Thame.net

Plans in for new Tesco supermarket

Written by

Sonja Francis

in

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PLANS for what has proved locally to be a much debated proposal for an edge-of-town supermarket, and a separate commercial space in Thame, have been submitted by Tesco.

tesco_View 02 (400x249)

The planning application for both developments on the current DAF site in Howland Road, Thame, has been lodged with the local planning authority, South Oxfordshire District Council. Tesco claims that the development will create around 200 new jobs at Tesco and: “ …offer customers the choice of staying in Thame for their weekly shop, rather than using supermarkets in nearby towns as many people currently do.”

Tesco has owned the site since the mid-1990s, and failed to gain planning permission back in 1994, following strong opposition from local people and the then Chamber of Commerce. (See: LINK)

At the time of that application, the local authority’s independent consultants, Hillier Parker, estimated that Tesco would take £10m out of the centre of Thame, a view currently held by the campaign group ‘Thame Centre First’.  An attempt to build a Tesco store on the Cattlemarket site three years later, also failed.

Thame Town Council is to commission an independent ‘Impact study’ on the effects of such a development on the economy and vibrancy of Thame town centre.

Fflur Sheppard, Tesco’s Regional Corporate Affairs Manager, said: “We’re delighted to be submitting a planning application in Thame, and are excited about the prospect of joining the local community. We know that around half of all main food shopping is done outside the town so our hope is to encourage those customers to stay in Thame and shop with Tesco. If we are successful in doing that, other retailers may also benefit from customers who currently choose not to use town centre shops and services.”

Tesco has stated that the new store ‘will focus on selling food, grocery and household goods, rather than the non-food lines normally associated with the company’s larger stores’ and that ‘In response to local feedback, there will be a range of Tesco’s popular clothes lines available in Thame.’

Other plans include improvements to the Phoenix Trail, new pedestrian and cycle links and improved bus services to make the store easily accessible.

Tesco added: “Submission of the application follows months of consultation with local residents, community groups, Thame Town Council and planning officers.”

South Oxfordshire District Council is expected to reach a decision on the application by autumn this year. You can view the FULL Planning application here LINK

Linked story: https://www.thame.net/archives/19874 – Tesco supporters want their voices heard

Facebook page: Say-Yes-to-an-out-of-town-Tesco-store-In-Thame

Comments

32 responses to “Plans in for new Tesco supermarket”

  1. Down with this sort of thing avatar
    Down with this sort of thing

    edit.

    Could I just for the record point out that I don’t actually think the lovely people at DAF want to see into my house or watch me in the shower.

    Just they could.

    I don’t actually think they want to.

    We both need bigger fence. And maybe some more blinds.

  2. Down with this sort of thing avatar
    Down with this sort of thing

    I checked the “better broadband for Oxfordshire” website (from Clarks 😉 )

    I can get up to 4Mb or even 5Mb in my postcode
    Long Crendon can get up to 76Mb with talktalk
    And they have a corner shop and a bus.

  3. Down with this sort of thing avatar
    Down with this sort of thing

    Thank you Sonja, that is indeed good news about the internet making it into this tiny dark corner of South Oxfordshire.

    In the meantime, whilst I wait, I’ll continue with my pigeon post.
    And sit near Clark’s as they have free wifi.
    Library is closed on Wednesdays…

  4. Sonja Francis avatar
    Sonja Francis

    A BROADBAND upgrade is on the way for two business buildings opposite the DAF site in Thame, once two new cabinets currently being installed in Thame, bring faster broadband on stream for the area. Also, you might find this website ‘Better Broadband for Oxfordshire’ useful http://www.betterbroadbandoxfordshire.org.uk/home

  5. Down with this sort of thing avatar
    Down with this sort of thing

    I’m sitting on the fence.

    I don’t particularly want to live next to Tesco, nor do I like living where the DAF staff can see into my living room, and watch me shower. A Tesco car park seems marginally preferable.

    However.

    A proposed petrol station either within or just on the edge of a blast zone next to existing housing, is lunacy.

    A 24 hour petrol station would bring traffic to the site 24/7.
    Next to existing housing.
    And a smell of petrol.
    And diesel.
    And exhaust fumes.

