Tesco Coming to Sydenham Road

[Mr_Sheen]

Yeah, we'd all like something local/independent/ethically or morally more acceptable but how long have people been trying to attract this kind of thing to the area and what success have they had? Rents are too high, business rates are too high, it ain't happening.

It's not a pound shop/nail bar/chicken shop/charity shop/estate agent/betting shop/pawnbrokers/whatever else people complain about and it fills an otherwise boarded up eyesore. If people don't want it they won't shop there.

[Eagle]

Mr Sheen

You have summed it up

If people do not want it they will not shop there.

[Mr_Sheen]

But my point is independent businesses haven't exactly been rushing to fill up the empty shops have they? No, I don't want another nail bar/chicken shop/betting shop/estate agent - I doubt anyone does but to start protesting about Tesco just because it's Tesco is ridiculous. If it was M&S or Waitrose would you be so anti?

[Mr_Sheen]

Leave it boarded up then. No one else seems to want it.

[leenewham]

Here is the planning application:
http://planning.lewisham.gov.uk/online- ... CAPR_69105

"standard Tesco shop front to be installed in grey".

I'm kinda sad to see the old Pukka Bar wooden one ripped out.

[Manwithaview1]

I spoke to the current Costcutter owner the other day and he is having problems with the electric company as the previous owner failed to pay the £25,000 bill...which is maybe why iy has been closed for the last few days...

[Nigel]

The "anything is better than nothing " argument I think it has run its course.
The only logical conclusion of that is that there will never be anything decent if a space goes to Tesco. You only have to ask where would some of our excellent newer Sydenham (and grudgingly admit ) Forest Hill traders be if their shops had already been let to Tesco in this same despairing way .
Someone asked me about "citations" for my view on why Tesco presence is alway and inherently bad . I think that is a tough one , certainly nobody is asking for evidence of why it would be good apart from the convenience of a few people, that frankly don't really seem to hold an opinion - they will buy anything anywhere . I would go as far as to say there is copious evidence that large retailers put small retailers under huge pressure - this all-Party report on the future of high streets is but one http://www.tescopoly.org/images//high%2 ... 202015.pdf.

The arguments about what types of supermarkets are welcome is also specious - I would apply the same measures to new small retailers i.e. I would not welcome an independent trader if it were another chicken /nail/betting/pound or crippling loan shop. Translating that to supermarkets: I do value the CoOp , I would welcome Waitrose and I would not welcome Morrison ? Why because the latter would bring nothing new except more pressure on the small shops .

Finally, some of the snobbery/foodie/elitist suggestions have been a bit feeble. I am fully out, in that respect i.e. I do get a kick out of saying "I buy my vegetables from Fresh and Fruity" , I do frequently bore people by proclaiming " I don't buy meat from supermarkets" and I do also have to admit to the somewhat archaic (and no doubt elitist) ability to know roughly what I intend to eat the next day and not have to seek out a Tesco to buy something nasty and overpriced.

Tesco is coming and my only interest now is to discourage everyone I know from using it whilst encouraging them to use the great shops we already have and hope to have soon.

Good evening
Nigel

[Eagle]

Nigel
What a well argued and well put item.
I agree 100%.
Whilst I have no great love for Mr Cohen's mob , I think some people are going a little over the top. However it is their right so to do.

[JRobinson]

I don't think there is much we can do legally (if anything at all) to stop Tesco from oppening a shop on the high street if they so want to.

I think we're all fairly convinced that when a large supermarket opens on the outskirts, edge of town, then town centre shops suffer - however here it's a Tesco Metro/Express, we're not in a town as such, and there are already many supermarkets nearby. I think that local shops might suffer, but other big supermarkets will as well. It's a different kind of problem.

[Tim Lund]

It is unclear whether Lewisham Council's pub protection policy would have prevented the takeover of the Two Half's Pub by Tesco. The policy is obviously to be welcomed. Although the Two Half's was not to everybody's taste it is evident that neither is Tesco; but what can't be denied is that a community space has been turned into a branded corporate space with no provision for congregation.

Rod - I know you mean well, but the reason so many pubs are closing is the wider public just isn't that interested in them. A policy which prevents any alternative use for failing pubs will just mean they stand empty, or struggle on competing against each other and so being even less commercial. There are many reasons why they are failing, but most important is probably the recession. And curiously, in spite of the typical Daily Mail scare stories about young people and alcohol abuse, it's young people who are leading the way in drinking less

But behind these stories is an unexpected truth - Britons have been drinking less and less every year since 2002.

Men and women of all ages are slowly curbing their excesses and drinking in moderation, according to the annual survey from the Office for National Statistics, which covers England, Scotland and Wales.

It suggests that heavy drinking is falling, abstinence is rising, and young people are leading the drive towards healthier drinking.

The decrease among some groups even pre-dates 2002, with men aged 16-24 drinking 26 units a week on average in 1999 and just 15 units a week in 2009, according to the ONS figures.

I don't, however, think this is any tribute to Drink Aware programmes, but more because young people are suffering most in this recession. Their consumption of illegal drugs is also down compared with previous generations' at their age.

All these campaigns about saving pubs, especially on Forums such as this, which I'd say is dominated by older generations, smack to me of old duffers just wanting things as they were in their young days, with no awareness of how the world has changed. They see the original fabric of pubs being lost, but somehow overlook a pub in new premises such as the Sylvan Post .

Of course it's good to have places to congregate, but in some research Melissa of the Sydenham & Forest Hill Youth Forum presented at the last Perry Vale Assembly, it was our parks which came out the most valued local amenities, precisely because they were good places to meet friends.

Far more than pubs, our younger generation need places to live. Most of the pubs being lost in Lewisham go for housing - really, why is that such a bad thing?

Here is what the Morning Advertiser had to say on the issue;

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Prop ... ion-policy

And here is Lewisham's own policy document.

http://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/ ... 202012.pdf

I'm sorry, but Liam Curran is just wasting his time, and I think he's allowed to run with it as a way of keeping him out of anything more significant, while sending out a signal to the grey vote that Labour councillors are on their side, whatever incoherent professions of socialism they make to the faithful.

[leenewham]

Totally agree rod.

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[Tim Lund]

I can't see any reason why we can't have housing and pubs.

Nor can I - and keep our parks and open spaces too. It's a simple matter of 3 dimensional thinking - allow more storeys when redeveloping existing residential sites.

[leenewham]

It depens Tom, it should be decided on a case by case basis. We should, as a nation develop the whole country. Not just London. We should have improved airports and railings between Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds and other cities, not just connections with London. We need to spread stuff around a bit more. We need better infrastructure across the uk. Not just London to mainland Europe. And have housing policies fit for area and purpose.

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[Tim Lund]

Lee, you're evading the point that London and nearby is where people want to live. So in the case under discussion, here, we need higher residential. The alternative is to drive out the poor. I'm sure that's not what you really want.

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[Eagle]

Rod I am also for protecting Pubs that were originally Pubs and serve decent real ale.

the 2 halves or halfs met neither requirement

[G-Man]

Hi Rod

I can't seem to find the planning application for change of use? Are we still able to comment?

Cheers

G-Man

[Chris Best]

Planning permission is not required if you wish to trade as A1 - take a look at the link
http://nlpplanning.com/uploads/ffiles/2 ... 649793.pdf

Planning permission is required for change of use from A1 to say a restaurant requiring A3 - and a problem further down the line could be that the restaurant does not thrive and planning permission would not be required for A2 which includes betting shops and money lenders. At the moment I have concerns with change of use from A1 retail and I am objecting to the application for an A5 takeaway at 242 Kirkdale.

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