The community of Keyworth is organising to resist plans by Tesco to build a store in their village. Plans which were proposed after 90% of the community said they did not want a new supermarket.

Completely unexpectedly and with just five days notice the people of Keyworth recently received leaflets inviting them to Tesco’s exhibition of their proposed new supermarket in the centre of the village.

Held over two weekdays the glossy exhibition showed an artist’s impression of the new building and set out all their claimed advantages of the new store (100 jobs, reduced carbon footprint, investment in the community, and the usually tosh). Slick Tesco PR professionals were on hand and a paper opinion ‘survey’ questionnaire was taken.

If the decision on a Tesco store is to be decided democratically Tesco could save themselves a lot of time and money as the community has already voiced its opinion on supermarkets in the village. In the recently completed village plan 89% of respondents to the household survey said they did not want another supermarket in Keyworth.

The people of Keyworth were quick to show their opposition to a Tesco store. Within days of hearing of the plans anti Tesco posters and stickers were appearing  around the village and a campaign stall was organised outside venue for the duration of the exhibition. The overwhelming majority of visitors coming to sign up to the no Tesco campaign as they left the exhibition.

Unfortunately Keyworth people are about to get a glimpse of the undemocratic state we live under when they see that the planning process will not recognise the community’s strength of opposition to Tesco, the survey data to back it and the likely hundreds of letters of opposition to the planning application. In the end Tesco have huge funds to keep appealing if their plans are rejected. Local authorities cannot, especially in a time of cutbacks, afford to keep fighting these appeals, and so Tesco can win.

But there is a long road to travel from submitting a planning application to opening a store and the people of Keyworth are angry and organised so watch this space!

There are many reasons to oppose a new supermarket and each has its own issues relating to the community affected. In Keyworth there is the special sadness that the community was promised that the proposed site would be used for sheltered housing so that the elderly residents, who had been moved out of the village when their homes were demolished, could return to their community.  Tesco – every little hurts.