Tesco's proposed new Grafton Way superstore.
Anxious wait in Tesco bid
by paul geater
Thursday, April 8, 2010
3:00 PM
Bosses at retail giant Tesco face an anxious wait during the election campaign to find out if they will get permission to go ahead with their new Ipswich superstore.
Their application has been sent to the Government Office of the East of England (Go-East) to be studied by civil servants before a final decision is made.
This has prompted Ipswich Central – which represents retailers and other businesses in the town centre – to urge the government to “call-in” the plans and force a public inquiry.
Tesco does not expect any final decision to be announced during the general election campaign, and are unsure about when an announcement will be made by the government.
Nick Gellatly from Tesco said: “At this stage we have no involvement. The council has sent all the relevant documents to Go-East and we will become involved only if their officials want clarifications about any of the points.
“We don’t know how long this process will take. We obviously hope the decision will be made as soon as possible so we can get underway with the project.”
He said he was not expecting a decision to be taken by civil servants during the general election campaign.
Go-East can either endorse the borough’s decision to allow planning permission for the £70 million development in Grafton Way or it can “call-in” the application which would mean it would go to a public inquiry for a final decision.
Go-East cannot throw out the planning application or order the borough to reconsider it.
Tesco hopes to start work on the project during the autumn and have the superstore open by Christmas 2011.
It hopes to complete the project – including new hotels and flats – by the end of 2012.
n Is the new Tesco good for Ipswich? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook St, Ipswich, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
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8 comments
I beg to differ Tray. Large companies like Tesco help to increase employment. It would bring more people closer to the town centre too. Think of all the people that cant get to the outskirts of Ipswich like the elderly. I guarantee all those who oppose, shop in these large supermakets and some even shop around all of them to get the bargains. Pot, kettle, black comes to mind.
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Easytiger
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Went to the Mountford Pigott website to have a look at the plans - seems like we are talking about a massive 800metre stretch along the Orwell (including the removal of a lot of existing parking and the skateboard park). The scale is huge and frankly the design leaves a lot to be desired (it is mentioned in dispatches on the Bad British Architecture website). This is all very worrying as it will dominate the view for anyone who arrives by train. I would urge everyone to have a look at the plans on the Mountford Pigott site and then have a look at the other images on the Bad British Architecture site to make up their minds. Would be nice if the Evening Star could also provide links to larger versions of the thumbnail images of the mock ups they show in the main article.
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Edward Kay
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The views shown on here look a lot better than the present scene of a slowly decaying former DIY store.
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Kenny M
Thursday, April 8, 2010
I hope they build a new Tesco there. It will be convenient and cheap for me.
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Winston Barrington Jr.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Another Tesco, definitely not...
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J C
Thursday, April 8, 2010
We don't need anymore superstores in Ipswich. As it is we have 2 Asda's, 3 Sainsbury's, a Morrisons, a Tesco and lost count how many Tesco express, Co-Ops, Aldi and Lidl stores. So why build another store, with all the empty stores in town. Why not use the old Littlewoods shop in Tower Ramparts where there is a very good bus service.
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Tray
Thursday, April 8, 2010
yesyesyesyesyesYESYESYESYES
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Air Biscuit
Thursday, April 8, 2010
nononononoNONONONO
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C Smith
Thursday, April 8, 2010