Hi I used to live in Stourbridge many years ago and worked in the Ryemarket at the jewellers
oh happy day's.Now when i pop home to see my parents and pop in town I cannot believe how the place has fallen apart Stourbridge needs Tesco believe me I know. I now live in Leicester and the shops around Tesco's do a booming trade it draws people to look at the other small shops around it. Stop sticking your heads in the sand and look at the job's it will create as they say Every little helps and it certainly will when you get to the check out!!!
Linda Gibson....formerly of Norton (rec'd 5th Oct 06)

It would be really nice to have a big supermarket in town,because there are no decent shops around.Morrissons was not good at all,Somerfield -they don't have a big choice,and it closes at 18.00.So all the local people have to travel to Merry Hill shopping centre,or Sainsbury's(Amblecote).And what if you don't have a car...Catching buses with loads of shopping bags...Ridiculous! I think town needs nice shopping place,and it would be great to have loads of new parking places,they want to use the subway as a parking place...Because subway is disgrace,it's dirty,it smells awful ...And what do we have in town???Just bars/pubs and charity shops...!?!Wow,amazing,but othervise town is dead now shops,nothing,it's nothing to do in town...
Thanks,I hope your plans go through... Veronica (rec'd 1st Sept 06)

Why do Tesco want to build such an enormous store on the edge of Stourbridge Town?
Why don't you replace the Morrisons we lost and provide an appropriatly sized store where it would not suck shoppers away from the town and not one that would encourage the enormous increase in traffic and its subsequent pollution,congestion and noise ? I fear the answer may be financial. If the giant Superstore selling numerous other non food items and services leads
to a deterioration in the small shops already harmed by Merryhill it would be a great shame.
Big is not always best and in this case is unethical.Theres no point in talking about
competing with Kidderminster and Merryhill. They are enormous compared to Stourbridge Town Centre.There's also something to be said for trying to conserve what is left of the victorian and small scale, non corporate image of Stourbridge which is unusual .The plan looks completely like Tesco will dominate Stourbridge in an imbalanced way. Please hear our pleas. Rethink your plans or our town will suffer.
Yours Sincerely, Clare Klocke (rec'd 19th Aug 06)

I have driven buses around Stourbridge for 17 years and in a nut shell Stourbridge is dying, it needs a supermarket in this area to bring life and jobs to the town and if Tesco are willing to invest money into Stourbridge then let them - just look how Kiddiminster has benefitted. Stourbridge is dead, wake up the people who live there. Karl Totney (rec'd 30th July 06)

Hello, please give us Tescos and the canalside development across from Bradley Road, i can bet that all of these anti people live away from the town centre and close surrounding areas, this area is dead and the half demolished buildings an eyesore, please allow change, we can keep character as well with the bonded warehouse and where the `Lion` was built, the canal could be such a benefit to the town and the Stour river as well but it needs to be linked so as people visit. Please get you heads out of the sand and allow this town to live again.
Dave Jones (rec'd 20th July 2006)

MESSAGES FROM PREVIOUS APPLICATION:

We all want our own town centre to be prosperous and to be taken seriously. Allowing Tesco to develop a store here will not only raise the profile of the town but also bring more jobs and shoppers to the town. I for one would do much more of my overall shopping in Stourbridge if there was a good quality, reasonably priced supermarket here. In the event I usually go to Merry Hill to do my grocery shopping and then proceed to spend much more on lunch, coffee, clothes, toiletries etc etc., all of which could be going in to the pockets of Stourbridge traders were I to do my main shopping here in the first place. I for one would welcome Tesco to the town. One thing though - a suggestion to town planners - either make the High Street a pedestrian only area or do something about the ridiculously narrow pavements! Mike Baker (rec'd 9th April 05)

