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Tesco puts garage site up for sale

12:12pm Wednesday 9th January 2008

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SUPERMARKET chain Tesco has pulled out of plans to open its first store in Darlington.

Tesco yesterday admitted it had dropped proposals to build an Express shop on a former petrol station in the town's North Road.

A spokesman revealed it had, instead, put the site up for sale.

Juliette Bishop, from Tesco, said: "We are disappointed that our planning application for the site on North Road has been unsuccessful.

"We remain convinced that our plans would benefit the local area, as well as regenerating a derelict site.

"However, after taking some time to consider our options, we have decided to no longer progress plans for this site."

Councillors rejected the third set of plans for the former Shell garage on December 12.

Tesco had also appealed against the council's previous refusal for the 107,000 sq ft store in the Harrowgate Hill area of the town.

Councillor Mark Burton, who represents Harrowgate Hill on Darlington Borough Council, had earlier this week contacted the company to ensure the site was tidied up as Tesco had promised last month.

He said: "I am very surprised.

Tesco generally fights tooth and nail.

"It would be nice to see it sold onto a housing developer for houses relatively the same as those in the area."

Tesco bought the site for £500,000 last January, four months after an initial set of plans for a mini-supermarket were refused.

Coun Burton said: "I can see it being derelict for quite some time. That is the last thing people really want."

Shell closed the petrol station in February 2005 and put the site up for sale.

The site was then plagued by anti-social behaviour until fencing was erected around it.

In August 2006, plans were unveiled for a 24-hour Tesco store and 130 apartments on the present town hall site.

The council later refused the plans after a petition with more than 10,000 names was handed in to the council.

Tesco's only presence in Darlington is a One Stop shop, in Yarm Road, whose parent company was bought by the chain in Jaunary 2003. It still operates under the One Stop name.

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polly dobson, darlington says...
12:41pm Wed 9 Jan 08

very pleased that finally tesco have eventually listened to the people of harrowgate hill

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John, H'gate Hill says...
2:14pm Wed 9 Jan 08

I am a resident of Harrowgate Hill and i would most certianly rather see a small Tesco store on the site rather than the mess we see now. I'm quite used to the sight of it now. You will see when the day arrives and its the local hotspot for drugs and vandals. Apologies to Tesco on behalf of the realistic people in Darlington. Oh, and good luck conquering America, (no doubt the irony will be lost on you all).

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Matt Parker, darlington says...
7:00pm Wed 9 Jan 08

Some people in Darlington would like to see a Tesco in the town.
Competition does bring prices down.
Anyway, well done to the Harrowgate Hill campaigners - another victory, just like the White Horse one, I just wonder how many of you have actually been in there.

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David Moyes, Harrowgate Hill says...
7:28pm Wed 9 Jan 08

Nobody really wanted Tesco there as evidenced by the campaign against the store.

No do we need an eyesore. This site is on the busiest road in the town and left as it is will present a sad first sight of Darlington. The site needs to be tidied up now

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John, H'gate Hill says...
12:35pm Thu 10 Jan 08

Maybe the Harrowgate Hill campaigners will pressure the council into a nice fountain to compliment the utopia they currently live in.

People either want quality or price, and if a Tesco fored the closure of the local shops then people obviously want price. Local shops wouldn't be affected if people wanted quality.

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sharon, h/hill says...
8:34pm Thu 10 Jan 08

well done lets keep h/hill tesco free,hopefully it will be sold to a housing developer,and the site tidied up quickly.

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michael hunt, darlington says...
11:28pm Thu 10 Jan 08

Well done to h/hill for having the largest gangs of menacing chavs, drunk on whitestar and lambrini (eeeeeeeuuuurgh! it's classy mate)
Keep up the good work.

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jen, darlington says...
11:47pm Sat 12 Jan 08

shame tesco gave up, would have been nice to have a tesco here instead of travelling thru to aycliffe all the time. Theres more people to darlington than just those of harrogate hill area,tesco, dont give up building one in darlington, id welcome it.

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Mags of the moor., Darlington says...
12:49pm Sun 13 Jan 08

I think it would be good all round to have a tescos in the town,coz i think for a start it would be open 24 hours a day and thats a first, next it will bring healthier competiton and bring lower prices for us all, third it would create more jobs for local people and also they could build one maybe that has something to do with this new by-pass that they are building thro the town and they could put the new tescos out near the edge of the town out near the existing by-pass somewhere that is not near anywhere coz there are plenty of feilds about that are just basically wasteland and they could hopefully build one there, and also Darlington has to move with the times and i think its good that tescos are interested in building a supermarket here, i mean can you just imagine it having a beautiful supermarket with lovely shining new trolleys and lovely free car parking and a brand new bus service that said TESCOS on the front of it, and the smell of newly painted fences and people wearing lovely new uniforms and whooo, i think i better calm down coz i need the toilet, take care and see you all at Morrisons .

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chris, says...
9:47pm Mon 14 Jan 08

jen wrote:
shame tesco gave up, would have been nice to have a tesco here instead of travelling thru to aycliffe all the time. Theres more people to darlington than just those of harrogate hill area,tesco, dont give up building one in darlington, id welcome it.
this shop maybe needed elsewhere but not h/hill would you like to live next to it, if it was open 24 hrs a day,the traffic and the nuisance it would cause,we are the ones who have to live here

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Rosemary, Darlington says...
5:11pm Thu 17 Jan 08

In reply to Chris you choose to live in the H/Hill area and already put up with 24hr traffic and gangs of young people on a night time some maybe causing the damage that is happening, would the area be used for housing where would the children play next to the main road? if the site were to be used as a Tesco or any other supermarket site the trade would not be full time 24hours of each day. There is the problem at the moment of young people gathering within the H/Hill area in gangs what is happening about controlling them

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Steven Fawcett, Ingleby Barwick says...
6:23am Sun 24 Feb 08

How do the people of Darlington get to decide what is in their town when we can see 90% of you must have failed your english written exams, I know it is just comments, but please, make the effort to write your comments correct, at the very least to make you look intelectual. Tesco is a great idea for Darlington, it has to go somewhere, no good saying "well would you like it next door to you" as this is not productive, your neighbours might feel the same way, are you going to move? stop whining, take a tesco and find something more productive to do other than butting in to other peoples business.

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