Tesco seeks to expand Blandford store (From Bournemouth Echo)

Tesco seeks to expand Blandford store

10:30am Thursday 9th September 2010 in

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TESCO has submitted formal plans to expand its store in Blandford.

The company hopes to increase the size of its supermarket at Stour Park from 2194 square metres to 4066 square metres.

New lines of non-food products, including clothes and small electrical goods, will be introduced to the store, and a café reopened, if district planning chiefs grant permission.

Tesco’s corporate affair manager Juliette Bishop said 92 per cent of people who had responded to a consultation on the proposed expansion supported it.

“Local people now have a chance to make their views known to the council as part of the formal consultation process around the planning application,” said Ms Bishop.

She claimed that a detailed “retail impact assessment” had shown the extension would increase trade in the Blandford area and reduce “leakage” to other areas.

But Blandford’s small shopkeepers, who fear that the introduction of non-food lines and a café will harm town centre trade, rejected her analysis.

Luke Harris, proprietor of the Disc O Box record shop on East Street, questioned the need for the proposed expansion.

“I’m not a big fan of Tesco. I don’t shop there. I don’t understand why they want a piece of everybody’s action.

“Why can’t they stick to selling groceries? Aren’t they making enough money?” he said.

Cornerhouse café owner, Jill Budd, said a café at Tesco would create further unwanted competition from national retailers.

“I’m not particularly happy, considering we have just had a Costa coffee shop open in the town, but I don’t feel there’s very much I can do about it,” she said.

“I think there is a market for the level of service we provide and I hope people value that,” she said.

A North Dorset District Council spokesman said the application would be validated next week. He added that the application was expected to follow normal planning procedure with no additional public consultation.