After a 14 year dispute, it seems that “Tesco” had become synonymous with the word “supermarket” in Sheringham. While there was a brief application by Budgens to put a larger store on the Station Road car park, there has been very little in the way of competition or alternative to Tesco. The choice has been Tesco or nothing – which isn’t much of a choice at all.
Now, with the arrival of a rival scheme featuring a Waitrose, the issue now seems to be Tesco vs Waitrose. As in all aspects of political life however the choice is not that simple.
The Greenhouse Community Project (www.greenhousecommunityproject.com), conceived by a local landowner, would see an eco-friendly supermarket built on the land currently occupied by the town’s allotments, next door to the Splash Leisure Complex on Weybourne Road in Sheringham. In addition to the supermarket a ‘Food Academy’ has been proposed in partnership with the local High School.
The overriding ethos of this scheme was to build a supermarket that would give something back to the community. A supermarket the town could be rightly proud of and that would benefit Sheringham in a number of innovative ways. It’s geographic location in one of the most beautiful areas of North Norfolk, inspired a design that seeks to blend into the countryside, aided by sloping roofs covered with grass and moss. The supermarket will also be off-grid supplying its own power through solar panels and clever design. In fact it has been promised that the building will generate enough heat to be able to transfer some to the swimming pool next door, drastically reducing North Norfolk District Council’s energy bill for what is their largest leisure facility.
Being competitive on price remained an issue and to that end the project brought in the retail experience of Waitrose (part of the British owned, employee run John Lewis group) to help run the supermarket aspect of the project, without compromising any of its ideals. As such the Greenhouse Community Project planned to offer a competitive supermarket, that would compliment the High Street, competing with Morrison’s in Cromer rather than the town it sought to serve.
In addition to the eco-friendly, affordable and ethically run supermarket, the Greenhouse Community Project offers a Food Academy. With schools county-wide facing drastic budget cuts and child obesity rising, food education is a subject that has clearly fallen by the wayside. Therefore the Greenhouse Community Project want to help alleviate the problems by offering anybody who wants it, access to first-class food and hospitality education and training facilities in the heart of an area which relies on the hospitality and tourism industries. Sheringham High School, after coming up with their own plan, have gotten right behind the scheme, noting the chance it will give pupils to grow their own food, learning all the time where food comes from, while hopefully imparting a little nutritional information along the way. The facility is to be funded in part by the profits of the on-site Waitrose supermarket, which will also offer students on-site, real-life working experience further increasing their employability.
While the vocal pro-Tesco minority continue to try and reduce the debate to Tesco and the working-class vs Waitrose and the middle/upper classes, the above shows the reality is very different. In any decision there must be comparisons and areas where the battle will be won and lost so I propose to compare Tesco to the Greenhouse Community Project on the issues I see as important, namely; Price, Impact on Sheringham, Sustainability and Legacy.
Price – while Waitrose may have a reputation for being an elite, expensive supermarket out of the financial reaches of most, a new “everyday essentials” range has brought them into line with the other national chains, including Tesco. Both therefore can offer products at a cheaper cost than is currently available to shoppers within the Town. Let’s call it 1-1.
Impact on Sheringham – this is a slightly more difficult one to measure however we can look at some quantitative data before we move onto opinion. First in terms of employment, Tesco will create 150 full and part-time jobs, the Greenhouse Community Project will create 155, but in addition to that, through the Food Academy, the scheme will increase the employability of an unmeasurable amount of individuals. I make that Greenhouse 3-1 Tesco. In terms of qualitative data, the Waitrose aspect of the Greenhouse Community Project has been designed to not sell any non-food items so as to not compete with the High Street. Tesco has promised similar, but have included 5 “independent units” in their scheme which can sell any non-food item they like on Tesco owned land, thus competing directly with the High Street. 4-1. In terms of social provisions the Greenhouse Community Project have, regardless of whether planning permission is granted, moved and improved the towns allotments. In addition to this they have doubled the size of the town cemetery. Tesco meanwhile have promised to re-build the Community Centre and Fire Station IF they get permission. Being generous and saying Tesco will fulfill these promises (they haven’t always in the past) I would make that 5-2, however Tesco will also destroy 19 units of social housing, only replacing 11, leaving a loss of 8 units of social housing in Sheringham. I consider this unacceptable, especially when over 500 people are on the social housing waiting list, and is a massive own goal for Tesco. 6-2. In terms of traffic the geographical position of the Greenhouse scheme will naturally aid the flow of traffic away from the busy Holway Road, Cromer Road roundabout that Tesco will sit on and exacerbate. Also it should be noted Tesco used traffic data which was older than the government advised 3 years when they produced traffic models for the Highways Agency. 7-3.
Sustainability – from the outset the Greenhouse Community Project has cited sustainability as their principle concern. An off-grid Waitrose specialising in local produce, Food Academy and improved allotments further cutting food miles, all point to an environmentally responsible development that will continue to benefit Sheringham far into the future. 9-2. Tesco’s plans, although vague, do suggest that they can meet government targets for sustainability so, again being generous, I make it 9-3.
Legacy – with the addition of the Food Academy, which will have immeasurable long-term benefits, bigger and better allotments and a cemetery which has doubled in size – the Greenhouse Community Project will leave a positive legacy on the town and region for many years to come. Tesco will of course employ 150 in the short-term, but based on Tesco in other small towns, the loss of local traders will soon off-set this gain and therefore I cannot see this as a positive Tesco legacy. 10-3.
So based on the above I make that 10-3 to the Greenhouse Community Project. A result which highlights why this is not a class war, or simply Waitrose vs Tesco but about much more than just which brand of supermarket we get in Sheringham.
Save our Sheringham, keep Tesco out.