Brixham Tesco store gets green light
IT IS full steam ahead for a £20million Tesco superstore in Brixham town centre after Torbay planners gave the regeneration scheme the thumbs-up.
Diggers are expected to be moving into the central car park later in this year after developers Albourne Property and supermarket giant Tesco had their mixed-used scheme approved during a planning meeting held at Parkfield in Paignton on Wednesday afternoon.
Supporters of the regeneration scheme, which is expected to start in the Autumn after Section 106 agreement and design details have been ironed out between Torbay Council and the developers, said this was good news for Brixham and would boost trade for all in the fishing port.
Opponents have vowed to fight on.
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Mark Scoot, from Albourne Property told the planning committee that the project would create 160 permanent jobs and another 110 construction jobs during the 18 month building period with at least half of them from local firms.
He said that the development would increase footfall in the town and “reverse the situation” so that £18million in annual spend from Brixham shoppers stays in the town rather than escape to out of town supermarkets in Paignton, Torquay and beyond.
In addition, he said the car parking facilities would be open 24/7 which would again support the night time economy in the fishing port.
He added: “This investment will guarantee the future of the town.”
Fellow supporter of the scheme, John Coish, from Brixham 21 said other towns such as Kingsbridge or Axminster had both benefited from having supermarkets in their town centres and there was no reason why it could not work in Brixham.
He added: “No other scheme has been put forward by objectors and no additional jobs or car parking spaces have been proposed. With objectors it's all negative negative. Many towns would jump at the chance of a £20million investment like this. This is a golden opportunity for Brixham.”
Town councillor Chris Lomas, who has supported the proposal since the start, agreed saying: “This will pull people into the town. Tesco would not build extra retail units if they did not think they could sell them. This will save this town.”
The proposal was pushed through by a seven to two vote in favour following a three-hour special planning meeting.
Richard Batham-Read from developers Albourne Property, said after the meeting: “We are delighted that after two years of planning, members of the planning committee have voted in accordance with our proposal.
“We believe the benefits outweigh the perceived disadvantages for the town.”
He said that work should start in the autumn after the tourist season once detailed design matters have agreed with Torbay Council.
The Tesco scheme has split the town in two with more than 2,000 people signing a petition against the scheme and more than 51 per cent of voters electing Rosemary Clarke, founder of the Brixham Residents Against a Tesco Superstore action group to the town council in October.
Many traders and residents have also expressed being in favour of the scheme so long as access issues with double decker buses, access to public toilet facilities and a shopmobility centre could be sorted out. Other issues concerning residents have including scale, height, design and highways.
While presenting the scheme to planning members and the 60 or so members of the public, planning officer Ruth Robinson said the building would be clad in sympathetic material reflecting the history and heritage of Brixham while the top car park would be further screened from views from higher roads in the town thanks to canopies. Some concerns included the possibility of seeing 35 cars backed up at all times trying to get into the town centre.
Meanwhile she said all roofs had the potential to be covered in solar panels to reduce the carbon footprint of the building. She said the £250,000 Section 106 cash from Tesco would go towards improve road access, green spaces and the public realm in and around the store.
The development will now incorporate a multi-level car park with 340 spaces, a 32,000 sq ft Tesco supermarket and additional retail space, small unit shops, 11 town houses, three flats, a Shopmobility unit and public space.
There had been issues with bus and delivery lorry accessibility but overall, planning officers recommended approval.
Opponent Jackie Devonshire said: “In any democracy any objection is a no vote. The number of objections significantly outweighs the number of supporters. The key word here is “significantly”.
“Silence does not imply support for the application. Brixham has spoken and does not want this . The people of Brixham deserve better.”
Chris Dawes, from the Brixham Resident Against Tesco Store organisation, added that with the closure of the central car park for 18 to 24 months, Torbay Council could not afford to lose so much revenue to help a FTSE 100 company.
Fellow opponent Loris Goring said: “This scheme will be an obsolete dinosaur. Large supermarkets are a 20th century concept not a 21st century concept. The trend is to smaller local shops.