    I’m not a NIMBY
    I’m not a BANANA either

    I shop online.
    I shop at Amazon
    I shop at Sainsburys, Waitrose, Aldi, Co-op and sometimes even Tesco.
    I bought food from What’s Cooking yesterday (thank you, it was delicious)

    I’m trying to work at home today and I have no mobile signal due to the lack of mobile masts in Thame on this side of town.
    I have limited internet as we have no fibre broadband on our street – internet shopping is so much fun when it cuts out and you don’t know if you’ve bought something or not.
    And my landline crackles.
    I’m living in a communication dead zone.

    BT sort it out!

    I’d quite like a free (Tesco paid) shuttle bus to town. We don’t have a bus route over here in the ring road industrial estate wilderness. I could go to town without the car.

    If Tesco dropped the petrol station, brought super fast fibre broadband to us, brought a mobile mast (not too close to my house, thanks) and planted a huge number of trees all around the site, I’d be happy. If they clad it in wood and added a grass roof, rather than the standard ugly box hypermarket design, I’d be even happier.

    And I’d still shop at Ocado. But more easily…

  6. Hugh Jarse avatar
    Hugh Jarse

    Tony, it woudl probably have served you better to do a little research on where the Sheringam Tesco is before citing this as a comparative example. It appears to be directly directly opposite the Raiway station and therefore right on the high street, not situated more than a mile away. Customers are using the Tesco car park and the 2 hours free parking and then just walking down the street into town. In the articles I can find there are also examples quoted of shops closing and “Tesco being the final nail!”.

    Sure Tesco have made comments about providing a bus into town from their store in Thame, but I can’t realistically see that taking off – how happy are they going to be ferrying people into town and effectively sharing the profits around – that doesn’t seem like a good business model to me.

    Mike

  7. Bob Armstrong avatar
    Bob Armstrong

    Out of town retail developments, such as that planned by Tesco, are discouraged by the government, it does not comply with the local development plans and would draw trade away from the Town Centre having a detrimental effect on the nature of Thame.

    By all means support Tesco’s if you want Thame to become simply a mixed housing development with no sense of community, no centre or soul (much like Tesco’s me thinks!)

    Do you really think that it is sensible to place the interests of ourselves, our children and our town in the hands of a company whose behaviour has done so much to damage our local and national rural community and its farmers and even, it appears, defrauded its own shareholders? Only a fool would do so.

  8. Jayne avatar
    Jayne

    It has been recognised that we need an affordable children’s clothes store but this does not have not to be a large Tesco on the outskirts of town!!! Sounds like an independent business opportunity to me located in the town centre!

  9. Katie avatar
    Katie

    I couldn’t agree more with Hugh Jarse’s comments here. I believe this echos the experiences of many people in our town that our local shops provide good quality, inexpensive items …. a High Street to be proud of and to be protected from Tesco’s mass produced offerings.

  10. Tony Rushforth avatar
    Tony Rushforth

    Hugh,
    As you clearly stated in your previous response to me , you fit neatly into the ” Grey Pound ” bracket , as in fact do I,but come on, Austins for clothing ! What about families , on a budget with young children, where can they shop for reasonably priced childrens clothes in Thame ? The bookstore is great if you want something a bit different or are willing to pay the cover price and as for newsagents being threatened, I don’t think many people would drive to pick up their morning paper , when they can park on the double yellows outside the ” Chocolate Box ” in the morning or pop into Martins . As I put on twitter last night, the One Show covered the recent opening of a Tescos in Sheringham , Norfolk, a town not dissimilar to Thame and there was some evidence that footfall to the town centre shops had increased since they opened.

  11. Matt avatar
    Matt

    Unfortunately, even though I work in Thame, after a hard day I don’t want to spend my evening driving to a supermarket 9 miles away.
    I shop at Tesco every week and we make the trip at the weekend which takes us out of Thame altogether.
    This means that Thame town centre misses my custom totally. I am at work Monday to Friday and then drawn away on a Saturday, visiting other town centres instead.
    (I have to say I have tried delivered shopping many times and just don’t like it. I like to be able to make my decisions in front of the food.)
    Things change, times change, and Thame needs to move with the times not be left behind. There is a good book most of the anti’s need to read, it is called “Who moved my cheese” Maybe you will start to realise that change isn’t bad…..

  12. Hugh Jarse avatar
    Hugh Jarse

    Steve, I’m not anti Tesco and have been in their stores many times, I just don’t believe we need one out on the bypass where it would take business away from the Town centre. I’m far from anti-growth and fully support building on Elms Field as we need more housing. However this growth needs to be managed and directed, which is why we have a neighbourhood plan that Thame voted upon.

