The current selection of food and grocery shops in Bourne End is shocking, with the notable exception of the Fruit Market, which is excellent. Normally I would not consider myself a Tesco fan, but when the alternative is an appalling Somerfield or a Co Op which effectively sells crisps and sweets, I would welcome a Tesco Express as something the village badly needs. I do not believe quality shops like the Fruit Market will suffer as a result of a new Tesco, but perhaps the competition will encourage some of the poorer shops on the Parade to pull their socks up!

I totally agree.

Competition is good. The good shops will survive and those complaining about the competition will need to shape up.

The toy shop is full of posters about objecting to Tescos (even they they'd benefit from increased trade) and yet they can't be bothered to open up half the time.

Somerfield is ok, but tiny and Co-op is full of tat and miserable workers.

The Tesco in Wooburn was a marked improvement over the tatty old One-Stop.

Bring it on.

Tescos strip mine local economy! I used to use a Co-op in oxford and they are suprisingly good and just as good as Tescos!

This is NIMBYism at its worst.

What are the current shopping options? A Somerfield which would provoke a cold jolt of recognition in a visiting Russian exile who'd once been employed in a poorly-stocked Soviet-era shop in a particularly depressing Siberian mining town; and a Co-Op which appears central to a covert Government experiment to observe the effects on civic behaviour of feeding a village population nothing but cakes, biscuits, and other products loaded with refined sugar.

(Somerfield is about to be sold to a Waitrose/Co-OP joint venture, so it's fairly certain that the Bourne End outlet will close. Did the campaigners know that or is this too inconvenient a fact?)

The butcher is average at best, and only the excellent Fruit Market stands out, packed with good, fresh produce at fair prices.

Those leading this absurd "No to Tesco" campaign should look at the future of the village. Do they really believe that the same shops will be there in 10 years, even if Tesco don't come? This protectionist policy is simply protecting mediocrity, and the paucity of options means that shoppers will spend more money in shops outside the village, and the Parade will wither and empty shops will be the norm.

Why don't these people have a vision for the future? Change happens - you can either be at the mercy of the change, or you can shape it yourself, and saying no to Tesco is NOT shaping the future other than in a bad way for the village.

Instead of focusing energy on a negative, single-issue campaign which shows nothing other than short-term thinking, why don't the campaigners work to come up with a long-term strategy to help the village flourish? Why not work towards making the village known throughout Bucks and Berks for artisan furniture, or antiques, or whatever? Why not use a system of grants and incentives to encourage joiners, antique experts, or whatever the chosen theme is to come here? Such long-term planning and positivity will bring income into the village, pay for civic amenities, and make it a better place to live. Surely that is a more worthwhile use of their time and a finer legacy for the village other than "I know the shopping's appalling and half the stores have closed, but hey, we stopped Tesco!"

But if short-term thinking fights against change, is suspicious of success, and throws its energy into preserving mediocrity, then the Parade will fall into decline, and the centre of the village will have be a rather bleak place.

(BTW, I don't hold any particular candle for Tesco, in fact I work for a company that competes against them in several areas... and I'm only living in Bourne End for a few years, but that doesn't mean I'm enjoying watching it wither and suffer because of absurd campaigns like this).

Tesco's goal (as stated years ago)... a Tesco's shop
every five miles.
Count them and weep.
They're accomplishing it and will eventually destroy all the village shops.That's progress eh ?
I'm sure Dame Lady Porter is "chuffed"...
Like taking sweets from a baby.
Wake up people !

A Tesco Express would be good for Bourne End. Having lived there for 3 years, I would have welcomed another choice for my shopping needs, instead of going to Flackwell, Marlow, or Wooburn Green. The competition will bring about better quality and prices. It's all about the market economy. Give the people a choice and the competition will have to shape up or ship out.

It is sad to see the ignorance of some of the previous posters here, arguing for "more competition". Do you realise that many residents of Bourne End already shop at Tesco, in Loudwater? Why kill off the whole of The Parade by putting yet another mini-supermarket there? By allowing Tesco to sweep all over South Buckinghamshire, that is the real issue of stifling choice, not the small number of shops that are currently there.

JJG, if the Somerfield is to be closed, then why cannot that be used by another chain? Why the need to build a monstrous carbuncle outside the retail area? Please note too, if you had been here a little longer you would have known that several furniture and antique shops have come and gone. How backward and insulting you are to relegate Bourne End to merely being the preserve of unsustainable, specialist businesses.

And also, Ron, I rarely hear anything as absurd as going from Bourne End to Flackwell Heath for your "shopping needs". The provision of a Tesco would not make accessible any more goods than what is there already.

Quality and prices are very unlikely to change in Bourne End after the opening of a Tesco. That is centrally monitored and decided. All that can be guaranteed is that several more shops will be vacant and boarded up on The Parade.

Bourne End does not need a Tesco and it will suffer greatly if ever built. Write to the Council planning department and register your objections as soon as you can.

Good points Mike Tesco is definatley a good idea.

As far as we are concerned, a Tesco Express in Bourne End would be a real boon to pensioners like us on a limited income. We do our main shopping at Tesco Loudwater which is fine while we still have a car but for how much longer as we are both well over 70. Marlow is useless as the shops are far too expensive and Somerfield is pretty hopeless. With Tesco you get a vast range from the "value" products up to very superior quality. The more Tescos the merrier. Bob & Enid Fowler.

