Traders urge renewed Tesco opposition (From Watford Observer)

Traders urge renewed Tesco opposition

5:02pm Monday 11th May 2009 in

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Traders opposed to the building of a new Tesco convenience store in Mill End are urging shoppers opposed to the plans to voice their concerns to Three Rivers District Council.

The supermarket giant submitted revised plans last week to build an Express store and seven apartments at the site of the old Happy Man Pub, in Berry Lane – seven months after a near identical application was rejected by councillors.

On that occasion more than 2,000 residents voiced their opposition by signing a petition organised by concerned rival traders, with many other residents writing to the council to voice their objections.

The new application, however, means this process must now start anew, with all objections and comments delivered to the council’s Rickmansworth offices by May 20.

Christine Alexandrou, chairman of the Tudor Parade Traders’ Association, is appealing for anyone who submitted views during the previous application to do so again.

She said: “We’ve now got to do it all again. The game they [Tesco] play is to keep re-applying so each time everyone must object all over again.

“They want to wear us down; to make us forget about objecting to their plans but we won’t do that – we will continue to be equally as vigorous as we were before.

“If people want to drop letters into any of the shops in the parade then we will deliver them to the council ourselves.”

Tesco, which is planning to build a near identical store in Croxley Green, argues that, far from damaging nearby traders, its plans will help them by attracting new shoppers to the area.