Tesco ASBO

The public pavement outside Tesco?

I have long complained of the anti social behaviour of Tesco and the stranglehold they now have in Westminster, the Borough which was run in a discreditable fashion by Dame Shirley Porter, the daughter of their founder Sir Jack Cohen. Dame Shirley Porter in 2004 paid £12m into Westminster Council's bank account in settlement of the surcharge for her role in the homes for vote’s scandal.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/tesco-supermarket-which-arte.html

The former leader of the local authority had played a key role in a scheme that sold off council homes to potential Tory voters. She originally faced a judgement debt of some £27m plus interest and costs, following a prolonged legal battle. But she was offered a deal to end the long running saga. The gerrymandering scandal relates to a decision in July 1987 by Westminster to sell 500 homes each year under a policy called "building stable communities".

District Auditor John Magill later accused Dame Shirley and a former colleague, David Weeks, of "wilful misconduct" and "disgraceful and improper gerrymandering" following an investigation. The issue went to the House of Lords and Dame Shirley and Mr Weeks were told to repay the losses claimed by the council. The Tesco's heiress then claimed she had assets of just £300,000 but Westminster City Council engaged in a long-fought legal battle to force her to pay. That included getting overseas assets frozen.


Tesco subcontracts its anti social behaviour to logistics companies who mainly employ non-UK drivers as in this truck; Reg. No; KE56FRC

Amongst the anti-social behaviour I’ve highlighted is the Tesco Local Store at the corner of Melcombe and Glentworth Street near Baker St. Station in Marylebone. Remarkably Tesco even converted this store and put up signage without even bothering to trouble local democracy with a planning application.

“2) As you are aware, the existing Tesco’s shopfront installed at the site is not lawful. You will therefore need to submit drawings showing the site before the installation of this shopfront.”

Email from Westminster Planning Officer Emily Wade to Tesco’s legal representative Tim Ryder of Allsop Verrill LLP, 25th January 2007.

Tesco “Local” stores in Westminster don’t give much hope that they are good neighbours, indeed they seem to be engaging in anti social behaviour. At the corner of Melcombe and Glentworth Street near Baker St. Station in Marylebone a Tesco “Local” opened when they bought over Shepherds, a chain of neighbourhood stores. Along this footpath between 8 and 9 each morning 4,500 people walk the short distance from Marylebone to Baker Street. At the Tesco store a large delivery truck is always parked on a double yellow line directly on the corner, blocking off the ramp for disabled access at the corner and making it “blind” to turning traffic and adding to the danger by forcing pedestrians onto the roadway. To park in this space by the goods door for the shop these large trucks have to line up across the main road, blocking the traffic and reverse into the space across the pedestrian crossing. This they do without any “points man” to ensure the safety of pedestrians and turning traffic. Frequently there are other similarly sized trucks parked on double yellow lines waiting for their turn in the non “Loading Bay” causing further detriment to the area.



In addition Westminster Council have been attempting (Application 06/09798/FULL) to get Tesco to improve disabled access to this “local” store, but to no avail. Not only are they persistently blocking access to the disabled ramp on the public pavement on this busy crossing but they have refused to provided level access to the store as required under Phase III of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 which applies to new and converted premises after October 2005.

"That conditional permission be granted subject to the informative on disabled access being considerably strenghtened to express the Council's concern at the proposed arrangements and to strongly encourage Tesco to improve arrangements within the boundary of the premises .............."

Planning Applications Sub-Committee 3
31 May 2007

If the Government wants to talk about a "Respect Agenda" let it talk about the disgraceful premise of the DDA that "the wobbly people" (You know, The Aged, The infirm, the economically inactive) can sue to enforce their "rights" under the Act. Contrast that with the "Accessible America" legislation in the USA where non-compliance is a criminal offence. Remarkably the same planning decision only restricts deliveries to this store before 7.00 am on weekdays and 9.00 am at weekends and bank holidays.

And then there is the lack of consideration for others, delivering during peak hours, using large trucks, delivering on 10 / 15 trucks per day because these are on multi-drops from different suppliers and only a few pallets come off each truck. The Tesco staff are “only doing their job”, the drivers are agency drivers from outsourced logistics companies and you’ve guessed it, they are “only doing their job”, and the vulture like parking wardens in Westminster who are anxious to fill their quota with tickets elsewhere come to an arrangement with the Tesco stores. Failing that the drivers leave their first ticket of the day on the windscreen so wardens think they have already been ticketed. Clearly “Green” Tesco could lessen the impact by delivering off peak, using smaller vehicles and doing single drop deliveries but clearly they feel no need to do this and equally clearly they are under no pressure from Westminster Council or the Metropolitan Police to change their ways. No danger then of Westminster Council looking for an ASBO in respect of Tesco’s expropriation of public property to private use.


Truck No; 614564 - There is nothing to tell you who operates this vehicle or a number to contact

Westminster Councillor Carolyn Keen has been a persistent critic of this peculiarly anti-social neighbourhood store;

“There have been long running problems with deliveries and servicing at this branch of Tesco. Any permission must restrict the number of vehicles at any one time and the times of delivery as well as the problem of cages being stored on the footpath and trundled back and forwards.”

Councillor Keen, Planning Report; 31 May 2007.

Contrast this with the situation when I (increasingly rarely) use the car park of my local Tesco branch which has been put on steroids and is now a Tesco Extra open 24 hours a day. A big yellow sign on the way in informs me that by using their car park I agree my car registration can be photographed, machine read and recorded and if I stay longer than 3 hours that they can issue me with that strangest of creatures, a “Civil Penalty Notice” for 70 pounds and I consent to them applying to the DVLA for my details if they need to do this. Consider the arrogance of this proposition, personal data I have provided to the Government out of a legal obligation will be provided to a mega Supermarket chain to charge me a "penalty" for staying too long in their car park. And I consent to this and much more by using “their” property.If this is not an unfair contract term, what is?


Tesco - Your corner parking shop

As the pictures show Tesco is still abusing public space, parking on a corner on double yellow lines, making pedestrians dangerously walk out onto a road at a blind corner and blocking a disabled ramp on the pavement.

Is it time for Westminster Council to consider a Tesco ASBO?


Tesco forcing pedestrians onto the road and blocking the disabled ramp