Tesco is about to bring to Bourne End choice, quality and cheap prices to Bourne End according to a few comments above... Maybe you should ask a few londoners about that where they have their high streets dotted with tesco express and sainsbury local. No more choice there. Heinz beans at both stores. Good for me because they shop at mine here in Bourne End.

There seems to be a deal of support voiced in these comments which are completely at odds with the comments of the Bourne End folk I know and chat to when I'm in the village. I can't help but wonder if some of the comments are "plants" by Tesco employees or associates, but even if this is not the case, consider these points:

1) Tesco likes to claim its appearance in an area "aids competition", but my observation is that after a couple of years in a site, competition has vanished because Tesco have used their dominant position to kill off the old, established shops. Have they helped competition, or killed it?

2) This is an agricultural area. We can get the majority of our food without the need for it to be refrigerated and to have traveled tens or hundreds of miles. That's not how Tesco works. The village will be blighted by disproportionately large trucks trying to service the supermarket with food that has traveled further than some folk do on holiday. Do we want food with huge mileages being delivered by trucks that make our village centre impassable?

3) Tesco, as do all supermarkets, have a reputation for pushing their suppliers for the lowest possible supply price. I don't want my food, upon which my health and wellbeing depends, to come from the lowest bidder. I want quality, and good farming practices. Tesco (and all other supermarkets )claim that their food is as good as is available from a small, local shop, but the financial model they use makes that difficult if not impossible.

4) Tesco is not a local business. Any profit made leaves the local community and is distributed to shareholders all over the world, and to (amongst other things) establishing a Tesco presence elsewhere so they can make more profit. I would rather pay my money to a locally owned shop, and have the benefit stay in the community. If we don't use the local shops we will see friendly local shops run by friendly local people replaced by anonymous food halls, staffed by grunting, disinterested teenagers and desperate pensioners (the only folk, it appears to me, willing to staff supermarkets, given their tight rein on pay).

5) Tesco's (and all other supermarkets') methods of transporting food all over the world means that they package their goods in vast quantities of packaging that local producers don't need to use. As a result, the consumer has to pay for, and dispose of, all this costly junk that they don't want and that wastes resources. We don't have big enough landfill sites to support Tesco.

6) And finally: Tesco's always bang on about "Choice". Well, I live in an area with lots of choice. I can go to Tesco at Loudwater, or Asda at Cressex, or Sainsbury in town, or any number of other places. I can also go to my local shops, the local farm, or at a push, I could jump on a train ang go to the Gastro-emporiums in London. I have all the choice I need. Don't mistake "choice" for "quality". Here I am talking about the whole "shopping experience" (sorry to use a "marketing" phrase). I can either go to a Tesco supermarket and be processed like a sheep in an abattoir, or I can go to my local shop, and while I buy good quality, unwrapped, local produce, I can also have a meaningful and enjoyable conversation with people I have known for years. No Competition!

Go Away Tesco, you are trying to destroy my village!

I agree with Jim that some of these comments are at odds with the overwhelming negative response to these plans.

The only part of the JJB mail I agree with relates to having a strategy for the future of Bourne End, which is undoubtedly needed, and if JJB were contributing to this would make reference to the hard work going into the strategic plan, called the 'Bourne End health check' for the area. Why not mention this JJB ?

A strategic plan headlined by a bulldozed application by Tesco will be a step into the abyss.

If anyone thinks that Tesco is doing this for the benefit of Bourne End, think again. Have a look at this web site for the real insight into what they are up to and the efforts they will go to to get their way. It is horrific.

www.tescopoly.org

Why, unlike the developer who acquired the site opposite which will become part retail, have Tesco not consulted the local residents ?

Please beware of positive comments about these proposals in a blog like this. They could well be plants.. The way to judge real opinion, indeed, both sides is to attend meetings such as the Bourne End residents association , open to all, where over 100 people attended and not one person had a positive thing to say about this.

I am 100% for the idea of Tesco in Bourne End. I am a mother of 2 small children and cannot get all the groceries I need from the current local shops. I am then forced to get into my car and drive to a Supermarket every week, therefore I am increasing my carbon footprint unnecessarily. The objections raised by very few Bourne End residents, I feel, does not give a true reflection of what the community of Bourne End really needs!!

There is no doubt that the site needs to be redeveloped however not by Tesco's who aims are to have a mass presence. Bourne End needs to improve and it will with the development of Parade Court, and other changes afoot it will, however history dictates that whenever a Tesco enters a village such as Bourne End independent retailers will leave as their fagile business will be affecting through the Buying influence of a large retailer such as Tesco. We shouldn't allow Bourne End to become a high street with no individual identity, which in turn affects the community spirit, identity and sustainability.

The village is at a crisis point in terms of traffic and congestion and these plans will damage the access to the village.

Please please please do not come to a village which doesn't need another supermarket.

We all have to ask ourselves why are people so anxious about this its because they care and are so passionate about protecting their village.

There are a lot of older people in Bourne End who are not compfortable with technology such as this and their views are not represented in this forum,generally people who use forums such as these are more motivated by convenience than sustainability of the village. A balance has to be gained here for everyone.