CURRENT STATUS (@ 28OCT12)
The new Tesco store opened to the public at 8am on Thursday 4th October 2012. Development work on the remainder of the site continues. Forum members agreed that the Forum should start a constructive, on-going, dialogue with Tesco to help ensure Highams Park gains maximum benefit from the presence of the store.
RECENT HISTORY
The latest proposal went before the LBWF Planning Committee on 13th October 2009. Local residents' groups had serious concerns about the proposal but the planning committee voted narrowly in favour of the development (5 votes for and 4 votes against).
The proposal then had to go to the Government Office of London (GOL) and to the Mayor of London for their approval. The Forum had expressed its views to these bodies. The previous Tesco proposal was approved by LBWF planning committee but was "called in" by the GOL and a Public Inquiry was held. It was as a result of this Public Inquiry that the Secretary of State turned down the previous application.
On the 10th November 2009 Mayor Boris Johnson wrote to LBWF with his decision. This document is included below and explains that, following his evaluation, he has decided to let LBWF decide.
On the 25th November 2009 the Government Office for London wrote to LBWF with their decision. This document is included below and explains that, following their evaluation, they have decided not to intervene and will let LBWF decide.
As a result, the Tesco development went ahead. The Forum agreed that it would try to work with the Council and Tesco to minimise the adverse effects of the development and try to maximise the benefits for Highams Park residents.
Before planning permission could be issued, the section 106 agreement needed to be agreed between LBWF and Tesco. Amongst other things, this document sets out monies to be given by the developer to LBWF to be used to help mitigate the effect of a development. These negotiations were concluded at the beginning of February 2011. Council officers produced a two page briefing note for councillors which summarises what was agreed. The Forum received a copy of this (as at 03FEB11) and a copy of it can be read by clicking this link: Briefing Document
At 19MAY11 development was in progress and the store was expected to open mid 2012. There was some uncertainty as to the funding for the affordable housing units on the site but Council officers confirmed that all the funding was in place so there is no reason why all the units should not be built with the agreed timetable (see statement sent 12MAY11 below)
DOCUMENT INDEX
Over the past few years, Tesco have submitted a number of plans to LBWF for redevelopment of the old C&A site in Larkshall Road by the junction with The Broadway. The Forum have reviewed and critically appraised each of these plans.
A number of Tesco related documents are scattered throughout this website and are indexed below (most recent at the top).
1) Statement by council officers (sent 12MAY11) regarding funding of affordable housing
There had been some uncertainty as to the funding for the affordable housing units on the site but Council officers confirm that all the funding is now in place so there is no reason why all the units should not be built with the agreed timetable. The following statement from council officers explains the situation in detail: Extract from email sent 12MAY11
2) Briefing note for councillors (received 03FEB11) following signing of Section 106 agreement
Council officers produced a two page briefing note for councillors which summarises what has been agreed. The Forum received a copy of this and it can be read by clicking this link: Briefing Document
3) Letter from LBWF CEO to Iain Duncan Smith MP 22MAR10
The following letter was written by LBWF CEO Andrew Kilburn to MP Iain Duncan Smith, responding to a number of questions about the proposed Tesco development. It explains the status of the negotiation of the section 106 agreement and clarifies the proposed routing of the Tesco delivery vehicles:
LBWF Letter 22MAR10 (433KB)
4) Forum's statement (30th November 2009) following the GoL Decision
The following statement was given to Waltham Forest Guardian:
Forum statement 30NOV09
5) Government Office for London Decision 25th November 2009
The full text of the GoL letter is available from the link below:
GoL decision letter (0.99MB)
6) Mayor Boris Johnson's Decision 10th November 2009
The full text of the Mayor's letter and accompanying report is available from the link below (but be warned that the file size is large - approaching 2 MB). You might want to right-click the link below and select "Save Target As..." to download the file and save it to your PC for viewing locally.
Mayor's decision letter and report (1.84MB)
The Mayor explains his thinking further in a letter to GLA member Jennette Arnold here:
Mayor's letter to Jennette Arnold (09DEC09)
7) Presentation to councillors and planning committee members on anticipated traffic problems.
The 8th Sept 2009 meeting of the planning committee deferred a decision pending more detail from officers on a number of issues including traffic. The Forum took this opportunity to prepare a detailed presentation, including diagrams and statistics, spelling out the traffic problems which it believes Tesco and Council traffic consultants have not properly taken account of. A paper copy of the presentation was given to all planning committee members on 29th Sept 2009. An electronic version was emailed to these committee members, and to councillors in the nearby wards, on 5th Oct 2009.
The file size of the document is quite large so you might want to right-click the link below and select "Save Target As..." to download the file and save it to your PC for viewing locally.
The Forum's Traffic Presentation is here: Traffic Presentation (525KB)
8) Publications from Residents' Groups expressing serious concerns and comments on the latest proposal (due to go before LBWF Planning Committee 8th September 2009). These include council contact details so you can express your views:
Leaflet: Leaflet Page 1 Leaflet Page 2
Poster: Poster
The link below is a diagram created by a resident which shows the height of the building relative to existing buildings and also predicts the extent of the shadows cast across Larkshall Road:
Height Diagram
Three artists impressions of the development taken from Tesco's submission:
The corner of Larkshall Road and The Broadway
Mulberry Green (behind the store)
Birds eye view of the whole development (looking North West)
9) A short history of the Tesco Proposals in Highams Park (as at 14AUG09):
tescohist.html
The most recent minutes of the Forum (available here: Minutes) will contain an update with the latest information, and browsing through the series of Tesco entries in the "News" page of the site (News) may also be of interest.
10) Here is a link to a video of a Channel 4 TV program about Tesco's approaches to building new stores and the experiences of communities impacted by them.
Tesco - The Supermarket that's eating Britain - Dispatches Channel 4
11) This is Tesco's website promoting the development:
www.highamsgreen.co.uk
12) Notes of the Public Meeting chaired by Iain Duncan Smith MP on 6th November 2008
These notes appear as the entry dated 7th November on the News page (please follow the link and scroll down).
News
13) Greater London Authority's covering letter to LBWF (30th October 2008)
tesco6.pdf
14) Greater London Authority's report on the proposal (30th October 2008)
tesco5.pdf
15) The Forum's statement 10th October 2008 giving the Forum's view of the development.
This has been supplied to all parties involved in the decision process.
tesco4.pdf
16) Notes of the Public meeting held by the residents groups 3rd October 2008
tesco3.html
17) Notes of a meeting between the 3 residents groups 17th July 2008
tesco2.html
18) Details of the Public Exhibition in July 2008
tesco1.html
