Campaigners fighting Tesco's Broadlands plan recruit Lord Palmerston (From Romsey Advertiser)

'' Town mayor Mark Cooper said that the stunt devalued the seriousness of the debate'' How exactly? As I see it, the campaign shows the level of some objections.

''said the removal of the posters would be a “cost to the public purse”.
2 men, 1 ladder and 10 minutes. I wonder how much money is wasted by the likes of him?

So the 'No' campaigners aren't against Tesco or any supermarket, just the location? Where else in Romsey could it be put? Road access for HGV's is very limited into Romsey with low bridges in Winchester Road and Greatbridge Road, and the 7.5 tonne weight limit into the town from the bridge along Greatbridge road and Cherville Street.
Broadlands is the only viable place to build a new supermarket in Romsey, and surely its up to the owner of the land (Lord Brabourne) who he wants to sell it to.
It makes me wonder how many of the NIMBY brigade are life long Romsey residents. True Romsey people will see the need for this to go ahead. I wonder how many people would of been against the plan if it had been M&S asking to build a store on that piece of land?
And for those who are wondering, i was born and raised in Romsey, and lived here for over 35 years.

I think the ideal location would be by the, or opposite to the Luzborough pub

I think Romsey is in desperate need of a mid priced supermarket to meet the needs of the "non Waitrose/Bradbeers" brigade....is it any coincidence that the lady speaking on behalf of the say No campaign is MRS DAVIES (Bradbeers). If it means the medium wage families have somewhere more affordable to shop in the town then I'm all for it!! Everyone against it seems to have a personal reason for it, not for good of the town and the ever increasing population!!!

NIMBYism... pathetic.

hulla baloo wrote:
'' Town mayor Mark Cooper said that the stunt devalued the seriousness of the debate'' How exactly? As I see it, the campaign shows the level of some objections.

''said the removal of the posters would be a “cost to the public purse”.
2 men, 1 ladder and 10 minutes. I wonder how much money is wasted by the likes of him?

That's a pathetic argument, really, isn't it? "Cost to the public purse"? That could be used to defuse any sort of protest, if need be. "Don't protest the new minimum wage of 3p - the cost of policing it will come out of the public purse". Brilliant.

The people of Romsey have a right to be heard. Mark Cooper wrote this week in the Advertiser that the Say NO to Tesco campaign is about 90% to 10% in the YES to Tesco camp. We are supposed to live in a democratic society where the opinions of the public count. Sadly unless activities, such as asking Lord Palmerston to show his opinion as he did this morning, the voice of the 90% are possibly ignored. Nearly 7500 people have signed to say they do not want any superstore built on the Fairground site. Surely someone somewhere has to listen to the voice of the people.

Romsey Resident wrote:
The people of Romsey have a right to be heard. Mark Cooper wrote this week in the Advertiser that the Say NO to Tesco campaign is about 90% to 10% in the YES to Tesco camp. We are supposed to live in a democratic society where the opinions of the public count. Sadly unless activities, such as asking Lord Palmerston to show his opinion as he did this morning, the voice of the 90% are possibly ignored. Nearly 7500 people have signed to say they do not want any superstore built on the Fairground site. Surely someone somewhere has to listen to the voice of the people.

Romsey has a catchement of about 110,000 - think your petition has a way to go yet.

Romsey Resident wrote:
The people of Romsey have a right to be heard. Mark Cooper wrote this week in the Advertiser that the Say NO to Tesco campaign is about 90% to 10% in the YES to Tesco camp. We are supposed to live in a democratic society where the opinions of the public count. Sadly unless activities, such as asking Lord Palmerston to show his opinion as he did this morning, the voice of the 90% are possibly ignored. Nearly 7500 people have signed to say they do not want any superstore built on the Fairground site. Surely someone somewhere has to listen to the voice of the people.

Well no-one asked me and I'm a definite YES!

hulla baloo wrote:
I think the ideal location would be by the, or opposite to the Luzborough pub

That defeats the object of having another supermarket in Romsey. Its about time Waitrose had some serious competition in the town, and not rule the roost along with Bradbeers.

