Tesco's Car Park.

[mistawispa]

Hi all. I asked a while ago what was happening about the proposed and long anticipated expansion of Tesco's. Now that the market/cat boot has been kicked of the car park is it imminent, or is it just another daft council idea?

[Blank]

I asked about this at the checkout last time I was in. The girl on the till said there is a slight delay due to Bats. Once the Bat issue has been sorted, things will get going.

Has anyone else heard about this? I'm presuming the Bats are in the building next door?

[mercuryg]

I'll wager anyone a bet that Tesco has no intention of expanding. There's not enough business.

[Denzel]

I asked about this at the checkout last time I was in. The girl on the till said there is a slight delay due to Bats. Once the Bat issue has been sorted, things will get going.

Has anyone else heard about this? I'm presuming the Bats are in the building next door?

I'm batty about bats and anything bat-related.

[Merlin]

The statutory notices posted in the market place tell us that Tesco's building is to be demolished, even though it is supposed to be a conservation area! Is this a knock on effect to the flats to be built on the old school site opposite, I mean he threw money at that project and won, so is it the same case for Tesco and their big wig lawyers? Is this the start of the end of Bedlington Front Street as we know it? Will this be a good or bad thing?

I personally am in two minds, development of the front street would bring jobs and tidy the place up, but, I would be sad if we lost the old buildings and the character of the place even if it does look a mess, and I include the new market place in my description of mess!!!!!!! It will also be interesting to see if the 'mess' is made more of a mess when they demolish Tesco's

[Mr Darn]

Whilst conservation of the "character" of the town should be left unchanged, i believe the laws are used the wrong way.

i don't believe old and crumbling buildings should be left untouched and unused just because they are old. Every building has a shelf life, and whilst you can throw money at the ones that serve a purpose, others may as well just go.

That's not to say the character is then lost, the laws should state that the new design has to be fitting with the towns heritage.

Now, whilst a new Tesco's building would be good for that run down section of the town, i believe they must be made to be in-keeping with the aim of the surrounding area, and traditional design. (and no, i don't mean 'run down and unkempt', i mean a new looking building, with old design features as cosmetic touches) This would mean a building with a sandstone or old brickwork look about it, and not the 'powder coated steel' panels usually used by supermarkets.

Something not unlike the "face" of the current Tesco building actually...

[Stephen]

Tesco's plans are now available on the planning portal

Follow the link above, choose General Public and when prompted for a postcode enter NE22 and you can see the list of all planning applications in Bedlington including Tesco, who have three.

10/S/00076/FUL - The proposed new store

10/S/00077/FUL - Erection of a temporary store

10/S/00-78/FUL - Demolition of the current store.

A few points:

The new store appears to have twice the floorspace of the old one

There should still be pedestrian access from the car park to Front Street

Tesco are proposing to put a mini roundabout at the Vulcan Place junction

This post has been promoted to an article

[Hillbilly]

Wow... I SOOOOOO hope this goes ahead and there aren't any further delays or rediculous objections. The town is deperate for this investment and I think it will make a huge difference.

Who know's... with this and Wetherspoons, we may even see the Front St spring back to life!

Does anyone know if there is any way we can collectively support the project... ie; petitions to go ahead, writing to anyone etc!

I think we need to act rather than sit back and wait to see if it happens!

It gets my vote!

Edited August 23, 2010 by Hillbilly

[Andy Millne]

Does anyone know if there is any way we can collectively support the project... ie; petitions to go ahead, writing to anyone etc!

I think we need to act rather than sit back and wait to see if it happens!

It gets my vote!

You can leave comments via the planning portal, they don't have to be in opposition.

[Hillbilly]

Great plans for what would be an amazing boost to Bedlington.

I have just registered on the portal Fourgee mentions in his post and left a comment of support. I would urge everyone reading this to log on and do the same. Let's play an active part in making sure this gets the go ahead!!

Thanks for the heads up Fourgee!

[Andy Millne]

Thanks for the heads up Fourgee!

Twas Stephen, I just promoted his forum post to a news article.

[Hillbilly]

You can leave comments via the planning portal, they don't have to be in opposition.

Done and enthusiastic support has been sent to the moderators for them to review!

It would be great to inundate the site with positive support for the plans... not saying that it will swing the final decisions that need to be made, but as Tesco keep telling us... Every little helps!

[Andy Millne]

Am I blind or are there no elevation plans for the part fronting the Market Place?

[Hillbilly]

No Fourgee... I couln't find them either.

There is a pic on the leaflet though... click on "SCI Appendix 7 - Information Leaflet" in the documents section

[Hillbilly]

Here is the leaflet

Appendix_7_-_information_leaflet1.pdf

[Neil]

There are notices in the Public Notice section today in the NPL. They're wanting to demolish the existing store.

Go here,

http://econsultation.planningportal.gov.uk

Click on the public section, enter postcode NE22 5TN, then click on the tab Consultation documents to view the documents.

[Neil]

Looks like during the demolition, theyll have a temporary store in the car park just infront of the Lord Barrington.

Cant happen soon enough IMO, breathe a bit of life back into this sleeping town of ours!

[Hillbilly]

When do we find out if it has the go ahead or not??

I agree Neil... the sooner the better!!

[doglover]

hello I was reading the news post leader this week and at last in print is the application for tescos demolition but I really wanted to see the erection of new large store so won't believe till it happens.