Tesco gets go-ahead for major expansion

Shop space and services at Tesco, Clifton Moor, will now be boosted after City of York Council planning committee members passed the company's proposals.

Tesco applied for permission to extend the front of the supermarket by 12 metres in a move that will provide an extra 1,453 square metres of food floor space and 45 metres of non-food floor space.

The company also applied for permission to build a 1,633 square metre two-storey extension at the back of the shop. This will provide extra bulk storage space on the ground floor and staff facilities and a shoppers' caf on the first.

Council planning officers recommended the plans be given the go-ahead after a Tesco survey showed that customers were unhappy with the layout of the store. They were also dissatisfied with the size and felt claustrophobic and congested as they walked the aisles.

Officers played down fears that any expansion at the out-of-town retail park could harm city centre trade. They also pointed to Tesco average customer counts rising from 35,098 to 47,823 a week in the ten years up to 2003.

Although the expansion will mean the loss of 89 parking spaces, it will still leave nearly 1,300 spaces, and a report to councillors said that total would be sufficient even during busy shopping spells like weekends.

Heather Fairy, development control officer at the council, backed the plans in the report.

She said: "Officers feel that the proposed extension would improve the store for existing customers and provide a more comfortable shopping environment."

Tesco indicated that, where stores had been expanded elsewhere, there had not been a rise in shop-related traffic.

No one from Tesco was available for comment at the time of going to print, but the Evening Press understands the expansion will lead to an increase in staffing.

Councillors recommended the scheme for approval, subject to a series of conditions to prevent any negative impact on the city centre.

Updated: 08:30 Wednesday, September 01, 2004