Trouble in store for Tesco over fight to open third supermarket

The supermarket giant is looking to build a store on the former Tradex site, which would have nearly the same floorspace as all the existing shops on Anlaby Road. The site is just down the road from a Tesco Express.

The store which would be opposite a Netto, would have a gross floorspace of 74,693sq ft, parking for just under 400 cars and space for four other retail units.

Martin Cuthbert, East Yorkshire branch chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, urged councillors to refuse the application when it comes back before them next Wednesday.

Tesco says it will provide 330 jobs but Mr Cuthbert said he understood that people were "desperate" for work but feared jobs would be lost from other shops shutting down.

He said: "There's a lot of other shopping centres within the city. There's lots (of stores) in Hull and they just shove them in at the end of a street. It happened down Holderness Road when they put Asda down at one end and in the middle it kind of died.

"People go to Asda and do their food shopping and all the little shops don't get the benefit. They all end up closing and when you look down the streets now it is takeaways or charity shops."

However, small businesses in the immediate vicinity of the proposed superstore say they would welcome the extra footfall. Samrong Stanley, from the Thai and Asian Food market, the only Thai store in Hull, said: "A few people are complaining but it will be a good thing and bring more people in."

Robert Winstanley, who has been selling bicycles from his shop on Anlaby Road for nearly four decades, said the superstore would help tidy the area up. He said: "It suits me – it's not going to suit everyone but there are always going to be winners and losers. Tesco won't be a threat to me. It will lift the whole area."

And Chris Hainey, who only opened her specialist cake shop Cakes by Chris six months ago, said Tesco offered a completely different product to the one she sold: "I don't see it affecting me to be honest. They don't sell the things I sell."

A report going to planners next week reflects the divided opinion in the area, with 57 pro-forma letters sent from households expressing their support for the new jobs and greater shopping choice.

However, residents near the store have objected because of the extra disturbance, the loss of some local jobs and money from the local economy "being siphoned towards shareholders and distant corporations."

Councillor Daren Hale has also objected on behalf of small businesses and traders.

Tesco says the store represents an 18m investment in the area. A spokesman said half the new jobs would go to the long-term unemployed.

He added: "We have done 26 of these regeneration partnerships and they are tremendously successful. This is a real regeneration opportunity in this area and it's one we are proud to say that the public has embraced."

However, planners are recommending refusal of the application because of the store's size. They conclude that the development could have an adverse effect on nearby Hessle Road.

Their report states: "The current floorspace in Anlaby Road is 88,160 sq ft. The proposal would increase the floorspace of Anlaby Road to 162,850 sq ft almost doubling the size of provision in the centre."