Tesco - Hull, Anlaby Road, Hull

Date: 02 Sep 2010

People power helps Tesco win planning permission.

Local support has helped Tesco gain planning permissions for two new stores, persuading councillors to vote against officers' recommendations for refusal and approve plans for a 60,000 sq ft store in Consett, County Durham and a 50,000 sq ft store in Anlaby Road, Hull.

The prospect of regeneration and hundreds of new jobs led local residents to rally support for the proposed stores.

The new supermarket in Hull will create 330 jobs and is allocated as a Tesco Regeneration Partnership Store, which means Tesco will aim to employ local people who have been out of work for at least six months, including those needing to brush up their numeracy and literacy skills and people with disabilities. 180 people have already applied for jobs at the store and the decision was met with applause at the planning meeting.

In Consett, Tesco is making one of the biggest investments in the town's history creating 250 full and part time jobs.

The Consett store will be one of a new generation of "green" stores to be built in the North East, designed to maximise the use of natural light and ventilation. It will feature a number of energy efficient and sustainable measures, such as a timber frame and a combined heat and power unit.

Tesco will close its older store in Delves Lane, a mile away, and the existing 150 staff will be transferred to Genesis Way.

In addition to job creation, committee members were impressed by Tesco's plans to spend £2.5m on reclaiming contaminated land, which has remained unused since the steelworks closed 30 years ago, and a pledge of £400,000 towards town centre regeneration.

A Tesco spokesperson said: "We are delighted that in both Consett and Hull public opinion has prevailed. Councillors have acknowledged the overwhelming local support for our stores, which will deliver much needed investment, create hundreds of jobs, and provide a varied retail choice.

Projected Tesco store, Anlaby Road, Hull

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