Added 12/9/2009
9:13am Saturday 12th September 2009
TESCO has made a fresh bid to open a store in the centre of York after withdrawing plans to alter the front of a building in the heart of the city.
The supermarket chain has applied to City of York Council for a premises licence allowing it to sell alcohol at the former Old Orleans bar and restaurant in Low Ousegate, where it wants to open a Tesco Express outlet.
A council spokeswoman said the authority had received a new planning application from the firm relating to the site, but the company was yesterday unable to comment on its latest proposals.
Susie Cawood, York head of Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said she was pleased the firm had not abandoned its plans for York city centre. “We welcome somebody coming to take empty space in the city centre. That can only be a good thing. I’m sure it (the Tesco store) would be very popular both with residents and visitors alike.”
Earlier this month, Tesco withdrew three planning applications it had lodged with the council to change the front of the building. The chain said then it would resubmit the plans once it had looked again at issues surrounding signs at the front of the site.
North Yorkshire Police has already objected to a Tesco Express store replacing Old Orleans, which closed last October.
The force said it would create a pedestrian hazard by increasing the number of people walking along the Low Ousegate pavement, forcing them to step into the road near a busy junction.
Steve Burrell, the force’s traffic management officer, also said the company’s plans to install a cash machine in the vicinity would worsen the potential congestion problems and make it easier for criminals to spy on customers’ personal financial details.
If approved, the outlet would be Tesco’s only store in the city centre.