“This store is too big. Smaller shops are the way forward. This also has serious architectural and design flaws which have not been addressed. It should be about protecting and enhancing our heritage. We don't want to be the laughing stock of a TV channel but a major tourism attraction.
“Are our tourists going to come to see a heritage Tesco?”
Torbay and Brixham councillor Matt James said he had worked in a Tesco store in the past and planners should be wary of job promises.
He said jobs in the new store would not be good quality jobs attract huge wages.
He told the meeting: “We have a £300,000 in S106 out of a £20million scheme. It is pitiful. It will only leave £50,000 for the town. This S106 is a betrayal of Brixham. We are being asked to gamble on the future of the town. This scheme will mean we have lost our one chance to truly improve the town.”
Cllr Mike Morey, who opposed the scheme, proposed that the vote be deferred while concerns about traffic, design and others are addressed. His motion was defeated two to seven.
Following a seven to two vote in favour of the scheme.
Chris Dawes said the decision to approve the development was a real disappointment for the town.
He said: “This is a sad day for Brixham. Brixham itself has lost. As a group BRATS will regroup and consider its options and decide on the process forward.
“This is not the end.”
22 Comments
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by iseveryidused
Tuesday, March 26 2013, 2:36PM
“I hope Tesco ban any BRAT members from entering and using the store!”
by gezza
Friday, March 15 2013, 4:23PM
“Brixham - the Town of the living dead. The store will bring the place back to life.”
by Elliot6844
Friday, March 15 2013, 1:28PM
“Is the purview of Brixham always going to be narrow minded, ill-informed and hackneyed.”
by Ax0l0tl
Sunday, March 10 2013, 1:12PM
“The decision shows that the planning process is fundamentally undemocratic.
Rightly or wrongly the people of Brixham expressed their current views by voting against the development, not only at a parish council meeting but also at a bye-election. Torbay should respect the wishes of the people.
At the upcoming bye-eletion the supporters of the development will once again get the opportunity to put their views to democratic scrutiny. I predict that they will yet again fail to put forwarding a convincing argument in support of the development.
As with nurseries, the Town Hall and Shoalstone pool, Torbay council has yet again shown that the views of the people of Brixham amount to nothing.”
by dgldBRIX12
Sunday, March 10 2013, 10:03AM
“As one who supported the Tesco proposal, and have been pleased to see the application finally passed, I would say this to the detractors whose arguments have been defeated.
You have 2 candidates standing in the forthcoming by-election for the vacant positions on Brixham Town Council.
With your issue defeated, and your candidates apparently having nothing to say about any other issue concerning the town, here is my suggestion, for what it is worth.
1. Let it be known that you accept the decision of the council, and that you will actively work with the developers, Brixham 21 and other bodies, to ensure that the Tesco store that finally emerges is sympathetic to its surroundings, and honours the history of Brixham.
2. Show the Brixham public that you do have other things to talk about, other than your opposition to Tesco.
If you can achieve these dual aims, and argue rationally, then perhaps your candidates will get a fair hearing, and stand a chance of being elected.
Otherwise I fear that they will rightly fall by the wayside, with the other candidates, who have definite issues to address, not least the reform of Brixham's utterly discredited council, picking up deserved public support for their position.
The Tesco issue is decided, it's time for the BRATS to put their toys back in the box and move on.”
by franksobey
Friday, March 08 2013, 6:54PM
“Tesco-by-the-sea :-)
Recently the star of its own TV show, Fish Town, Brixham has been the centre of the area's fishing industry for centuries. You can find out more about the town's maritime past at the Tesco Heritage Museum – or taste the local catch in one of the town's cafés or restaurants.
Another of Tesco-by-the sea's maritime attractions is a life-size replica of Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind. You can go on board and take a peek back in time to find out what it was like aboard a galleon in Sir Francis' time long before Tesco arrived.
Tesco-by-the-sea Festivals
Tesco-by-the-sea is home to several festivals including Fishstock, the Heritage Festival, Trawler Races, Tesco Pirate and Shanty Festival (which holds the World Record for a mile of pirates), Pirate Days, a regatta and Tesco Hapnin. Just in case you think it's all about fish, the summer Cowtown festival celebrates the town's agricultural side.
