Planning Applications - Hyndburn Borough Council

Although 20 years ago Tesco could argue that a new Tesco store would attract customers to
a town, in those days they sold only food, but this argument no longer applies. There are
already Tesco stores nearby in Whitebirk and Clitheroe, and a possible future store in
Accrington, all of which are accessible by public transport and car, with bus passes
available for pensioners. This suggests that, contrary to Tesco’s argument that the store will
attract new shoppers, it will only be used by Great Harwood residents. Within a 10 mile/20
minutes driving radius there are already 7 Tesco stores, 3 Asda stores, 2 Sainsbury’s stores,
1 Morrison’s store, 1 Co-op store and 1 Booth’s store.
• Great Harwood is a small town of only 8000 people and is more than adequately covered
with various food and other retailers large and small to meet current needs, appropriate in
scale for a market town of this size. The Hyndburn Borough Council Retail Study 2005, the
Hyndburn Borough Local Plan support this view, where the town is recognised as a Local
Centre, and the Structure Plan classifies the town as a Tier 3 town, all of which clearly
suggest smaller scale retailing. There are a variety of small traditional family-run retail
businesses which are long-established and support other suppliers. Small shops provide
personal friendly service which you don’t get in the bigger stores, and engage with the local
community, e.g. Christmas Fayres. In the last few years, with hard work by many people,
including Hyndburn Borough Council, it has become a thriving shopping area, with a
strong community spirit and Queen Street at the heart of it. The Co-op has been a
stakeholder in the town for many years, has made a substantial re-investment in its new
store in 2001, and wishes to invest further in the town. The scale of the Co-op development
is appropriate to the size of the town and also sits comfortably alongside other smaller
retailers. The 2005 Retail Study concluded that one of Great Harwood’s strengths is that it
is anchored by a main shopping destination (Co-op), which the Study states is likely to have
assisted local centre performance. Under the adopted Plan for the Future (2006), Great
Harwood is to be promoted as a historic market Town; a large store on the edge of the town
centre could have a negative impact on efforts to regenerate the town centre. Unlike the
existing Co-op store, a Tesco store of this size will not be of a scale appropriate to the
existing Local Centre and will harm viability and vitality, particularly if its major impact on
the existing Co-op store forces the Co-op’s closure in the medium to long term. The scale
of the proposed Tesco, in addition to the existing Co-op, would be disproportionate for the
size of the town, unless there were to be extensive housing development on large areas of
Green Belt around Great Harwood. Tesco is not needed or wanted. We already have
enough with the Co-op and local shops. Great Harwood needs to remain small and local.
Only Tesco and not local residents will benefit from having a Tesco. Tesco don’t care
about Great Harwood, they only want to rival Asda in Accrington. 2 supermarkets have
already opened and closed, the old and new Co-ops on Glebe Street.. She can’t understand
why another is needed, even with a different name.
• The Co-op scores higher than Tesco for its ethical, environmental, green policies, especially
in its support and range of fairtrade goods and local produce. Given Hyndburn’s promotion
of these issues, should it not be encouraging stores with these policies? People should be
encouraged to buy local produce in local shops rather than goods which have travelled
thousands of miles and contributed significantly to global warming. The size of Tesco
would attract customers from a wide area, but people should be encouraged to shop near to
home.
• The Co-op store has succeeded in becoming an anchor for a combination of main food and
top up trade, and 91% of survey respondents said they have no problem accessing Great
Harwood town centre. The Co-op is not overtrading, as the applicant is claiming. The
applicants have not proven a quantitative or qualitative need for a new foodstore of this size.
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