No thank you! We have enough huge superstores in the area, this will one will totally kill off the local trading in Stourbridge. Aren't they satisfied with having a fuel station at Old-Swinford and one in Kingswinford.
Stourbridge is a traditional town, and doesn't want to be another Merry Hell!
The trouble is, people who run Tescos, and the like, know how to get round local planning applications and local people objections, so I believe Stourbridge Will end up with a Tescos whether we like it or not! Money talks, not community. If only courts and councils would listen to the people, and not to money!
Stourbridge is a community on the edge of the countryside, a place where folk from the city like to relax, away from the city hassle. If you start getting huge stores in, it will ruin the atmosphere of our community. I have only lived here since 1989 but love the place.
Paul Bradley, oridinally from West Riding of Yorkshire

I have lived in and around Stourbridge all my life and the town really needs this change.Tesco would bring new life to a town that is slowly ceasing to exist in importance.We don't really have the choice of supermarkets others have , or the competition to lower prices.There is a cogent arguement to bring Tesco to Stourbridge , hopefully quickly.
Alan Lea. Oct 04

Please, please can we have a Tesco in Stourbidge. Our current supermarkets cannot provide the fair priced variety of goods found in Tesco. Safeway gets worse and worse, most of the staple goods are sold out early, especially bread - and anyone charging over £2.00 for Basamati rice should be closed down!!
The only people who don't want it are the traders - have they been to Kidderminster lately and seen how a huge store like Tesco has helped regenerate the town. People don't just park and shop there, of course they will go into Stourbridge too. Don't ask the traders ask the shoppers - or are they too afraid. Kim Maskery May 04

I don't think we need a tesco superstore in Stourbridge. What we really need is a good department store, ie. Beatties, Debenhams, or even a bigger M & S. - Janet Seago Mar 04

I have mixed views about this development but I think overall I would have to come to the conclusion that developed sensitively to the needs of other traders and major connections directly into the town centre would be advantageous to the area. If the river was landscaped along similar lines to Kidderminster it would be an added amenity. Would there be any possibility of it becoming someone to sit and meet friends for example. Sue Gazey, Jan 04

I strongly oppose the new tesco supermarket proposal. I work for a contracting firm travelling around the country working on new tesco stores. In many cases the new stores do bring many positives to the communities involved, e.g. small towns in wales where jobs are scarce. But more often than not the small traders are pushed out of business, I've seen this on a first hand basis returning to stores for maintenance a few years down the line to find whole rows of small traders on their last legs. Stourbridge is one of the best town centres in the area, it has a strong creative background and original feel to it. This i fear WILL be lost if the new tesco were to be introduced. - Name witheld, Jan 04

gimmie a tesco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!in stourbridge can i hav a job there 2 i am 15
Unknown sender - 8 Oct 03

Tesco are not planning a food store it is to be a Super Store. This will destroy not only jobs but many businesses. Check out (no pun intended) www.corporatewatch.org.uk issue 10 26/9/01 "How Supermarkets destroy jobs"
David Cox (Received 28 Sept 01)

