Belper Against Tesco

A Derbyshire town is celebrating a huge, David and Goliath-style win against my old pal Tesco.

The good folk of Belper have been fighting for six years to resist plans to build an 80,000 square foot superstore in the town, and this week the campaign group Belper Against Tesco (BATS) said it was "over the moon" after the chain revealed it was ditching the plans.

From the very beginning Tesco met with fierce opposition in Belper. 

In order to build the superstore Tesco wanted to move the town's football club and demolish the library to make way for a relief road, but had agreed instead to fund new hockey, tennis and cricket facilities, build a new library and a community hall.

In addition to the BATS campaigners, the plans were also greeted with horror by the Belper Civic Forum, local traders and residents. Hundreds of people signed petitions, wrote letters and turned out for protest meetings.

Tesco said this week that the decision to scrap the Belper development followed its announcement earlier this month that its profits had dipped and it had decided to shelve plans to build superstores on more than 100 sites.

Those against the Tesco development in Belper argued that it would lead to job losses with the closure of small shops and the businesses along their supply chain, impact on the high street and local economy, lessen the availability of local produce rather than that shipped hundreds of miles by Tesco, have a similar effect on the economy of local villages, and generate more traffic.

Belper really is a lovely little town and its main shopping drag is full of quirky independent shops and curiosities. So congratulations to BATS and all those who fought the battle to keep the town Tesco-free.