Topic ID 4473
I notice that 22 September is the date the plans for the expansion of the two supermarkets in Hertford. Does anyone know if this is a public meeting or held in a Government office somewhere? It was mentioned briefly in the Mercury and obviously feelings are very high on these two sets of plans. Anyone help???
Reply ID 64221
I haven't been able to find details of the public inquiry yet, however in terms of process: The public inquiry will be held locally, and I understand it has been scheduled to run for 12 days. It is open to anyone to come and listen as they want to, but you will need to sign the register when you enter the room and on the register you can request that the Planning Inspectorate send you a copy of the decision notice (which are normally issued 6 weeks after the close of the inquiry, although I suspect a case this complex may take longer). If you wish to speak at an inquiry, you need to attend at 10am prompt on the first day and express your wish to speak to the Inspector. However, it is worth bearing in mind that the Inspector will only wish to hear new comment, that has not been covered by others (such as the Civic Society, Town Council and any other public group which intend to make comment). Members of the public would normally be invited to speak after the main case (i.e. after the appellants and the council). At a guess, I would suggest the Council Chamber at County Hall might be considered as a venue given the level of local interest, although we have our own PIs scheduled for the same time (on separate planning matters), so maybe there will be space at the Magistrates Court or Castle Hall. I hope that explains the process a little for you.
Reply ID 64229
Dear SMT Thank you so very much for this information, I think it will be of use to all those opposed to the Tesco plans (that were thrown out originally) and the Sainsbury's plans. I hope that the Mercury will put in their paper details for all of those who aren't on the Forum. But thank you very much you have been most informative...[:D]
Reply ID 64230
The Sainsburys plans were also rejected initially.
Reply ID 64232
Why so long - Can't they hurry it along so that Sainsburys can get on with building the store.
Reply ID 64240
quote:Interestingly,last night on the BBC2 programme, Mary Queen of Shops, a representative fom the town of Tewksbury was seen pleading with someone from Sainsburys to build a branch in their town. The general opinion that came across during the programme was that success for local shop-keepers and customers followed where there were a mixture and balance of small and large shops to make the whole town a 'shopping destination' In contrast, Dunstable was shown as a town where that had not happened and a spiral of closures had happened as each shop was not able to 'work' with each other. Worth looking at on iplayer, maybe
Originally posted by jez_p
Why so long - Can't they hurry it along so that Sainsburys can get on with building the store.
Reply ID 64241
quote:Public inquiries are normally scheduled to commence about 20 weeks from the intial 'start date' by the Planning Inspectorate; the start date being the adminstrative opening of the whole process. May seem like a long time, but when you consider that JS, Tesco and the council will each have their own QCs (with busy diaries) and (lengthy) statements need to be prepared, exchanged and read, and all of the information read by the Inspector in advance it isn't really that long. In my experience finding dates with QCs has been the hardest bit, and then you want to avoid the school holidays; especially as you can be accused of trying to schedule such events when people are away!! I forgot to mention that any previous objections made to EHDC should already have been submitted as part of the appeal, so the public would not need to resend previous comment.
Originally posted by jez_p
Why so long - Can't they hurry it along so that Sainsburys can get on with building the store.
Reply ID 64247
SMT you are very helpful. I look forward to hearing more in the coming months... [:)]
Reply ID 64776
Tescos have withdrawn their appeal. thats a surprise - I can only imagine that means for some reason they are pretty sure sainsburys will get refused.
Reply ID 64777
quote:Where did you hear/read that?
Originally posted by codek2
Tescos have withdrawn their appeal. thats a surprise - I can only imagine that means for some reason they are pretty sure sainsburys will get refused.
Reply ID 64788
From a formal source.
Reply ID 64841
quote:Oh how a hardened cynic (me) hopes that is true... I walked into town from HEast via Bluecoats and tried to imagine what the enormous, towering, light-blotting new Tesco would look like on its current site. It was not a happy thought. Codek2, yours is happy news, I hope there is a public announcement of the same in short order. Until their next bid, that is!
Originally posted by codek2
Tescos have withdrawn their appeal. thats a surprise - I can only imagine that means for some reason they are pretty sure sainsburys will get refused.
Reply ID 64844
glad to be spreading happy news :)
Reply ID 64863
It won't be long before another application is provided in my opinion. The supermarket vultures never stop circling.
Reply ID 64865
This is just an attempt to stymie the public enquiry. As James says, sooner or later they'll come back with another application.
Reply ID 64901
Quite.. my guard is still up as should everybody who has fought against the expansion...
Reply ID 64932
[url="http://www.hertford.net/yoursay/topic.php?id=4538"]Tesco To Propose Extention[/url]