In a nutshell, there are really two issues to consider here. 1 What impact will Tescos have on the town 2 Will a bigger ring road make the traffic flow any better. I have looked at the pros and cons to the Tesco arguements and I feel we are in a Catch 22 situation. If Tescos comes, it is inevitable that there will be a significant change to the face of Stourbridge. Why do folk go to Merry Hill to shop. Quite simply its bigger, better, more convenient and of course free parking - to name a few. In other words it provides the modern needs for today's shoppers. So it makes sense that the introduction of a large store with some of those facilities that can be found at Merry Hill does have positive points worth considering and cater for local needs. And of course in addition, this will create more jobs. On the other hand, existing traders who have kept Stourbridge going are keen not to lose any more business or even close down. It is fair to say that stores like Wilkinsons gave a boost to Stourbridge when it came to the High Street. Other smaller business have come and gone. The very nature of Stourbridge's High Street with listed building means that it can only be developed within very strict limitations. Look at the Lower High Street where very expensive town houses are being built. This tells me that if Stourbridge is to survive a change to residential is possibly one way for it to prosper again. No doubt there could be many other ideas to help the town. I personally feel that there has to be a compromise. Would Tescos be prepared to help the existing traders. For example - provide (pay for) free parking at the remaining Ryemarket and Bell Street council run car parks, after all the new proposals will decimate the Birmingham Street council run car park and provide free parking for Tesco shpppers. This may help people who do not want to shop at or use the Tescos car park, thereby still encouraging people to use other shops and amenities in the town. My second point is will building a bigger ring road provide a better flow of traffic through Stourbridge.? Quite simply I don't thinks so. The very fact that traffic will have to stop whilst people enter and exit Tescos either on foot or by car, will at peak times create a backlog. It must also not be forgotten that buses and delivery lorries will also be using these points. It also makes absolute nonsense that the train and bus stations are split by the ring road particularly if the METRO comes to town. Will a bridge or underpass eventually have to be built, and if so who will pay for it? Yes there must be a solution and it must be benefitial in the long term for everyone who trades, works and shops in Stourbridge.
Dave Bruton (Received 20 Sept 01)

I can't wait for Tesco to be built in Stourbridge. in less than 4 years time i and a lot of my friends will lose our jobs at Corbett Hospital. we need jobs. the glass works have closed, the rolling mills have closed, the hospitals are closing. we need jobs. Stourbridge store owners are only frightened of competition - they might have to lower their profits. If Tesco is not built we might as well close Stourbridge down altogether, sign on the dole and give up. What future? mugging old ladies in ballarat walk? Its a pity the people who have spent so much time and effort trying to stop the progression of stourbridge did not do the same when the ancillary staff were on strike at their local hospital.
Wendy Cowley - lives in Stourbridge, works in Stourbridge, shops in Stourbridge,can't wait for Tesco!!!!!!! (Received 19 Sept 01)

As the Chief Executive of Dudley Council, I care passionately about the town where I and my family live. Has nobody noticed that the town is in decline? In the last 2-3 years a number of shops have gone out of business and either remain vacant or are given over to charity use. The adverse effect of large foodstores has already happened. Ask yourself why so many Stourbridge residents do their grocery shopping at Merry Hill or elsewhere. What the Tescos proposal does is bring back to Stourbridge grocery shopping presently lost to the town. Some of that is bound to bring additional revitalising trade to the town. Of course there are difficult issues to be resolved but protectionist fear of competion by some local traders shouldn't carry the day if that just means continuing decline for Stourbridge.
Andrew Sparke Chief Executive, Dudley Council (Received 19 Sept 01)

Stourbridge is dying on it's feet as anyone can see from the empty shopping units in the Ryemarket, High Street, and the Crown Centre. It can't attract shoppers with an ever increasing number of charity and 'pound' shops. And who wants to walk along the High Street negotiating the narrow pavements and parked cars? Tesco's proposal may not be to everyone's liking but it provides the best opportunity at present to bring the town into the 21st century. Paul Yeo (Received 19 Sept 01)

Stourbridge already has three existing supermarkets (Safeway,Waitrose & Kwik Save), and easy access via car or public transport to the larger stores at Withymoor and Merry Hill. Surely we don't need another one? The DETR report suggests that the town's existing traders will lose between 21%-75% of their business to the new development, and that these negative effects will not be confined to the existing supermarkets. How can that be good for the town? Any jobs that are created by the development will for the most part be 'McJobs' - that is, part-time, low pay, menial,no future jobs. Aren't there enough of them about already? The demolition and reconstruction work will cause havoc. Why bother? Who benefits from it, apart from the developers and Tesco shareholders?
Chris Brown (Received 14 Sept 01)

