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Tesco and The Friar (former public house), 2 Old Marston Road OX3 0JP Planning Application 10/01034/FUL
Plan of site layout for store: see under Documents:
Proposed site layout
on
Planning website
Public meeting at British Legion, Hadow Road, Marston, Friday, 27
January 2012 Notes made by Marilyn Cox, Secretary, Jack Straw's Lane Association
From Marilyn:
My notes are not intended to be actual 'minutes' of the meeting,
as they were referred to in a letter posted in mid-March to those
who left their contact details when they attended the meeting. (There
is no signature to this letter, although a number of contacts are
given.) I attended the
meeting and made notes on the main points that arose but I had not been
asked, and neither had I offered, to 'take the minutes' of it. Present: Andrew Smith MP (Oxford East) - Chairman (AS) David Groves, Transport Development Control Manager, Oxfordshire County Council (DG) Ben East, Transport Development Control Officer, Oxfordshire County Council Farak Hamad, Oxfordshire County Council Michael Crofton-Briggs, Head of City Development, Oxford City Council Andrew Murdoch, Planning Officer, Oxford City Council Mohammed Altaf-Khan, City Councillor, Headington Hill & Northway, and County Councillor, Headington & Marston Mary Clarkson, City Councillor for Marston Roy Darke, City Councillor, Marston, and County Councillor, Headington & Marston
Local residents: at least 85
When asked why no representative from Tesco was present, Mr Smith explained that he had asked the local residents’ group if they wished such representation and they had declined. However, he would put questions raised at the meeting to Tesco.
Mr Smith opened the meeting by making it clear that, however strong public feeling against the plans might be, any reconsideration of granting planning consent to Tesco for redevelopment of The Friar would not be possible. Although the City Councillors on the Planning Committee had turned down two applications by Tesco (the first for redevelopment of the building, the second for demolition and rebuilding), on the second occasion the Planning Inspector had over-ruled the decision on appeal and that could not be changed.
Residents indicated that they would have preferred to see affordable housing or accommodation for elderly people built on the site and mention was made also of an earlier application, submitted by the previous owner of the site, for planning permission for something more in-keeping with the neighbourhood, which had been turned down*. AS regretted that the planning process could not be more responsive to public opinion and he could only suggest that the focus now should be on how the best possible outcome could be achieved. *08/00292/FUL - greengrocer's, delicatessen and cafe/wine bar, with flats above (see Oxford Mail, 13 Feb 2008), not long before Tesco submitted their first application (see Oxford Mail, 14 April 2008)
Later in the meeting, Cllr
Roy Darke, summarising the course of events, said that planning
consent had twice been refused by the City Council because of concerns
about road safety, trees, loss of amenity relating to No. 4
Old Marston
Road and No. 453
Marston Road, and loss of the pub as a focus for community activity.
However, the second application, for demolition of The Friar and a new
building set further back from the roadway to allow more space for
parking, had gone to appeal. Tesco had won the case, although both he
and Cllr Mary Clarkson had attended the hearing and voiced their
objections.
The main matters raised by residents were:
Protection of Trees:
The Rev Elaine Bardwell, (Vicar of St Michael & All Angels Church, Marston) warned of what had happened when a Tesco ‘Ecostore’ had been created in Inverness: trees in a previously unbroken 7-mile stretch of historic trees had been cut down overnight. This, she said, did not inspire confidence that the trees currently in front of the former pub would be there when the new store opened. She advised those present to read Tescopoly by Andrew Simms (2007) and to visit the website tescopoly.org. She praised all the Councillors who had tried to prevent the development, and lamented the fact that their efforts had been thwarted by the legal framework in which the planning process operated, the power of big-business money, and planning laws that were not robust enough to offer any defence against it. She deplored the way in which the big supermarkets were gradually taking over through piecemeal acquisitions of sites. Referring to the Localism Bill, AS said that he had voted for an amendment that would have offered protection for smaller, local, shops but the majority of MPs had voted against it.
DG said that Tesco had a duty to make the development look as attractive as possible and protect the trees.
[On 23 February 2012, Tesco and the RSPB announced their 'Together For Trees' partnership with the aim of helping to protect rainforests around the world.]
