Tesco in Hadleigh, a national problem.

Hadleigh High Street, under threat?

The Daily Mail has a big splash today about the refusal of planning permission for Tesco’s plans for a supermarket in Hadleigh. (See: Trolley Wars: How one market town (population 7239) saw off Tesco) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2012429/Trolley-wars-How-market-town-Hadleigh-saw-Tesco.html

 In the paper the event is being portrayed as a great victory for ‘local’ Davids over the nationwide ‘Goliath’.

The committee vote was very close; 8 against, 7 in favour.  This result reflects the view of the town, which in a poll some time ago were pretty evenly divided about the proposals.  

My heart, and my natural conservatism with a small ‘c’, agrees with the anti-Tesco brigade.  I deplore the homogenisation of the High Street that has taken place all over the UK in the last 20 years of so, and badly miss some of the smaller, more individual, shops that we used to enjoy.

However, my head says something different.  I set aside the ‘jobs’ issue, since I am pretty sure that jobs created by Tesco could well be offset by job losses elsewhere in the town.  However I do think that taking too conservative a stance here does not take into account the interests of those people in Hadleigh who would benefit from the lower prices that Tesco often offers (provided you take a calculator with you).  There is also the convenience offered by longer opening times, and the ease of being able to do a ‘big shop’ with the aid of a trolley.  This is invaluable for those who work, and also for those with large families and caring responsibilities.

Many people who believe in the ability of free markets to resolve any problem would say that if the small shops in Hadleigh can’t compete, then they do not deserve to survive.  However the big question really is how fair is the competition offered by the large supermarket chains?   And if unfair (which objectively I believe it must be) what can in practice be done to mitigate its impact on the smaller independents?  Perhaps as part of a Section 106 agreement Tesco should be forced to pay Babergh to revert to free car parking, and to perpetually retain it, not just in Hadleigh, but in Sudbury too!

This is not a subject that is amenable to easy solutions.  Certainly it is not in the power of Babergh to find them through the planning process as it stands, and is a matter for central government to address.

The one thing that does really concern me is the cost to Babergh ratepayers if a protracted and complex appeal process now ensues.  And will it, probably subconsciously, deter the Development Committee from taking proper decisions in other cases, which might result in a costly appeal?