"We have been to the meetings at the Town Hall and we have spoken our views, asked what was the point of trying to build Tesco in hope that it will bring more people to Stourbridge when you need to move Stourbridge's residents out to provide this. Surprisingly we got no comment. There are many homes that will be lost if this goes ahead many of which are recently brought properties (3 houses in our street have been purchased in the last 18 months - there are only 4 houses). Whoever came up with the idea that the people of Stourbridge will benefit from these plans can not live in Stourbridge otherwise they would have realised that the people of Stourbridge are being forced to move away from Stourbridge to make way for cars and pollution because that is all a bigger ring road will cause. has anyone considered the fact that somehow lorries still need to deliver to the shops, Will the new Ring Road allow this?? This is a lovely town, with a lot of people who have been here all their lives, some who were born here. I am only 19 but I want in the future to be able to say to my grandchildren, I grew up in Stourbridge, not I was moved out of Stourbridge to make room for a Road. Pedestrianisation of the High Street is a fantastic idea, but at the cost of people losing their homes. Is it really worth it? The High Street was pedestrianised on a Saturday only when I was younger and it was the greatest thing ever to be able to walk next to my family instead of in single file but elderly people need the bus that goes down the High Street. Would pedestrianisation prevent this service??"
Regards, Miss R Blundell (Received 7 Sept 01)
(Lives in Stourbridge, works in Stourbridge and goes to college in Stourbridge.)

"NO to Tesco in Stourbridge, no need. That simple." Mick Wood (Received 9 July 01)

"There is no doubt that Tesco's would be helping Dudley MBC finance the proposed changing to the ring road. Indeed one has to ask if the council had to pay solely for all of the costs to ANY plan regarding the Stourbridge Ring Road, how many projects in the borough would have to be put on hold or suspended indefinitely. There are two things that are bugging me with the present proposals that do not appear to have been addressed (1) Would not traffic entering and leaving the proposed supermarket car park create hold ups on the ring road near to the entrance causing a backlog along the ring road. To alleviate this, priority would have to be given to supermarket traffic similar to the Safeway operations at Rubery on the A38 trunk road. How frustrating that can be at peak times!!! (2) Presently, Stourbridge is unique in having both the bus and rail stations adjacent. The new poposals are splitting this, with the railway station being outside the realligned ring road. Was it also not suggested that once the Metro got to Merry Hill it would (or could) be extended down to Stourbridge. That being the case again why have the rail/tram link outside the ring road. Ah silly me I should have realised that surely won't this actually take people away from Stourbridge (and Tesco's) going to Merry Hill leaving Stourbridge even less supported? Certainly food for thought!"
Dave Bruton (Received 4 April 01)

"I have lived in Stourbrige my whole life, 17 years!!! and I can see the problems which the council are faced with but I think that the realignment of the ring road with so many adaptations will cause too much disruption while its being undertaken and the benefits seem to be limited compared to this. I agree totally with the pedestrianisation of the high street, the pavements are definitely to small at the moment and as a pupil of King Edward VI college for a year have suffered the effects of this many times while trying to get to McDonalds! I think the demolition of such buildings as the Rock Station pub are terrible, they are a part of the areas history! Stourbridge doesn't even need a Tescos we already have Safeway and Waitrose! I understand that Stourbridge has seen a decline in retail service's and demand from the public for these, especially since the development of the Merry hill shopping centre but I think that this is really taking it too far, it doesn't hurt that much to walk through the subway to the bus station and it keeps the noisy smelly buses out of the town center! I feel saddened that a company such as Tesco can have so much influence on my town."
Regards Fiona Barclay (Received 30 March 01)

"This planned change is a disgrace. The town was ruined by an ill conceived idea many years ago ie the original ring road. This is simply bowing to commercilism in its worst form. Tesco should not be allowed to place commercial interests before all else and Dudley MBC should not even be considering such a notion. Who is in who,s pocket? Maybe a few "Back handers? You might as well drop the name and call it " TESCOVILLE"
Bill Parker (Received 25 Feb 01)

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