Road Safety, Traffic Congestion: There had been two accidents at the Old Marston Road/Marston Road junction in the week the Inspector had visited the site and a cyclist had been taken to hospital on the morning of 27 January after being knocked off his bike by a car speeding on Marston Road. Offering car parking on the other side of the Marston Road for Tesco customers would raise the risk of accidents. Problems were anticipated with traffic travelling along Marston Road in the direction of Headley Way and turning left, immediately after the Old Marston Road turn, into the Tesco forecourt. Here, vehicles would have to cross the cycle track and the pavement at a point very close to the main junction. Since the new store would attract more traffic, a resident suggested that the speed limit on this part of Marston Road should be reduced to 20 mph and that a pedestrian crossing should be installed here, paid for by Tesco.
A member of Old Marston Parish Council was concerned about delivery vehicles causing congestion along Oxford Road, which is used by four bus routes. Another gentleman pointed out that a disabled resident living near the site required emergency treatment on a fairly regular basis and he wondered about ease of access for emergency vehicles, as there were already problems with congestion in Old Marston Road. (He was also concerned about noise nuisance from deliveries before 8 am.) Mr David Groves said that the length of the delivery vehicles would be restricted to 10 m and no articulated trucks would be allowed. Lorries, a resident replied, didn't have to be big in order to cause congestion. DG did not believe that parked lorries would cause any obstructions. Deliveries would take place only between 7 am and 12 noon - but this, a resident pointed out, would include the morning rush hour. The plans submitted for the second application, DG maintained, had undergone a series of safety audits and any risks had been taken out of the design. He gave his assurance that everything would be done to make the road and access area as safe as possible, particularly as regards disabled and partially-sighted people. Tesco, he said, would have to pay 'whatever it costs' to ensure this.
AS asked whether traffic lights could be added to a pedestrian crossing to be installed in Old Marston Road but DG replied that this would not be possible.
Parking:
At present it was possible, a
resident said, for disabled drivers to find a parking space but
this would become more difficult once the Tesco store opened. Also,
parking would be more difficult for those coming to provide emergency
medical assistance, either by ambulance or by car. Some of the
Coop, Costcutter and Marston Pharmacy customers were already parking on
the double yellow lines and the raised areas. When parking became
more difficult, there was likely to be more illegal parking while people
were 'popping in' to the shops. AS felt that parking would
need to be restricted to short periods to avoid the spaces being taken
by Oxford Brookes staff and students.
The store will have 22 members of staff, 12 of whom will be full-time. Some will come to work by car - where will they park? There will be only 8 parking spaces in front of the store and if Tesco's staff, as well as its customers, park in the bay on the other side of the Marston Road, they could inconvenience customers of the hairdressers and the music shop, which could affect the trade of those businesses. Surprisingly, said AS, the presence of existing shops in the vicinity had been seen by the Planning Inspector as an argument in favour of granting Tesco permission.
Provision for cycles: Oxford was supposed to be pro-cycling, therefore ample provision should be made for securing cycles. DG said that cycle racks would be provided but how many was not yet known.
Right of way relating to the area used as
a footpath in front of the proposed store:
Refuse and Recycling: In response to questions about how recyclable and non-recyclable materials would be stored and taken from the store, Mr Andrew Murdoch said that there was a large area at the rear where containers for these could be kept and brought to the front only when a collection was due. Tesco returned its packaging for recycling, using its own transport. Refuse and recycling arrangements were part of the 'Service Management Plan' that had been drawn up.
Further points: One resident complained of difficulties in getting access to all relevant information regarding the application.
AS asked what the timescale for the development was likely to be, as local residents were concerned that the empty building would become an eyesore. He had noticed that rubbish and an old mattress had been dumped there and asked what Tesco would be doing in the interim to maintain the site. Mr Murdoch replied that development would take place within 3 years. AS said he would contact Tesco to find out what plans they had for maintaining the site.
General dissatisfaction expressed about the way the planning application
had been dealt with:
Consequently, a resident called for a vote of no confidence in the handling of the matter both by the City and the County Council, which was carried.
As the meeting drew to a close there were calls for a boycott of the new store and one resident suggested a mass protest when Tesco applied for a licence to sell alcohol, which would be an important factor in the store's profitability.
Mr Smith thanked the British Legion for hosting the meeting and residents thanked Mr Smith, the Councillors and the Council Officers for arranging and attending it.
BBC News website - Business - 15 March 2012
Tesco's UK chief executive quits
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