Fourteen Merseyside supermarkets approved in two years

The 'big four' supermarkets have had at least 14 planning applications approved on Merseyside since November 2008, BBC research has found.

The north west of England is the second fastest growing region, with 63 Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda or Morrisons stores gaining approval.

Planners approved at least 577 stores in the UK in the two years to November.

One of those recently approved is a Tesco store in Moreton, Wirral, which faced strong local opposition.

The store is set to be built on the site of The Plough Inn near Moreton Cross, the main crossroads in the town, and local residents fear it will lead to traffic problems and kill off local businesses.

The planned store is a few miles from a large Tesco Extra store in Bidston, and a few miles in the other direction is a Tesco Express.

Local people opposed to the store collected nearly 2,500 signatures on a petition calling for it to be refused.

But planning permission was granted after the council concluded there were no grounds for refusal.

Stuart Beeston, who owns Carousel Flowers opposite the site and led the campaign against the development, said: "When the new Tesco Express opens in spring next year there will be three Tesco stores within just a few miles of us.

"It is total greed on their part. In Claughton, a butcher who had ran his business for 30 years was forced to close down because a Tesco was built nearby.

"I don't want to see our local community, our local shops suffering like that."

A Tesco statement said: "Most of our new store applications are not for large supermarkets but for small, local convenience stores, the likes of which millions of customers have relied on to get food in the bad weather."

It added: "We have invested in the UK even during the worst recession in living memory, creating tens of thousands of jobs, many in the most deprived areas of the country."

Not all applications are being accepted though. About 12 miles away in Crosby, a £50m proposal to build a bigger store and regenerate the surrounding area was rejected by Sefton Council in September.

Sainsbury's wanted to build a 50,000 sq ft superstore in Moor Lane, with spaces for more than 400 cars.

It would have been three times the size of the current store, prompting complaints from some residents.

The decison to reject the plan was made as the development did not fit in with the character and style of the town.

The council said it "failed to respond positively to the character and form of its surroundings".

Katy McGrath, from campaign group A Better Crosby, said the large store would take away the character of the village.

She said: "It was treating our village as dead land, which we don't think it is. People use this land, Sainsbury's will make it faceless and take away the character of our village.

"We don't have a problem with big businesses wanting to expand, but it is not taking into consideration the community's needs.

"We don't think it is in keeping with the village's character - it would be better suited to an industrial estate."

At the time, Sainsbury's said it was extremely disappointed by the decision and was considering its options.

A spokeswoman added: "We're assessing the viability of a number of design options at the moment and we hope to be in a position to consult with the community and local stakeholders in Crosby in the New Year."

The BBC figures were obtained by researchers looking at the expansion of the big four supermarket chains.

They include all types of new outlet, such as small high street stores.

The North West had the second highest number of approved stores, behind London

BBC Source

Its hard to say whether its a good thing or not, probably good for the shopper but disastrous for small local shops. I've seen it for myself in a place i go to a lot in Scotland, prior to them building a 24 hour Tesco they had a shopping area similar in length and style to old Grange Rd, since the opening of the Tesco the whole road of shops have shut with the exception of a couple of charity shops, a jeweler and a hairdressers.even the bookies had to move premises nearer to the supermarket. Progress at what price.

Supermarkets survive like all other businesses, if people don't use them then they close,people have a choice,take your pick use it or lose it,works for local shops or supermarkets,if the town centres are dying,then look at the way supermarkets work,free parking=more people using the town centre facilities would be a start.

Nobody forces anyone to shop at a supermarket (certainly not any of the big four), if they wish to exploit a gap in the market, and plonk a store somewhere, then if local people really don't want it, the best way to express this view is to avoid shopping there.

Does anyone honestly believe that this time next year, most of them 2,500 people who signed the petition in Moreton, won't have been into the Tesco Express being built on the site of the plough (assuming of course, they are locals and not just busy-bodies who live nowhere near the place) and probably bought something. Hell, most of them will use it on a regular basis, due to its (apparently) low pricing and convenience.

It's a dog-eat-dog world in business, survival of the fittest, comptetition is good for the consumer, hopefully there will remain enough competition in the future for the consumer to continue to reap the benefits of it (one thing I do worry about, I must admit, is the entire grocery sector becoming dominated by the big 4 to the point nobody else exists - and the government are not helping matters, allowing the likes of Asda to takeover Netto in the UK, thus expaniding their presence by almost 200 small supermarket sized stores and wiping out another competitor to the big four in the proces) - and believe it or not, the big four are not always the cheapest (or even the most convenient, given the shady stunts they pull, inability to keep products in stock etc) supplier in town, I shop around and only about 40% of my general grocery shopping comes from Tesco/Asda, the rest comes from other places including Lidl, Farmfoods, Cooltrader etc...

The one that opened on the cross roads near Meols killed a newsagent that had been open for decades within months. They're great, but we don't need one within a couple of miles of each other, that's unfair monopolising, but the council doesn't seem to be bothered about it.

The Council is bothered in the sense they supposedly get funding for local projects as part of the "deal" from whichever of the big four "wins" the rights to build. This was according to an interesting Panarama report tonight. If only the council advertised the fact and showed the local public what was "won" as part of the deal. We all now too well what is lost. And in that report it showed not only local buisnesses that are being squeezed out, it`s the suppliers of the big four too. I was blown away by the massive diary farm that was being set up....no cows grazing on the land! WOW! Extremely Orwellian............

Nothing there that a thinking person didn't figure out for him/herself a long time ago. You only have to look at the state of Laird Street, Duke Street, Exmouth Street, Oxton Road and the offshoot roads to see the score. The likes of Tesco poking their noses into everything, food, insurance, banking(next), newsagents, bookshop et al. It is only blindingly obvious that they are going to sink businesses. Then you do have to go for them for stuff because there is nowhere open near you that has what you want. The company store will end up owning all of us. Tennessee Ernie Ford did a song about it.

On a broader topic, don't forget about Tesco and their tax avoiding schemes.