9:30am Monday 19th July 2010
By Andrew Ffrench
RESIDENTS are being encouraged to discuss plans for a Tesco in Oxford’s Abingdon Road.
The supermarket giant is planning to build the Tesco Express on the site of the former Fox and Hounds pub, at the junction of Weirs Lane, which suffered a major fire a year ago.
The Rev Jane Sherwood, the vicar of St Luke’s Church in Canning Crescent, is hosting the meeting – arranged by city council leader and ward councillor Bob Price – at the church on Wednesday at 7pm.
Mr Price said Tesco’s planning application would be considered by the central, south and west area committee next month or September.
He admitted that although the final date for comments on the plans from members of the public has now passed, residents could find out more about the application and ask questions on issues at Wednesday’s meeting.
The Rev Jane Sherwood said: “This is a major talking point in the area and so far there hasn’t been a public meeting to discuss the plans.”
Tesco is applying to the city council for planning permission for a two- or three-storey building at the pub site.
The application has worried traders in Abingdon Road and last week Mohammad Afzal, the sub-postmaster at Nisa Local, which is near the pub site, said 600 customers had signed a petition opposing Tesco’s plans.
The Rev Sherwood said: “Bob Price and ward councillor Oscar Van Nooijen will be at the meeting to explain the latest plans and we hope as many people as possible will attend.
“The local area has been leafleted to invite people along and it should be a good turnout, although if there are more than 100 people there we will struggle to fit them all in.
“We hope the meeting doesn’t get too heated between people who are in favour of Tesco and those who aren’t, but we want to give people the opportunity to air their views.”
Meanwhile, the city council has called on the supermarket to develop a former garage neighbouring the site, which it says is an eyesore.
Mr Price also said the council had asked Tesco to consider buying the former BP garage site next to the pub, so that it could be developed at the same time.
He added: “I am told that Tesco have made an approach but the garage site owner, Sterling Developments, is not interested in selling at the moment.
“However, as a local planning authority, the council has simply got to carry through its duty to ensure that the development of any vacant site is consistent with our long-term objectives for the city.
“But from the point of view of local residents it seems a tragedy that the garage site has remained undeveloped for about 12 years.”
He added: “When the planning application is considered, a whole range of issues will be taken into account, including whether the pub site is suitable for retail development, suitable for housing, and the impact on traffic and the streetscape.”
Tesco said it had consulted 66 residents in the Weirs Lane area, with more than 80 per cent saying they would use the Tesco Express store if it was built.
Company spokesman Melanie Chiswell said the company would not be attending the public meeting because they “tended to be shouting matches”.
She added: “We have carried out significant public consultation because we wanted to prove to the council that we have been quite thorough.
“We have been in discussions with the garage site owner for over a year but he has not been willing to sell. If we were to wait for all the pieces of land to come together, then the whole site could remain an eyesore for another two years.”
London-based Sterling Developments declined to comment.
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