The government has ordered a public enquiry into Tesco’s new superstore at Trent Vale, after listening to arguments from Newcastle’s Labour MP Paul Farrelly. The move, under statutory ‘call in’ procedures, takes the decision out of the hands of Stoke-on-Trent Council, which - Mr Farrelly argued - had broken planning rules to the detriment of Newcastle and Stoke town centres.
Tesco’s controversial plans, to build a superstore on stilts, were agreed by the city’s planning committee last September, despite opposition from Stoke’s own officers, Newcastle Borough Council and the North Staffs Regeneration Partnership (NSRP).
Traders in Newcastle town centre were also vocally opposed, owing to the effect it would have already hard-pressed shopkeepers in the town. City officers also argued it would draw even further trade from Stoke town centre, too.
‘Stoke’s decision was perverse, irrational and wrong, and not for the first time. I took the case to the government and am delighted the Secretary of State listened to the arguments and agreed,’ Mr Farrelly said today.
‘There’s been far too much out-of-town development locally and everyone involved with the regeneration of town centres across North Staffordshire will be pleased with this decision.’
‘Politics is not involved in this, at all. I am only too happy to join, totally cross-party, Newcastle’s Conservative and Liberal Democrat Council in standing up to the might of Tesco over this, along with everyone else who has objected.’
‘It was the first time in nine years as Newcastle’s MP I’d taken the step to ask the government to ‘call in’ a big planning application like this. Now everyone can put their arguments in front of a planning inspector at a public enquiry.’
The ‘call in’ procedure is only used very selectively where decisions appear to run against national planning policies and have major regional knock-on effects.
Mr Farrelly argued that Tesco had failed to demonstrate proper need for the superstore, as did the city’s own retail consultants and Newcastle Council.
As well as the damaging effect on the two town centres, Newcastle’s MP also argued that it placed the NSRP in an invidious position.
‘The NSRP acts for Newcastle, Staffordshire Moorlands and all the wider area, not just for the city. Yet it is also, in effect, Stoke’s planning department, too,’ Mr Farrelly said.
‘The decision by a small number of Stoke Councillors, against all the professional advice, threatened to undermine trust and partnership working across the area. This was a major argument in favour of a public enquiry, just as millions of pounds of public money are going in to regenerate our town centres.’
Arrangements for the public enquiry will be made as soon as possible, the planning minister Lord Mackenzie said in today’s announcement, on behalf of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government John Denham.
For a copy of the government’s announcement, just click here
Click here if you would like to view Mr Farrelly’s original letter urging the ‘call in’.