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Anger at plans for Tesco store
Petition signed by 800 residents
BATTLELINES have been drawn to stop Tesco tightening its retail grip across Marylebone and St John’s Wood with the takeover of an historic site.
More than 800 residents and smaller traders have signed a petition to block the supermarket giant from opening an outlet on the site of the Phillips auction house in Lisson Grove.
The 3,000 square foot Tesco Express planned for the vacant building next to the JobCentre would mean a staggering 11 stores in the square mile between Marylebone High Street and Maida Vale.
Asan Qureshi, who owns the Marylebone Food Store opposite the proposed site for the new Tesco Express, said: “It’s unfair for local businesses. We cannot compete with such a big supermarket.
“If Tesco comes here we will be finished. It’s as simple as that.”
Martin Thompson, a resident and campaigner against the development, said: “We’ve had a really negative response from the petition.”
“It would be a great site for a community centre, of which there are far too few.
“We don’t need a Tesco on every corner,” he added.
There are already Tesco stores on Circus Road in St John’s Wood, in Maida Vale, Clifton Road, Church Street, Melcombe Street, Marylebone High Street, Baker Street, West End Quay in the Paddington Basin and two outlets on Queensway.
John Falding, chairman of the St Marylebone Society, said there will also be problems with noise from lorries early in the morning and late at night.
“We will be considering this planning application on its merits, but with Tesco there are usually very few,” he said.
“We have received many residents’ complaints about noise from deliveries to the store on Melcombe Street, and we will be looking to address such complaints.
“As a society we are against the ‘Tesco-isation’ of this country.”
A spokeswoman for the supermarket said the plan is to regenerate a vacant, brownfield site, which formerly housed an antiques business.
“We anticipate that no deliveries will be made before 8am and certainly not after 11pm,” she added.
“We would also avoid school pick-up times. We will need about 25 people to work in the new Express and we will recruit locally and provide training and career opportunities to all employees.”
Westminster Council said a planning application is yet to be received.
“If we should receive such an application, adjoining occupiers and residents will be encouraged to write into the council with their views,” said a spokesman.
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