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Tesco pulls out of Tolworth – for now
3:47pm Wednesday 21st February 2007
The fight to stop a supermarket being built in Tolworth will continue until Tesco withdraws its plans entirely, MP Edward Davey vowed this week.
He was speaking after the retail giant withdrew its plans for an 8,250 square metre superstore and 662 flats on the former Ministry of Defence site. It plans to resubmit its application later this year but Mr Davey said that will not alter the main objection he and many others have to the plan: the congestion it will cause around the area.
He said: "The basic idea of a supermarket there, in my view, is wrong.
"I welcome the withdrawal of the application by Tesco but we cannot necessarily say that is the end of the battle.
"That will continue until we have victory."
Tesco, which withdrew its application yesterday, wants to set up a working party to ensure maximum community involvement to get the best benefits for the area.
Corporate affairs manager, James Wiggam, said: "We are proposing major regeneration on this key opportunity site, so need to ensure the plans are the best they can possibly be.
"We have listened to local people and taken many points on board over the last 18 months, however further community involvement will improve the scheme even more."
The application also included 2,000 square metres of community use facilities, other retail units and the signature green bridge connecting the development to Tolworth Broadway.
According to Tesco, it would have been one of the most environmentally-friendly retail developments in Europe.
The application foundered when Kingston and Surbiton MP Edward Davey and Greater London Authority representative Tony Arbour both came out against the plans at a public meeting in November.
Mr Davey started a website called www.everylittlehurts.org.uk to galvanise residents against the plans.
He started a petition and spoke to the council about why he felt the application should not be allowed.
Thousands have signed Mr Davey's petition and another organised by Alexandra ward councillors.
A Tesco spokesman said all those involved in the consultation so far, and any other interested residents, would be invited to join the working group.
He added that exact changes for the future application were not known yet, but Tesco would look at the master plan, meaning a major overhaul of proposals is on the cards.
Email tolworthconsultation@fd.com if you are interested in sitting on the working party.
- Is Tesco right or wrong for Tolworth? Have your say below.
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Nadeem, Tolworth says...
11:35am Mon 2 Apr 07
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Neil Crawford, Ruxley Lane, West Ewell says...
12:01pm Sun 11 Mar 07
Congestion in Tolworth, & around the roundabout especially is terrible.
Without the added traffic magnet of a Tesco store, traffic already tails well back to the West Ewell area on the Kingston Road on its approach from Epsom towards Tolworth.
The proposed Tolworth development like so many nowadays suffers from the segregation of residential & business/industrial areas. This only adds to the need for people to commute and add to the already terrible traffic in the locality.
The area does need redevelopment, but with a mix of business & residential building.
Not a supermarket, DIY store, or any form of retail park.
This would give existing and the new people to the area somewhere local to both live and work.
It could, and should be a model of future redevelopment, encouraging and giving people the opportunity to live and work locally, instead of the current polarisation that takes place between business and residential development, ultimately forcing people to commute.
Let us all hope for the sake of the existing residents, commuters and most importantly the environment both locally and globally this development does not take place in it's current form.