Tescos have got unlimited funds and smart Lawyers to get what they want. Even a well-healed splinter group cannot win against them. They've succeeded in opening stores nationwide.

Tesco are planning to build a store that will be as big as Waitrose, Aldi and the Co-Op combined. They aren't building it for Romsey folk - their own proposal shows 84% of their business coming from people who currently shop at ASDA, Morrison, Sainsburys and all the other smaller food stores in Test Valley. Most of whom will drive to the splendid new Tesco car park, shop, and drive home again.
How many will make the effort to walk into town and visit Romsey's other shops....cross the Bypass, cross Palmerston St, walk up The Hundred.....? From Tesco to Market Place and back will be a 1 mile trek.
So, lots of lovely out-of-town traffic jamming our already congested roads! And not much, if any, additional business for Romsey traders.
There will be only two winners if this goes ahead: Tesco shareholders and the Broadlands Estate.

The so called 7500 names they have on there petition mean nothing. People were lied to, to get those signatures. Some were told lies about where on Broadlands the tescos would be built, some were told that the petition was because they didn't want tescos at all and some were told they just didn't want it on Broadlands. As for the 90% of Romsey and Romsey extra people not wanting it, I think some people may need surgery to get there heads out!!!!!. Tesco is a brilliant option for all the people who have to leave Romsey to shop and for those who can't drive, and the people of Romsey that want to carry on using waitrose or bradbeers they will do!

Who needs Tescos, Romsey already has everything you need go on a Saturday morning and you have a nice little market, you can get bread, fresh fish, etc Then in the town you have Drummunds the best butchers for miles around, Reeves for your bread and a green grocer. You then have Co-op, Aldi and Waitrose. If you want other supermarkets, Morrisons, Asda and Tesco Millbrook are not that far away.

If tesco was to be built at the proposed site at Broadlands the town high street will be no more! Move Aldi out and redevelop the bus station and existing Aldi site for a tesco store! The town would thrive and everyone would be happy. Stick Aldi on the Crossfield site, job done....

From a Romsey boy (40 this year), born and bred

Brusher Mills wrote:
Who needs Tescos, Romsey already has everything you need go on a Saturday morning and you have a nice little market, you can get bread, fresh fish, etc Then in the town you have Drummunds the best butchers for miles around, Reeves for your bread and a green grocer. You then have Co-op, Aldi and Waitrose. If you want other supermarkets, Morrisons, Asda and Tesco Millbrook are not that far away.

......and where will I buy kids clothes, a cd, or a DVD...... It's not just about bread meat and veg. It's about price, choice and convenience. Not everyone has the time to browse the market or the money to shop in waitrose. Maybe a little consideration for the less well off wouldn't go amiss from the snobs of Romsey. !!!!!!!

STAR member wrote:

Brusher Mills wrote:
Who needs Tescos, Romsey already has everything you need go on a Saturday morning and you have a nice little market, you can get bread, fresh fish, etc Then in the town you have Drummunds the best butchers for miles around, Reeves for your bread and a green grocer. You then have Co-op, Aldi and Waitrose. If you want other supermarkets, Morrisons, Asda and Tesco Millbrook are not that far away.

......and where will I buy kids clothes, a cd, or a DVD...... It's not just about bread meat and veg. It's about price, choice and convenience. Not everyone has the time to browse the market or the money to shop in waitrose. Maybe a little consideration for the less well off wouldn't go amiss from the snobs of Romsey. !!!!!!!

Where do you buy them now? Asda, maybe Amazon or Play. Next Directory is good for Kids clothes.

Brusher Mills wrote:

STAR member wrote:

Brusher Mills wrote:
Who needs Tescos, Romsey already has everything you need go on a Saturday morning and you have a nice little market, you can get bread, fresh fish, etc Then in the town you have Drummunds the best butchers for miles around, Reeves for your bread and a green grocer. You then have Co-op, Aldi and Waitrose. If you want other supermarkets, Morrisons, Asda and Tesco Millbrook are not that far away.

