Town councillors in Burnham-On-Sea have this week given a ‘thumbs-up’ to proposals by Tesco to expand its Love Lane store and inject £300,000 into the town.
At a meeting of the town’s planning applications committee on Monday evening (November 17th), councillors gave their backing to the multi-million pound expansion of the store.
They welcomed a so-called ‘106 planning agreement’, which is linked to the application and will see the supermarket giant giving £200,000 towards the regeneration of Burnham town centre and a further £100,000 to develop public transport.
But the expansion plans were not unanimously welcomed. Councillors expressed concern that a new pharmacy at the store could hurt established chemists in Burnham town centre.
Cllr Martin Lloyd said: “There are several chemist shops in Burnham town centre that will definitely be hurt by this expansion, which concerns me.”
Fears were also raised about the effect of noise due to Tesco’s intention to move its recycling centre to the southern end of its car park.
Cllr Michael Clarke said: “The recycling bins would back onto nearby homes. The location needs to be looked at again.”
Cllr Janet Keen also told the meeting she has “deep misgivings” about the £300,000 that Tesco is giving the town if the application wins the approval of the district council in a few weeks’ time.
“I am profoundly unhappy about it,” she said. “It just doesn’t feel honorable that the planning application and the funding should be so closely linked.”
However, Cllr Chris Williams said: “The agreement does seem to be to the benefit of traders in Burnham town centre.”
“Tesco is making every effort to ensure the funding will be spent in Burnham and I don’t think we can ask any more than that.”
Town councillors also said they have no objections to Tesco building 17 homes on land at the rear of the store. The committee gave its approval to the outline planning application, although this is scheduled to be examined in greater depth when a full application is logged over the coming months.
Burnham-On-Sea.com was first to report in July Tesco’s intention to expand its store in Love Lane and a formal planning application was submitted to planners earlier this month.
The scheme would provide an extra 1,200 square metres of shopping space and around double the number of parking spaces, although the planning application is smaller than the extension proposed in 2005. It is designed to tackle over-crowding in the store and car park at peak times.
Last month, one trader in Burnham-On-Sea labled Tesco ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ over its multi-million pound plans to expand the supermarket.
The final decision on whether the scheme gets approval rests with Sedgemoor District Council, who will asess the plans over the coming weeks.
Our photos show (top) councillors examining the plans in Burnham-On-Sea’s town council chambers on Monday night; and (beneath) the Love Lane store.
RELATED LINKS:
Tesco defends expansion at Burnham traders meeting
Survey finds 86% of Burnham residents back Tesco expansion
Tesco plans to build 17 new homes next to expanded store
More details emerge over Tesco expansion plans
Tesco to unveil expansion plans for Burnham store
