Tesco has submitted plans to build a supermarket in Wombourne – as villagers prepare to launch a campaign supporting its rivals.
The supermarket giant has come out fighting over plans to open the village’s first superstore, despite Sainsbury’s having a similar application thrown out just weeks ago. Tesco bosses said they were “studying” why its rival’s proposals for a superstore had been refused in a bid to alter its own designs and win over South Staffordshire planning chiefs.
Tony Fletcher, Tesco spokesman, said: “We have now submitted our own application.
“We are aware that Sainsbury’s had their application turned down and we are studying the reasons carefully and we plan to amend as many as possible in our own application.
“We have put in an application for outline planning permission so we can go back and make changes.”
Tesco sparked supermarket wars when bosses revealed they had put in a bid to buy Static Systems in Heath Mill Road industrial – just metres from where Sainsbury’s wanted to build its own store.
Sainsbury’s already owns a vacant building on the factory site and applied for permission to create a 25,000 sq ft store with more than 200 car parking spaces.
But planning bosses threw out the application, claiming a store would “bleed dry” village traders and shopkeepers in nearby towns.
They also argued that the store was too big for Wombourne and would attract traffic from Dudley, Stourbridge and Kingswinford
Residents are now preparing to launch a campaign against the decision, which was made despite council officers recommending the project be approved.
Anna Owen, aged 55, who has lived in the village for 45 years, said: “Something has got to be done. We are being dictated to when the vast majority of people in Wombourne want this supermarket. We need a store like this because we are all travelling out of the village for our main shopping anyway. I am hoping to get a petition together.”
10 Comments
Excellent news, i love my local Tesco, more the better as far as im concerned
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Do we really need another supermarket? Most of the Wombourne villagers do not agree with the idea of having 1 or even 2 new supermarket, especially when there is a plan to expand the already existing coop in school road. And do not forget the already existing coop in Wombourne high street and spar few hundred yards away to each other. for the village it is more than enough……. whoever is working in Wolverhampton already shops at Asda or Waitrose, for the one travelling to Birmingham or Dudley there is a Tesco at burn tree island, and do not forget a Waitrose in the near by Kingswinford!!!!!!!!
Why do not we think about the damage the “big chain superstore” will cause to the village?
In Wombourne high street we already have: a very good butcher, a delicatessen, children clothes and school uniform shop, a chemist, lamps/ TV shop, a cafe and 2 supermarkets all of them will risk to disappear. So will it be really good for the village? Will we end up with beauty saloon, dentist, banks, offices and restaurants only on the high street?
Let’s try to keep Wombourne alive…….. Actually let’s try to live it up….
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wombourne resident. If you can afford to shop at coop then why you living in wombourne, progress cant and shouldnt be stopped abd healthy competition is good it keeps our cost of living down, high street small shops are far to expensive and will remain so for everyone unless they are challenged, let them build and stop being a snob.
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I think once Tesco build a supermarket in Wombourne the floodgates will open up. We’ll have a Sainsburys, Morrisons, Somerfield, etc…
Wombourne is supposed to be a village, so lets keep it a village! Each small shop in the High Street, whether it be good or bad, make up the characteristics of the village.
If we’re not careful we’ll just end up having a clone of other similar towns around the area.
I thought people who originally moved to Wombourne wanted to get away from these large towns?
…and I’m not being a snob, I think its just a change for the worst..
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Everyone who opposes progress is selfish and only really thinking inside themselves. The midlands is dying and not one of you snobs cares enough to say yes to any project that will bring MONEY AND EMPLOYMENT to their town or city.Look at the new Wolverhampton airport, opposed and stopped by snobs who think selfishly. how many thousands of people would get back to work in a dying city if you lot kept your noses out. Give everyone the same chance and get the midlands, especially Wolverhampton Back to wealth and back on the map.
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Who in wombourne can afford to do all their shopping in the village? Wombourne is bigger than the village green, anyone on a low income in wombourne wants a supermarket!
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Sorry, Phil H - it sounds like you’re the selfish one to me.
It is no good having progress for progresses sake when the purported benefits are deliberately exagerated and are far outweighed by the negatives.
Using your example, the attempted expansion at Wolverhampton Airport into cheap no-frills flights was an opportunist attempt at a quick buck by the then owners that would have caused a massive blight on the daily (and nightly) lives of thousands of individuals in the immediate and surrounding areas. In addition we would have seen huge amounts of the surrounding green belt ripped up - green belt such as Highgate Common that is enjoyed by thousands of people from all over the West Midlands conurbation.
And for what? Certainly not progress, nor decent well paid jobs - ok, it would have enabled the casual flyer a cheap flight (that they can already get in the area at Bham Intl, Coventry, East Midlands, etc) and the bosses would have made a fortune. But that is all.
As it was their plans were seriously flawed - as proved when they were critically ripped apart by Aviation specialists WS Atkins.
So, sorry Phil H - I don’t buy your stance and I am of the opinion that it is YOU that is the selfish one.
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What was i thinking i am so selfish, to think that listening to a few planes might put people in work, To disrupt the lives of hundreds for the economy of our city and to think that building a supermarket would improve lives, for expensive un needed shops suffer, while millions die around the world for less rights, oh god i should be locked up. Yes that makes me selfish all right, You know what, selfish means thinking of your self, your statement says it all mate.
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Heres a better idea, lets all oppose everything and send all our big companies abroad. That way when the economy of britian collapses and we look like a third world country while other countries live off what we would have had, we can PROUDLY stand up and hold our heads high and say “well at least we have a green belt and dont have to listen to industrial noise” Then when our children grow up we can pass on our dead country to them to sort out, AND after all that we can blame whoever is in government for not looking after its people eh.
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Phil H
OK Phil - you are looking at this from a very small minded perspective, or maybe you are employed by Tesco!!
Maybe you can’t stand the countryside but in your world when the whole country is concreted over with Tesco and the like, and we are unable to support our ever growing population what happens then?
You probably wouldn’t recognise a blue tit from a blackbird but you should open your tiny brain to the big picture and that certainly isn’t have wall to wall supermarkets where individualty and creativity becomes a thing of the past,
And when your wonderful supermarkets have driven the farmers out of business (I suggest you read the papers)and other countries can’t or won’t supply us because they need to feed their own people first, then what do you suggest?
I could go on and on but I imagine your intellect could not take it in!!
And finally, you think it is selfish to look after our wildlife and the heritage of our country for the sake of a few jobs which historically have lost far more jobs than they have created - you need your head looking into.
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