On 9 January 2013, the Brentwood Gazette announced that retailing juggernaut Tesco had bought the former Alexandra pub on Warley Hill. With no requirement for planning permission, the supermarket monster, Tesco plans to land in Warley with no consideration at all for local businesses, local community or environment.
This site is dedicated to explaining why this is bad for Warley, bad for Brentwood and bad for the people of Brentwood. The site’s not anti-tesco or anti-supermarket per se, but we don’t believe this is a good location for such a shop and are concerned about Tesco’s current policy of aggressively dominating towns and villages with express stores.
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Stop Warley Tesco 
One of the real problems with Tesco or any huge multiple is that they can run their store at a loss and yet cover it by merging the figures into the general accounting they present to their share-holders. They will have to pay a reasonable rate to their workers; they will open early till late; they will have at least 15 -17 staff and probably a manger. They will make a loss. This should be illegal. Unless they are forced to present their figures solely for the profit or loss on this site, they will merely try to snuff out the local village. Once that is done, their prices will bear no relationship to the prices charged in the big Tesco (as many discovered with the Tesco on London Road). This needs to be tackled at National level by Eric Pickles and his merry band of MPs, otherwise all our secondary markets will fall to the big boys. They already own the High Street; once they have it all, heaven help the consumer (you and me).
This does need to be tackled at a national level and I have written to Eric Pickles. (That was five days ago, so still awaiting a reply) but, I couldn’t agree more.
Tesco are not somewhere I shop if I can help it, and neither do I shop at Asda for similar reasons of integrity.
But we are in very difficult finanical times for many, who cannot, or may not be as well informed to make those choices. We know that the prices at their store on Brooke Street do not reflect any budget lines. They do not provide their value ranges, and give little choice in products, so are pitching at the upper end of the market with higher profit margins. But it is the destruction that will follow of the smaller little convenience shops that have managed to co-exist for so long.
Dear Carole,
I too feel for those poor, uneducated people with no integrity who shop at Tesco.
Franki
Franki, I am sorry that you misunderstood. But if you feel that Tesco is a a sound organisation you are more than welcome to that opinion and to the one you voice above. But I beg to differ.
kind regards
Let’s not get off the point here and become involved in what we individually see as personal insults. People are entitled to shop where they will and some do so for location, others for value as they see it. The problem with this siting of Tesco is that it may be an unprofitable store relying on the profitability of the group to sustain its prices while it waits for the locals to go to the wall. This is not only unfair, it wrecks the community feeling of this area, When I moved her 40 years ago they told me that there was a ‘village atmosphere’ on Warley Hill and this small area does seem to retain that still. I believe in competition, if it is fair. All I ask is that there is someone without a vested interest making sure that this is fair.
Don, It’s a free market as you know, we can’t regulate this stuff, fair or not.
I appreciate free Franki, what I would like to see is fair. Is it fair for a multi like TESCO, or any other large mutilple to strangle trade by placing subsidies into their local store to eliminate the others in the area. If you believe it is, that is your call, of course, and I respect your views. We may also lose the petrol station, Copperfields and the local station community of shops. It’s a matter of priorites. Please do not mis-understand my words; I am not attacking TESCO, Sainsbury or ASDA per se, I think they have a place and I use all of those shops in their place. But I refuse to blindly support any shop I am loyal to in shopping terms, nor should anyone. The question is: Free Market or Fair Market. This is not a personal attack on your views.
It’s a free market, but there’s no reason to think that when the market fails (as it has done in the case of supermarkets) good people cannot raise the point that it has failed and needs to be reigned in. The purpose of this campaign is to support local families and businesses and reign in that market failure.
If we gain a Tesco we will lose so much more.
It will be a disaster for local businesses on Warley Hill if Tesco opens a shop here.
Also parking will be a nightmare as Warley Hill is quite narrow there.
Local residents don’t want another new Tesco shop.
I would draw your attention to the Tescopoly internet site, where a range of views are expressed on just the points above.
