David Sumberg MEP
Date:
01\05\2002
Tesco response
not good enough
Greater Manchester Tory MEP David Sumberg says he is unsatisfied with a letter he has received from Tesco confirming it wants to build a supermarket on the old Renolds Chain works on the Burnage and Heaton Mersey border.
Mr Sumberg held a public meeting with more than 100 angry residents last month who want to see the vast buildings on the site - which act as a haven for vermin and unruly youths - raised to the ground by the supermarket giant which bought the site two years ago.
Following the meeting Mr Sumberg wrote to Tesco's Chief Executive Terry Leahy calling for an immediate clear up of the area and confirmation of what its plans were for the site.
"Tesco has told me it will be submitting a planning application for a store shortly but it expects the application to go to a year long public inquiry," he said. "It also states it wants to develop the site with 'demolition and building as one process to minimise disruption'.
"But this is simply not acceptable to residents. Tesco cannot abandon the site for another 12 months while an inquiry takes place and then only demolish the buildings if it gets planning consent.
"So I have written back saying the buildings need to be raised to the ground immediately. Tesco must not dodge this issue. It has a clear responsibility as the site's owner to make it safe and clean."
Mr Sumberg said he has also sought assurances that security at the site is improved.
"Although in its letter Tesco claims to have invested heavily in security measures youths are still congregating in the buildings wreaking havoc so it is clear security is not tight enough.
"There is also the very real concern that the buildings are now so structurally unsafe a teenager could suffer a serious accident. And that is everyone's nightmare. Immediate demolition is the only logical and safe answer."
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