Homepage  |   E-mail this article  |   Print

---

Lancashire County Cricket Club's Old Trafford stadium

---

Advertisement

9:35 am, March 4, 2010
Trafford planners say yes to Tesco, no to Sainsbury's

By Simon Binns

Planning officers at Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council have recommended that permission be granted for a 155,000 sq ft Tesco store next to Lancashire County Cricket Club's Old Trafford stadium.

But a report to the same council planning meeting, to be held on March 11, recommends refusal of a proposal by Isle of Man-based Derwent Holdings to build a 90,000 sq ft J Sainsbury store on its White City Retail Park about a mile away.

A retail assessment supporting the Tesco application said “no other suitable, available or viable sites” had been identified within the catchment area for a large foodstore.

It also said there would be an adverse impact “on the vitality and viability of Stretford Town Centre”, although it “should recover in the medium to long term.”

“The scale of development proposed is considered to be appropriate to meet the identified quantitative and qualitative need whilst stemming the leakage of trade from the area,” the report said.

Tesco, which is paying the council £21m for the site next to the stadium, and the cricket club have argued that the new store is vital to the redevelopment of Old Trafford, which would not secure Test cricket without it.

“The existing stadium is deficient and this has been demonstrated by the fact that Old Trafford did not receive an England v Australia Test Match during the 2009 Ashes series,” said the planning report.

“The £21m cross-subsidy provided from the food store development and sale of council owned land would finance and deliver the redevelopment of the Cricket ground.”

The application received 263 letters and emails of objection from local residents. Two petitions objecting to the store have also been submitted, one signed by 712 people and the second signed by 198 people. The council has also received email addresses for 93 local residents who have signed an on-line petition of objection.

However, it also received a total of 947 letters/emails of support for the Tesco scheme, along with a petition of support signed by 341 local residents. LCCC also received 3,751 email pledges of support via a website it set up.

Regarding an objection by Derwent Holdings, the report said White City was an out-of-centre site and was not considered to be “a sequentially preferable location” for a large food store. The site was “not considered to represent a realistic fallback position for the convenience goods component of the LCCC/Tesco application. It is therefore considered that the White City Retail Park should be dismissed as a sequentially preferable opportunity.”

The planning report accompanying Derwent Holdings' application contains a letter of objection from Drivers Jonas, acting on behalf of the club and Tesco. It said White City's traditional use as a warehouse retail park made it unsuitable for a food store.

Comments?sbinns@crain.com