public exhibition in Keyworth of their proposed supermarket. Although neither local residents, politicians, nor councils had prior knowledge of these plans the Tesco’s representatives arrived to stage their exhibition only to be greeted by a campaign stall set up by the already established opposition campaign.

Over the next 18 months many people dedicated a great deal of time and effort to campaign against Tesco’s proposal, and many lobbied the planning department of the local council. In March 2010 Tesco’s proposal was rejected by Rushcliffe Borough Council but in March 2011 Tesco appealed this decision.

The Planning Inspector heard a 4 day enquiry in June 2011 and his decision to deny Tesco’s appeal reached the people of Keyworth on 9th September.

Hopefully the property developers who own the land will now revert to their original plan, for which they have permission, to build sheltered housing.

The inspector’s decision was based on safety issues due to the narrow footpaths leading to the site of the store and the potential effects on local shops.

It may be useful to note that the Inspector found significant errors (?) in the data Tesco provided regarding its likely impact on local shops! This was exposed by an independent survey commissioned by the local traders.

Whilst the people of Keyworth have earned a celebratory party it is sad that the fate of the community was not decided by that community. In the end it was based on the decision of an outside Inspector applying rules which we have no part in drafting.

The wishes of the community were clear 2 years ago but since then Tesco’s avarice has wasted huge amounts of public funds and the personal time of council staff and Keyworth people and caused great emotional upset to many people of the community.