Tesco has put in an initial planning application for a huge new store at the bottom of Spital Hill.
The proposed sales floor space is 80,000 square feet (7432m2), comparable the ASDA at Handsworth which is 85,000 square feet. This is much bigger than the original proposal in the Masterplan, which “recommended that a store of between 1,200 and 1,600m2 with car parking would be suitable.”
The Messenger raised a number of issues in an article on our website, which Tesco have responded to.
Tesco's plans involve extensive development on three levels of the area between Spital Hill and Savile St.
Extensive car-parking on all three levels will feed into the store itself, with the main pedestrian entrance at the same level as Spital Hill shops. Landscaping of Caborn's Corner will give this little triangle of green a well-needed scrub-up, with a meandering ramped path leading through the steps to the shop entrance.
Tesco have even said that they will keep the plaque commemorating a visit by a delegation of Bulgarian Trade Unionists to Sheffield if there is sufficient public interest in this (See ‘Caborn’s Corner – a bit of Sheffield's history under threat?’ for a history of Caborn’s Corner).
The Council have asked Tesco to include commercial office blocks in their plans. The Messenger enquired whether there could be subsidised office space for community groups, but Tesco says this is “not yet decided”.
Local Jobs
Tesco speak of 595 local jobs, though only 395 of these are with the store, the rest are assumed to come from the office developments. Tesco have stressed their commitment to local recruitment, saying they want local shoppers to see familiar faces working in the store.
Tesco want to hear from people who already have retail skills, but are keen to open up opportunities to those with no retail skills, offering training around reading, writing or speaking English, or teamworking through their Tesco Job Guarantee scheme – a national initiative aimed at the long-term unemployed in areas where new stores are being built. Tesco also say they will work with the Jobcentre and local agencies like Burngreave Opportunities.
The plan is to open the doors in early 2009, but you can sign up for a job now. It is less clear whether local people will be able to access the top jobs and those with special skills, such as admin, human resources, food hygiene and stock control. It's estimated that 30 or so people will be in management positions and another 100 in skilled posts, but Tesco's consultants were less clear about their commitment to training people up in these areas. This sort of training was “not envisaged.”
Impact on Local Business
So what impact will such a massive development have on existing local businesses? A massive supermarket could undercut every other business. It can also take risks to move into more specialised and localised areas of business (black hair products, for instance) and take over those too.
However, Tesco says that, with its pedestrian linkage to Spital Hill, they will support and complement local business. Tesco says:
“In Burngreave there are a large number of specialist shops who offer completely different products to Tesco. Our store won’t compete with them, it will help business.”
Planning process
Tesco’s application, which was due to be submitted in early March, has now been held back until April or May, while they complete a traffic analysis.
This gives more time for local people to give their views, which is especially important as the Council can make a financial contribution to improving the community's well-being a condition of planning approval (sometimes called a section 106 contribution).
The issue of how much it will be and what it will cover depends on how successful the council is in their negotiation with Tesco's team. At this stage, however, plans are fairly well advanced despite a lack of detailed community consultation so far.
Note: This is a follow-up to our February 2007 Tesco article.