    We need to protect what we have and balance this against the need for growth, not threaten what we have just so that Tesco can make profits by plugging a hole in their geographic coverage of the UK. We indeed do have a quaint town centre, but I take issue with the comment that the shops offer little. Clays/Wrens are not expensive and provide great quality meat. For something a little more up market, try Newitt’s. Both are great butchers with friendly and helpful staff. The bakeries offer great bread and flour, Austins provides good clothes at reasonable prices. Bookshops, toyshops, a deli, newsagent, coffee shops I’m not sure what more you want, but all of these will be threatened by Tesco. I agree with the comments on the business rates being too high, but having a Tesco on the bypass will kill these irespective of the rates.

  13. Steve Cannon avatar
    Steve Cannon

    I suggest Hugh that you take a trip to a Tesco’s then you will see what can be bought. Cloths at sensible prices, electrical goods, computer tablets, in fact just about everything you can’t get in Thame.

    There are far too many blinkered views on one extra store. Whether people like it or not Thame will be forced to grow and this idea that we can keep a quaint town centre full of shops that offer little is just pie in the sky.

    I have lived here all my life and am sick and tired of a small vocal group along with local councillors blocking any new development which would bring extra services and save people having to travel to either Oxford or Aylesbury for simple requirements.

    If the local vocal group and councillors want to make a fuss about something then try campaigning about the outrageous business rates charged on the small shops that will cause their eventual downfall, not a Tesco store.

  14. Krystyna Hewitt avatar
    Krystyna Hewitt

    Living in Chinnor there is no difference in distance between going to Thame or Risborough. I choose to go to Risborough because Tesco is my preferred supermarket. While I was there today I also used a bank, hairdresser and several other shops. And I checked: there are only 2 empty shops and one of those has been let. I believe there are more than that in Thame. So a Tesco store on the edge of the town need not be the death knell to existing shops. I for one might start shopping in Thame if there were a Tesco there.

  15. Hugh Jarse avatar
    Hugh Jarse

    Tony – I’m quite happy for Thame to evolve, that’s what the neighbourhood plan is all about, and I support building houses at The Elms, but a fourth supermarket just won’t help our eveolution, quite the opposite. What will Tesco offer that Waitrose, Sainbury’s and the Co-Op don’t, or Asda in Wheatly once I am in the car. The infrastructure that’s creaking isn’t the supermarkets, but the dentists/doctors and schools.

    Lastly, I’m nearly bald and bite my nails, so the hairdressers and nail bars are no use to this middle-aged “grey pound” man.

  16. Tony Rushforth avatar
    Tony Rushforth

    The so called “urbanisation” of the East of Thame is already underway with the housing estate, conversion of Angus Fire offices to flats & the second & larger industrial estate almost opposite Leyland DAF .
    People have got to realise that Thame is evolving. As for the “small independents ” struggling that is largely due to lack of choice & price and as for driving 7 miles instead of 1 mile, I just don’t see the logic. Thame’s current infrastructure is already creaking under the load of it’s current population and even though the majority of people moving into the area will be limited to those who can afford the now extortionate house prices we still need to look to the town’s future albeit if we restrict it’s growth it will be those middle aged ” grey pound” , nail bar , hairdresser & estate agent visiting , who can afford to shop at Waitrose or want to restrict their menu choice to Sainsbury’s limited range !

  17. Alasdair MacVarish avatar
    Alasdair MacVarish

    All the visual and epidemiological evidence indicates that the last thing Thame needs is another food outlet offering spurious choice. If food supply is now adequate, how and why will a notional extra 200 jobs be created?
    Will food distribution really be that less efficient if Tesco get permission to blight the town.

  18. Debbie Mellor avatar
    Debbie Mellor

    Regardless of whether you would actually like a large Tesco in Thame (and I count myself as a regular Tesco customer) the fact is that large Tesco supermarkets on the edge of small town centres tend to decimate that town centre. This has been seen time and time again, with small independent retailers, particularly in the realms of food, clothing and household goods, proving unable to compete. The out of town centre (ring road) location also adds to the general ‘urbanisation’ and growth of small towns, leading to more housing and urban sprawl. One leads to the other… before we know it, the eastern part of Thame will be totally urbanised with traffic lights, multi-lane roads and housing estates (Bicester provides a stark example of this effect).

