At the full council meeting last week, several local councillors expressed their disappointment and frustration with Tesco’s plans to drop affordable housing from its building plan in central Southend.
The supermarket chain originally planned to build a new store on the B&Q site near Victoria Plaza, as well as new low-cost homes.
Company staff now say, however, that the economic downturn has made it impossible for them to go ahead with the housing plan.
As of yet, Tesco has not submitted a planning application to the council, but speculation is rife about whether the company will stick to its original proposal.
Ron Woodley, Independent Councillor for Thorpe, suggested boycott action to put pressure on Tesco, saying at the council meeting:
“We should urge people not to shop at Tesco unless we have the affordable housing we were promised.â€
Liberal Democrat Councillor Jim Clinkscales expressed his belief that Tesco’s new plans should not be allowed. He said:
“Tesco needs the High Street and we should tell it we will not accept this unless there is affordable housing.â€
Cllr Andrew Moring, who is responsible for support services at the council, said that the council were unable to reject Tesco’s proposals as the site is already earmarked as shopping space.
Ian Gilbert, Labour Councillor for Victoria, disagreed with the other councillors, saying:
“While it is always regrettable to lose affordable housing, we do not want high rise development in Victoria Ward.
“With this scheme there were serious concerns about car parking among local people and these still remain, whether or not affordable housing is included.â€
Congratulations on this site, from what I’ve seen, it’s the most comprehensive and fair reporting of local politics that there is in Southend.
[...] the full council meeting last week, councillors discussed the changes Tesco have made to their proposed building plan on the site near Southend Victoria [...]