Save our local shops

Those who support the Tesco plans to build a 166,847 sq. ft superstore on Chester Road in Stretford will often say there are no local shops in the area - therefore its OK to have a (disproportionately) large supermarket in the area.

We would counter this argument by pointing out that the catchment area of the store is a 10 minute drive... which takes in independent local shops in Urmston, Stretford, Whalley Range, Sale, Ashton on Mersey and Chorlton as well as other smaller clusters such as Ayres Road shops in Old Trafford.

These shops are never included in any retail assessments in planning applications. Why? They are not chains - if you look closely at any documents on this subject you'll soon see that only chains are listed. Other shops are lumped together (e.g. Sale town centre) with inadequate research on the range of shops provided.

Case study: Ayres Road, Old Trafford
By way of a little case study lets look at the Ayres Road shops. Its a residential street close to the boundary between Trafford MBC and Manchester City Council. On this street you will find: a bakery, 5 butchers, 3 fabric and tailoring shops, 7 small grocery shops, an ice cream parlour, a household goods shop, 2 doctors surgeries, a dentist and four hair and beauty salons. Also (pausing for breath) 3 newsagents, 3 off licences, a pet shop, two pharmacies, a post office, two telecommunications shops, a betting shop, a cafe, 3 take aways, two travel agencies and a video/DVD hire outlet. Very close by, on Henrietta Street is All in One DIY - selling most of what a chain DIY shop will have, but for less. Not a chain amongst them.

Yet when you examine the retail assessment (74393-RetailAssessment.pdf) for the planning application the only Old Trafford shops listed are Aldi, Iceland and a Tesco Express. Needless to say they then go on to claim that there is a deficit of shops in the area - which is why a massive superstore is needed, in a location that people local to Ayers Road cannot easily access without a car.

Why aren't the Ayres Road shops mentioned? Because planners, the competition commission and government do not consider the small independent retailer. If you read the retail assessment it focuses on other chain stores despite the fact that in the catchment area for this application there are the Ayres Road shops, independent shops in Urmston, Stretford, Whalley Range, Sale, Ashton on Mersey and Chorlton which will all lose trade if this store is built.

Talk to any independent retailer at the moment and they will likely tell you that trade is down and for some it is a struggle to survive. It only takes a small dip in trade for a small retailer to become vulnerable and this is what a huge superstore on Chester Road represents. In contrast, does anyone know of a supermarket outlet closing in this recession?

What can you do?
- Object to the application
A Planning Inquiry in 2006 upheld Trafford Council’s refusal to grant Tesco permission to build a store of 88,095 sq ft. Reasons included the excessive negative effect it would have on local shops and on our environment

- write about the importance of your local shops to you - make the point that they have not been adequately considered in the evidence submitted by Tesco;

- Talk about the number of jobs these shops provide (research has shown that for every 20 jobs a supermarket creates 30 are lost in the lcoal economy);

- pose the question "How can this proposed store which is almost twice the size of the store refused in 2006 be of an appropriate scale?" (166,847 sq. ft now against 88,095 sq. ft in 2006);

Email your objection to simon.castle@trafford.gov.uk and/or Development.Control@ trafford.gov.uk and copy to our email address nomegatesco (at) googlemail.com
Also copy your email to your local councillor and MP.

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Talk to your family and friends and ask them to object too.

Debbie Ellen