  19. Annette Kurten avatar
    Annette Kurten

    No need for a Tesco! I’ll just keep going to Waitrose where I can get free coffee, free newspapers and enjoy their ‘spilling into the car park’ gardening & plants section, without worrying what the “No’s” think of me taking trade from the High St coffee & newspaper retailers or Petals, just 50 yards from the store door. Oh no, Waitrose is completely different to Tesco… it brings shoppers, especially from the surrounding villages, into Thame…. whereas a Tesco store, on the edge of our massive sprawling suburbia of a town, would strip the town of trade and decimate all of the independent shops that make our town so special. Total double-standard, no basis in fact, hogwash!

  20. Hugh Jarse avatar
    Hugh Jarse

    I just can’t see the benefit that having a Tesco store would deliver to the people of Thame. For a big shop I’d have to drive to get there anyway, so I may as well go to Asda in Wheatley, it’s only 7 miles. I walk to get the top-up items and the Co-Op, Sainbury’s and Waitrose offer plenty of choice.

    I can see the downside of Tesco sucking business from the town centre and the specialist shops in the town centre closing due to lack of business.

    I just don’t think we need it.

  21. Sonja Francis avatar
    Sonja Francis

    Not intentional Jennifer I can assure you. You may have noticed that I did not link to the ‘AGAINST’ page when I reported ‘Tesco supporters want their voices heard’ https://www.thame.net/archives/19874 But took on board the fact that I did not link to the ‘other side’ in the item you refer to either, and think it’s a good idea to link to both sides from now on. Let’s hope there will be something new to link to!

  22. Jennifer avatar
    Jennifer

    I find it strange that links to the For ‘s were only posted once someone complained?

  23. Sonja Francis avatar
    Sonja Francis

    Thame.Net reports facts and records of meetings; You will find two links at the end of the article about the ‘For Tesco’ group. Unless the ‘Fors’ mobilise themselves as well as the ‘againsts’ there is nothing to report! Don’t call yourselves ‘the silent majority’ and expect people to feel sorry for you. Write letters to the editor; have a public meeting for those who want a Tesco; DO SOMETHING and it will be reported! The facebook page has nothing about the arguments ‘For’ a Tesco.

  24. Karen avatar
    Karen

    Funny how this unbiased article has a link to a website purely dedicated to opposing Tesco’s plans?

    Where do I go to in order to show my support?

    Let’s have a bit of fairness in the reporting from our “wonderful” Thame News website.

  25. Melanie Holland avatar
    Melanie Holland

    I don’t use the high street very much, much of the items are nice but overpriced and those that offer lower prices don’t survive so I buy those items online. I only ever go to the High Street for the bigger chains such as Boots, Robert Dyas or Superdrug so I would welcome a Tesco! More choice, better value and much much more continence. I do all my grocery shopping online with Tesco and having a Tesco wouldn’t affect my shopping habits at all! Hope they get the go ahead!

  26. TKM avatar
    TKM

    A nail in the coffin for the town centre! Totally flies in the face of the neighbourhood plan that the people of Thame voted for. We also have to put our trust in the councillors that the town recently elected
    who gave their commitment to support the town and its neighbourhood plan.

  27. KM avatar
    KM

    No thanks … love the heart of this town too much to contemplate any erosion. Deviation from the town plan is very scary …. as it could be just the start!

  28. Tony Rushforth avatar
    Tony Rushforth

    Very encouraging news, rather than “hair brained ideas ” like paying the business rates , perhaps a more sensible one would be a shuttle bus service to & from Thame town centre,funded by Tesco then visitors could park out of town rather than a futile attempt to park in Thame

  29. Ben avatar
    Ben

    If Tesco is serious about becoming a part of the community perhaps they would be willing to cover the costs of the business rates for Thame town centre. Small businesses are struggling and a major competitor being added to the mix is not in Thames benefit.

  30. Peter Butler avatar
    Peter Butler

    Those that support this (small) TESCO in Thame should go and have a look at Tring and Princes Risborough. Their high streets have been decimated, full of empty shops.

  31. Steve Cannon avatar
    Steve Cannon

    Great news. Now the “self interest” group will try and convince the silent majority that it’s not needed. Just like they did with the in town application by Sainsbury. I fully support the Tesco application as do many others in the local surrounding villages.

  32. Karen avatar
    Karen

    Best news I’ve heard all year

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