TESCO has struck a double blow for traders in Wanstead after it won permission to build a massive new supermarket nearby - and cleared the final planning hurdle to start work on its new High Street store.
Opponents of a plan to open an Express branch of the chain on the site of the former Woolworths were delighted when Redbridge Council rejected an application by the supermarket giant to create a loading bay directly in front of it.
But Tesco now claims this problem will be resolved by making deliveries via Grosvenor Road instead – clearing the way for work to finally begin on the new store.
To make matters worse for Wanstead’s hard-pressed shopkeepers, the firm has also won the right to build a large new supermarket just five minutes drive away in Highams Park - drawing even more trade away from the High Street.
Steve Alsop, owner of A.G. Dennis butchers, said he was ‘disgusted’ by the decision to grant Tesco permission to build a new supermarket despite there already being four located within a mile of Wanstead .
He said: “This is just disgusting. Tesco always seem to get their own way and they’ve done it again.
“There’s already a Tesco in Leytonstone, and one in Woodford, so why do we need two more right near the High Street?
“This could put some people out of business. The hard working family that runs the Londis store are particularly worried about this.”
Georgina Saunders, who works in Bennett’s Newsagents - nextdoor to the Tesco Express site - agreed.
She said: “They just do what they want don’t they. It doesn’t seem to matter what anyone else here wants.
“There are already enough shops here that sell what they are going to sell.
“I’ll also be interested to see how they manage to load the shop from round the back of these shops, because it's a very narrow road. We have enough trouble ourselves.”
Ali Mashadi, of Wanstead Pharmacy said: “I suppose it was inevitable. They say these supermarkets will create jobs, but they are just replacing old ones.”
The news will also impact on traders in George Lane, South Woodford, who already have to compete for business with Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, and face a further fall in trade when CCTV cameras are introduced for traffic and parking enforcement later this year.
A Tesco spokeswoman said the site, which has been empty for 10 months, would not take much time to refit, meaning it could be open within a month.
Tesco Corporate Affairs Manager Eoin Dardis said: "Our proposals (for the Highams Park store) promise to transform a derelict site providing a new supermarket, jobs, community facilities, much needed housing, among much more.
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