Breathtaking nature
For nature lovers, nearby Berry Head is a National Nature Reserve and gateway site for the UNESCO-supported English Riviera Global Geopark, while the South West Coast Path offers breath-taking walks. If you want to learn more check out the Geopark Discovery Packages and other Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust Events.
Nearby Breakwater Beach has a cupboard full of awards, including the Breakwater Beach Blue Flag, Quality Coast Award, and is a Marine Conservation Society Good Beach Guide Recommended Beach.
Visit Tesco-by-the-sea and experience one of the treasures of the English Riviera, South Devon's beautiful bay.
(with apologies to the English Riviera Toursit Board for playing with their words :-))”
by openingbat
Thursday, March 07 2013, 11:59PM
“We are shortly to have a by-election for the two vacant seats on the town council and two of the candidates are BRATS members.
One of them, Richard Rhyl, I came across when Albourne were exhibiting the town centre plans at the town hall in November where I witnessed him telling a member of the public that there would be no jobs at the new store as they wouldn't employ anyone because of self-service checkouts!
What? Is this man for real?
And in response to someone who had asked him if there was to be a cafeteria in the new store, he said that there wasn't provision for one in the plans but there would be one alright as Tesco never take any notice of planning decisions!
Does this person know anything at all about council/planning matters I wonder?
Brixham Town Council has become something of a laughing stock recently for various reasons and if we get any more BRATS people on it then it will move into side splitting territory and, God forbid, should Richard Rhyl get onto the council then I would advise anyone with even a cursory interest in town council matters to stay in close contact to a WC as we would then be moving from side splitting territory to involuntary bladder release territory!
This is a time when Brixham Town Council desperately needs competent, professional people on it and in candidates Jessica Stock and Lindsay Harrison we have precisely that.”
by Tauntonhobbit
Thursday, March 07 2013, 6:27PM
“Brats would do well to make as much noise about the mess that was Threshers, an awful sight which glares out across Bolton Cross at every visitor; but, as usual, I suppose, 'nothing must change' ....even for the better....we had the same attitudes over the fish quay (Brixham now lands more tonnage than Newlyn) and the market house, that decrepit pile of masonry despoiling our harbour.........”
by paulronson
Thursday, March 07 2013, 3:00PM
“At last common sense prevails. The overly vocal minority of nay-sayers and BRATS of this town have put nothing constructive or progressive forward in the last two years. Instead they waited and waited for some knight in shining armour to come forward with all the solutions to Brixham's woes. Well that didn't happen, so pragmatism must prevail and Brixham must take the opportunity to move forward.
Before it was a hole in the ground, that area was a dilapidated car park and a failed bus depot. It was being considered for development over 20 years ago and nothing happened. In case no one noticed, there is not a queue of developers all lined up at the park-and-ride ready to charge in to Brixham and develop the area with fashionable boutiques, wine bars, art galleries and quirky knick-knack stores. Nor is it going to be the town centre business park that kick starts Britain's manufacturing renaissance. However, it now has the opportunity to be a useful space that provides an additional focus and facility to the community with what I consider to be reasonably sympathetic architecture and style.
Face it BRATS all people use supermarkets, even you and you probably have to drive out of the town to do it. It has been proven time and time again that in-town supermarkets actually benefit the local economy by keeping shoppers in the area instead of driving out of town to do their weekly shop.
The reality of the Brixham situation is that the people that go to the independent greengrocers and the butchers will still go there. The people that go to the strand bakery and Terry Darts will still go there. The people that go Kabaa Kaboo and other clothes shops will still go there. The people that go to the souvenir shops, the pound shops and the cafes and banks will all still go there. The Tesco will not stop any of these customers going to the shops that they like and where they know the people. What it will do is bring people who normally drive out to Sainsbury, Morrison and Asda in to the town and give the shops mentioned above exposure to even more potential customers. I hope they can take advantage of this.”
by BrixhamMan
Thursday, March 07 2013, 2:36PM
“Also, the BRATS leader told me that she was voted in, and by how many votes, and that figure certainly does not represent the population of Brixham, I had to laugh.”