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PR war in store
8:00am Friday 30th May 2008
Comments (11)Two supermarket giants have drawn up competing plans for a large development of shops and homes in New Barnet.
Plans by Asda and Tesco both include a supermarket, housing, shops and community facilities, and can be viewed at exhibitions in early June.
Asda property communications manager Tom McGarry said the development, at the former Transco gas works site, would modernise New Barnet, create 300 jobs, and draw shoppers to the area.
He added: "Early discussions with local representatives and council officers have been hugely constructive and we have worked hard to produce plans more in line with their feedback.
"We now want to move on to the next stage of consultation and listen to the views of local people."
Tesco corporate affairs manager James Wiggam said the Tesco development, between Victoria Road and East Barnet Road, would rejuvenate the area.
He said: "We want to know residents' views on our plans to bring new shops, homes and community facilities to the heart of New Barnet, so we are inviting everyone to come and see our proposals to let us know what they think."
But both Asda and Tesco will have a fight on their hands.
In a Times Series poll in February, 63 per cent felt the existing Sainsbury's in the town centre was sufficient, and almost all 300 residents at a New Barnet Community Association meeting in April opposed the plans.
Michael Griffin, 50, of Boleyn Way, said: "New Barnet town is really more like a village, and a proposal to put even one, let alone two, more supermarkets in such a tiny area, when we can barely move for traffic as it is, is beyond ludicrous.
"If Tesco or Asda were primarily concerned with doing something useful for the community, I would be all for it, but that's living in cloud cuckoo land."
Theresa Villiers, Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet, was equally critical.
She said: "I don't think we have the road space to deal with it and don't see how the junctions could be improved or amended to cope, so I shall be opposing the proposals."
A council spokesman said: "We have made it clear to Tesco and Asda any planning application they may make will not be approved unless it is appropriate in terms of size and design and its impact on traffic, health care and schools."
Asda's plans can be viewed at the Salvation Army centre, in Albert Road, on June 6 between 3pm and 8pm, and on June 7 between 10am and 4pm.
Tesco's plans will be at the Optex Building, 22 to 26 Victoria Road, on June 5 and 6 between 11am and 8.30pm, and on June 7 between 10am and 4pm.
u What do you think of the plans submitted by Tesco and Asda? Leave your comments under this article online at times-series.co.uk/news
Your Say YourTimes Series
Iain, New Barnet says...
7:29pm Fri 30 May 08
Huw, New Barnet says...
9:48pm Sat 31 May 08
Frankly the idea that a new superstore would serve the neighborhood or the district is absurd. The two concerns are simply looking at the balance sheet and considerations of local residents, businesses and the environment are not to be found there.
Meantime, buildings have been left to rot and one prominent one has now been shuttered off, leaving East Barnet Road looking more run-down than it would, had these interests not been involved.
I'm pessimistic.
Alan Chew, Heathfield, East Sussex. says...
7:44pm Sun 1 Jun 08
Helen Quelch, New Barnet says...
2:58pm Mon 2 Jun 08
But what we need is the old buildings restored and rejuvenated. What we absolutely do NOT need is another supermarket.
I'd be more than happy if I could have a local butchers, bakers and greengrocers instead!
Like the football ground idea by the way!!
Huw, New Barnet says...
6:56pm Mon 2 Jun 08
Number 15 East Barnet Road, which has now been shuttered off is a fine corner building which might have passed beyond saving, which is a shame. Developers who buy property and allow it to rot rather than put it to use should be prosecuted.
The shadowy concerns who own various of the properties in the development areas, have already given a fair indication of the regard they have for local needs. Sweet Fanny Adams knows the answer.
john+diane harridge, barnet says...
8:43pm Tue 3 Jun 08
John C, New Barnet says...
5:08pm Wed 4 Jun 08
julian tovey, new barnet says...
10:11pm Thu 5 Jun 08
Huw, New Barnet says...
4:37pm Fri 6 Jun 08
Competition between huge concerns which automatically force out smaller businesses is not something from which our community will benefit.
Choice?! Choice of whether to buy identical goods in one of up to four local supermarkets at roughly the same price? Choice of what exactly?
How about being able to chose to drive home from work without having to queue for ages to get there through the gridlock of traffic to and from these stores? Or the choice of not breathing all that extra exhaust? Well I suppose we could choose to move away. Ooops people will choose not to buy property this close to such an enormous planning debacle because of the terrible traffic and the dreadful, windy, bleak, concrete architecture.
David, Formerly Edward Road, now East Barnet says...
7:24pm Tue 10 Jun 08
Furthermore, there is no way they can make the traffic work with thousands of extra cars in the already congested area at the East Barnet Road/Victoria Road junction.
New Barnet's so-called "town centre" does need something doing to it and I suspect that the council would rather somebody else paid for it, so I assume that the comment above about approving it at the second attempt will come to pass.
So, which is the lesser of the two evils?
The top end of the Victoria Road/EBR triangle is mostly very shabby, as nobody has seen fit to refurbish any of the old Victorian premises. The Tesco plan would involve replacing all of this with a new construction; the opposite side of the road is all new, from LA Fitness to Sainsbury's, so it would not be a question of it not fitting in.
The Tesco plan indicates a number of retail premises (was it 15 they mentioned?) but who is going to try and open any kind of food shop that close to Tescos? What sort of retail businesses will we get?
The ASDA plan is off what they insisted on referring to as the "high road", so visually it is not going to impact the EBR area, but the additional traffic it generates is going to make the entire area sieze up. An ASDA representative said that he additional taffic would not come at rush hour but would be spread out over the day; this presumably means that EBR will be congested all day instead of just at rush-hour/school-run times.
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No to bulldozers in New Barnet., New Barnet says...
2:00pm Fri 30 May 08
These planned developments aren't aimed at the people of New Barnet - we already have a big and recently refurbished Sainsbury's which is perfectly good enough for our needs.
They're intended to attract shoppers from surrounding areas so that, heaven forbid, they don't have to drive a couple of miles to the giant Tesco stores at Borehamwood, Potters Bar and Colney Hatch, or the large ASDA down the road in Southgate.
The problem is that New Barnet is a small place and doesn't have the roads to cope with the huge increase in traffic that a large store would generate.
What about the disused Furniture Land site on the Great North Road in Whetstone? It's a perfectly good site with good road links which is already set up for retail purposes.
Admittedly, the gasworks and the Opex site both need 'regenerating', but that doesn't have to mean pulling down our Victorian high street. It just needs a little TLC, not wholesale demolition.
Barnet Council, which has consistently neglected New Barnet for years, ought to be ashamed that it's come to this.
Just you wait - I bet the council's planning department will throw out the first planning application (it's good PR to be seen to do this), then let the amended plans go through.
Then another historic village centre and its shops will be lost for good.