Tesco application refused again by Mole Valley Council (From Surrey Comet)

Ashtead village Tesco application refused again by Mole Valley Council

4:52pm Thursday 4th February 2010 in Top stories By Thais Portilho-Shrimpton

Retail giant Tesco has had a second application to build a store in Ashtead refused at a meeting last night.

Mole Valley Council's development control committee members narrowly decided to refuse Tesco’s application to build a store in The Street, despite officers’ recommendation for approval.

The application was refused by eight votes to seven.

Tesco's original plan to build a 1,115 sq m store provoked fury among residents and shopkeepers and was rejected by council planners.

Tesco then put forward a smaller scheme for the village, and temporarily suspended its appeal against Mole Valley’s decision to throw out its first plans.

The size of the newly rejected development had been reduced by a third and was designed specifically for Ashtead - rather than following Tesco’s “off-the-peg” store designs. The car park was also reduced from 211 spaces to 181.

But angry protesters from the group Save Ashtead Village Environment (SAVE) said the new scheme did not deal with the main objections to the supermarket. They said the new scheme was still too big and would cause major congestion and traffic hazards.

They had collected more than 6,500 signatures for a petition against the proposals.