Are Tesco moving in on Lower Clapton Road?
I recently tweeted about Tesco moving into Lower Clapton Road. It was some speculation on my part based on a letter, but there was a fair bit on interest from some locals, so I will elaborate.
I live in a block of flats owned by a housing association. As part of the estate there is a commercial unit (144-146), this unit has been empty since the block was built in 2006, the only real bid for moving in that I know of was William Hill which after some struggle was stopped. Other than that it seems possible that the mobile phone mast and base station that sat in front of it until last year made filling it difficult. Earlier this week I received a letter from the housing association that said
“…there will be some work being carried out by Tesco engineers at the commercial unit on the ground floor of Shire Court on Wednesday the 14th April 2010…”
I have asked if they know anymore, but have not yet heard back. I spoke to Palm 2 (my local corner shop and potentially the business that would suffer the most if Tesco moved in) and they said they thought that Tesco were looking at the space, but if they wanted to go ahead there would be a notice that could be contested first.
So, that’s what I know for now. Personally I don’t really want a Tesco to move in, I really like my corner shop, they are friendly and stock the kinds of veg that you wouldn’t get in Tesco, it might make them consider their prices they cannot compete with a supermarket without some big changes. I will update when I know more.
Update:
It looks likely they would need some planning permission first, which I’ll keep an eye out for, otherwise this and other Hackney planning applications can be searched for here http://www.hackney.gov.uk/servapps/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/generalsearch.aspx
(thanks Andy)
