8:20am Sunday 12th April 2009
By Ian Mason
While it may be true that “every little helps”, residents and businesses in East Sheen do not want to see another Tesco open in their town.
Within the past week it emerged Tesco plans to open a new Metro store in Sheen Lane, sparking fears shops in the road will be forced to close and nearby homeowners will suffer with noisy delivery lorries clogging up residential streets.
Sixty-two-year-old Magnolia Dal Pozzo, of Howgate Road, said she was still in shock over the announcement and feared unbearable noise levels when the supermarket giant moves in – as her garden backs on to the site.
She added the revelation had sealed her decision to move out of the area.
She said: “We have already got a Tesco up the high road now [in Upper Richmond Road West] so this is a complete disaster for us and we feel it’s been done underhand because no one knew.
“It will take over completely and the shops will have to close.
“Tesco would, with two of them, have a monopoly and we want to have diversity on the high street.
“It’s just no good for the community and it’s greedy.
“There’s a lot of animosity against Tesco, we are routing for a fight.”
Owner of Classic Food and Wine, Prasanna Sivanathan, said the expansion of the supermarket chain into Sheen Lane would be a deathblow to his shop.
He said: “It’s all going to be bad for us.
“If Tesco comes it is going to open from 6am to 11pm, and that is going to shut us completely.”
Mr Sivanathan is in the process of helping organise a petition against the plans.
A Tesco spokeswoman confirmed contracts “have only just been exchanged” with the owners of the site for the lease.
She said an application had been made to Richmond Council for permission for things like air conditioning units, signage and shop frontage.
However, she added it was too early to speculate about opening dates because nothing had been granted.
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