Is Lisson Grove's Tesco Express breaking more rules?
April 27, 2009 7:01 AM
Lorries parking on Lisson Grove to make deliveries to Tesco Express was ruled "wholly unacceptable" by the council's Director of Transportation. Here's a delivery lorry doing it nevertheless.
Tesco stands accused of yet again breaking rules under which its controversial Express outlet on the corner of Lisson Grove and Hayes Place was approved by the council. This follows recent revelations that £100,000 promised by Tesco for the local area had not materialised, 18 months after planning approval was granted.
The new controversy centres on deliveries to the Marylebone outlet. Lorries making deliveries to the shop are blocking up Lisson Grove during the morning rush hour, despite planning approval for the new shop explicitly banning deliveries on the busy street. And a delivery bay in Hayes Place it was told to widen has actually been filled in.
Permission for lorries to park on Lisson Grove whilst delivering to the Tesco Express was explicitly denied when planning approval was given for the new shop. Tesco had originally proposed to use the busy street, with deliveries going in through the main entrance. They had to change their plans however after the council's Director of Transportation ruled the idea "wholly unacceptable" because of the effect on traffic.
Despite this, lorries are regularly seen parking on Lisson Grove during the morning rush hour, causing traffic problems along the street. The local Liberal Democrats have now photographed an early morning milk delivery, with the lorry parked in Lisson Grove.
Told to enlarge an existing loading bay on Hayes Place, the loading bay seems to have disappeared!
Commenting, local Liberal Democrat campaigner Martin Thompson said, "I live just around the corner from the Tesco Express, and I often see lorries parked in Lisson Grove, causing chaos. I am pleased that we have now taken a photo of them doing this."
When they banned Tesco from using Lisson Grove for deliveries, the council told the company to widen a delivery bay in Hayes Place instead. This is around the corner from the main entrance. The multinational retailer was also told to pay for this work. This agreement formed part of the final deal to approve the new outlet.
Despite this agreement however the small delivery bay that was in Hayes Place was not extended, but actually filled in. The old delivery bay can be seen in photographs in the original planning documents that went to the November 2007 meeting of the council's planning applications sub-committee meeting. This bay has now disappeared.
Martin added, "Serious question marks now hang over this shop. First, the promised £100,000 is nowhere to be seen. Now, Tesco seems to be ignoring the agreement it made not to make deliveries on Lisson Grove. And after promising to extend a delivery bay in Hayes Place, they seem to have filled it in!
"My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I will now go through the planning documents for this shop line-by-line. We will be asking challenging questions of the council about what they have done, and not done, and what they plan to do to bring Tesco into line.
"Tesco may be a massive company. Its sales may top £1bn per week, but we should not be afraid to take them on. I didn't want this shop in the first place, neither did the 1,100 people who signed my petition against it, but now it's here, I am going to jolly well make sure it operates within the rules."
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