Keep your comments coming – we’ve decided to moderate them all, due to a few factual inaccuracies and personal comments being made last week, but we’ll try and keep this forum as open as possible. 🙂 Stuart. Thanks for your support.
Hiya, just to say that I’ve done some relatively local research and this sort of development can really split communities. I would hate to see it turn into what it shouldn’t be, I did react and describe it as ‘my gang’ vs ‘your gang’ on twitter to really try to point out how it should not be. The issues here are so much more than just pure preference of a particular supermarket. This store likely will not provide for anyone’s weekly family shop, it is an Express Store, not a Metro.
For us, in partiucular it is an incredibly immotive issue as it really is quite lierally ‘on our doorstep’, Together with the fact that we have lived here for almost 20 years and have seen a lot of changes, along with a lot of proposed changes that have failed. So we do have an a lot of experiences.
People have asked me – wouldn’t you rather have a Tesco Express than a pub. My answer is no, we have never had a problem with the pub in all our years here. On occasional celebration days, like New Year, revelry has spilled out onto pavements, but never with any danger or problem for us. And, frankly with a pub there are far less movements in and out, and headlights shining in your windows as they do at the old Post Office opposite when cars are exiting. People stayed for varying times,
The pub car park was never designed as such, it was introduced simply to enable the drays to deliver to the pub’s cellar, as they have no trapdoor on the roadside as so many pubs always did.
The draysmen had it down to a fine art, particularly over recent years when the traffic has increased as this has become a busier and busier road reversing out onto oncoming traffic with an individual stopping the traffic. The fence between the fishing tackle shop/blind shop garden/car park has gone up and come down for a variety of reasons and I understand that there is no Right of Way.
It remains to be seen how the plans will be presented, we only saw the original plans presented by the Brewery in May 2012.
I’m so glad this is being moderated so that we can all put our point across without fear. I would really encourage you to do so.
Happy to answer any questions on the area. But will only sign into this sight about once a day.
Let’s see if we can get a fair debate going and air our views in a mutually supportive way.
Most people I have spoken to don’t need or want a Tesco in Warley Hill. We have a great range of small, independent shops in the area and a Tesco would be a nightmare for them. Also, Warley Hill already has a traffic problem, and this would only make things worse. I wouldn’t bank on any support or response from local councillors though…… We have raised the traffic issue many times, and it is absolutely clear that they don’t care about the views of local residents. If this does go through, we should all ensure that we boycott the store and stay loyal to the current shops…..but we should do whatever we can to prevent Tesco coming to Warley.
I would urge anyone reading this site, who has any reservations about the proposed superstore, to take action. Use the information here (it’s all here), to object to the current proposals. Stand up and be counted. We should be fighting for our community and we should be urging those that we elect to represent us to do the same. Stop Tesco, keep Warley for Warley!
To see the effect of Tesco on a secondary area like Warley Hill, see Hanging Hill Lane. The parking can be a night-mare.
I fear for the traffic flow on Warley Hill, but much more I fear for the danger to pedestrians. Bearing in mind that this is a busy road crossed by parents and children, it is something that should be considered by ‘the powers that be’. This last comment is really meant ot be aimed at ‘the powers that be’, whoever they may be in this case: Brentwood Council? Essex County Council? The Governement? It is interesting to note that requests for a pedestrian crossing on Warley Hill have always been rejected but I would gamble on any request by Tesco for such a convenience would be seriously considered. I have no party affiliation, but when I see two councils like Essex & Brentwood with such a predominance of one colour I believe we should individually use the power of the ballot box. This Tesco will go through; it will alter radically the ambience on Warley Hill, it is up to us to decide individually who to blame and in some way to decide what will happen in the future..
I feel it will have some adverse effects on the small businesses in Warley. We already have an Tesco express on the London Rd, and we also have an express in Shenfield . I see there is an Nissi opened up on Kings Rd. Londis has got everything needed for Warley. I feel bringing Tescos to Warley will cause further traffic congestion to the area following the devepment of CLEMEMTS PARK.. We need to keep the small businesses .