27 August 2005 - Tesco has announced that it will lodge an appeal against the decision by the City Council's Planning Committee to reject the application for an Express store on Unthank Road.
Earlier this year the Norwich Green Party successfully campaigned with local residents against an application by Tesco to build an 'Express' store on the corner of Unthank Road and Trinity Street. The Greens objected to the application on the grounds that such a store on this location would have a devastating effect on the local area. Not only would the store generate more traffic and lead to more noise, pollution and congestion, it would also threaten the survival of the many local, independent businesses which make the Unthank Road area a unique part of the city.
On 31 March 2005 the City Council Planning Committee rejected the application. Tesco have now lodged an appeal against this decision. The appeal will be in the form of an Inquiry, and will be carried out by the Planning Inspectorate. No date has yet been fixed for the Inquiry, which will be public, but comments must be received by the Planning Inspector by 8 September 2005 at the latest.
Tesco have appealed all six of the original grounds for refusal, but not submitted any additional information or evidence to back their appeal. The original Planning Committee decision was unanimous, and the Planning Officer had received 228 written comments, of which 220 were against the store, and eight in favour.
Green Councillors Adrian Ramsay and Chris Hull are active members of the Residents Against Unthank Tesco Committee (RAUT), which is organising the efforts to stop the proposals. Chris Hull commented: “This appeal has come as no surprise to those who have been involved in the campaign to stop this store. RAUT has enormous support locally and is now planning its work in readiness for the Inquiry. The reasons for upholding the findings of the Planning Committee have not changed - in fact the Green Party supports the recommendation of the Planning Officer who says that this is a more suitable site for either affordable housing or an open / recreational space.
"The local community, supported by the Green Party, have said 'no' to this store several times over - 5,000 people signed a petition, the clear majority replied to Tesco's own 'consultaton' saying they did not want the store, and an overwhelming 96 per cent of comments to the Planning Officer were against the store. The message could not be clearer, and will remain the case right up to the Inquiry. We are encouraging all those who wrote to the Planning Officer early in 2005, to write again to the Planning Inspectorate, emphasising that nothing has changed since the first application, and that they support the Local Planning Authority's decision."
Local residents, or people who work in the neighbourhood, may wish to send comments to the Planning Inspector. They should write to:
Alternatively, you can e-mail hilary.phillips@pins.gsi.gov.uk
When you write, please quote: