A petition against the opening of a new Tesco Express store in Sutton Coldfield has been handed over to Birmingham City Council.
Traders and local residents are among the 1,150 signatures on the petition which was presented by Cllr Ewan Mackey yesterday (7th November).
Peter Harding, owner of College News, has helped organise the action in a bid to prevent the new development on High Street.
“There is already a Tesco Express near to the Empire Cinema on the Birmingham Road that has already stopped a few businesses from trading,” he said.
“On Rectory Road, just before Good Hope Hospital, there is the One Stop shop too which is a subsidiary of Tesco.
“The new store will have nowhere for the initial shopfitters to park any vehicles or for delivery lorries to drop off, so they will have to park on the main road where it isn’t wide enough.
“This will cause more congestion we don’t need. The road is heavily used by emergency services – it’s a very tight road.”
Cllr Mackey admitted that while he was not supportive of this particular store, he did see the benefit in some national chain stores existing alongside independent outlets.
“The residents of Sutton Coldfield deserve a selection of stores supplying a wide basket of goods from both local traders and national chains,” he said.
“Entrepreneurs can create such a uniquely distinct business that add individual character to an area, create jobs and entice people to come to an area – we just need to ensure there is a choice for the consumers of Sutton Coldfield and beyond.”
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We’re always interested in ways to serve our customers even better in Sutton Coldfield and continue to look at opportunities to do so.”