......and where will I buy kids clothes, a cd, or a DVD...... It's not just about bread meat and veg. It's about price, choice and convenience. Not everyone has the time to browse the market or the money to shop in waitrose. Maybe a little consideration for the less well off wouldn't go amiss from the snobs of Romsey. !!!!!!!

Where do you buy them now? Asda, maybe Amazon or Play. Next Directory is good for Kids clothes.

Why should I have to?????I want to be able to get them in Romsey if I want. That's the problem with some people's attitude it's a bit "I'm alright jack bugger everyone else". Selfish don't you think?

Tesco will be great for Romsey. Competition is good.
Tesco is a great British success story, the most successful British retailer overseas, directly employing over 500,000 people, don't knock British success.
Other good retailers in the Romsey area will survive, only the poor will disappear.

anderoo wrote:

hulla baloo wrote:
I think the ideal location would be by the, or opposite to the Luzborough pub

That defeats the object of having another supermarket in Romsey. Its about time Waitrose had some serious competition in the town, and not rule the roost along with Bradbeers.

Is only a few miles away, and does away with the congestion and traffic issues, which are already bad enough around the bypass.

aldermoorboy wrote:
Tesco will be great for Romsey. Competition is good. Tesco is a great British success story, the most successful British retailer overseas, directly employing over 500,000 people, don't knock British success. Other good retailers in the Romsey area will survive, only the poor will disappear.

Exactly.If the small retailers of Romsey are so special,they will survive.Why are some Brits so resentful of success?
Despite having lived in Romsey for 50-plus years I shall continue to use Tesco at Tebourba Way or Winchester until the Romsey store is,hopefully,built.

I think everyone is missing the point a bit this isnt aboput Tescos coming to Romsey (which i support ) this is about a defacement of one of Romseys focal points these people are nothing more than vandals that will stoop to any level to make their voice heard and they care about Romsey do they if they do then I think they should distance themselves from a group that stoops so low

Petitions are useful at focussing people's discontent but can be misleading when it comes to a cold, hard, analysis of what ALL Romsonians want.
There have been a number of recent professionally-condu
cted surveys of what people in the Romsey 'catchment area' (roughly within a 15 min drive) think about shopping in Romsey:
1. Southampton University's survey (2011) asked residents 'Do you agree that Romsey has a good range of food shops?' Only 20.9% disagreed/strongly disagreed. Clothing (particularly for children) was seen as the most significant shortfall in Romsey's offering.
2. Tesco conducted their own survey earlier this year and asked residents 'What new or improved shops would be useful?'. Only 13.8% mentioned a new supermarket. Again, clothing shops were identified as the most needed.
3. Romsey Town Council's own recent survey into the Tesco application showed only 22% in favour.
Given these clear results, if you believe in democracy, you would have to be very sceptical about the motivation of any Councillor who voted in favour of the Tesco scheme.

aldermoorboy wrote:
Tesco will be great for Romsey. Competition is good.
Tesco is a great British success story, the most successful British retailer overseas, directly employing over 500,000 people, don't knock British success.
Other good retailers in the Romsey area will survive, only the poor will disappear.

Unfortunately the British public doesn't think Tesco is quite so good: they were voted worst supermarket in the recent Which survey with a 'customer score' of only 46% (a measure of customer satisfaction plus likelihood to recommend).
Tesco also saw its UK food sales decline year-on-year, so it seems people are voting with their feet.

GordonDuck wrote:
Tesco are planning to build a store that will be as big as Waitrose, Aldi and the Co-Op combined. They aren't building it for Romsey folk - their own proposal shows 84% of their business coming from people who currently shop at ASDA, Morrison, Sainsburys and all the other smaller food stores in Test Valley. Most of whom will drive to the splendid new Tesco car park, shop, and drive home again. How many will make the effort to walk into town and visit Romsey's other shops....cross the Bypass, cross Palmerston St, walk up The Hundred.....? From Tesco to Market Place and back will be a 1 mile trek. So, lots of lovely out-of-town traffic jamming our already congested roads! And not much, if any, additional business for Romsey traders. There will be only two winners if this goes ahead: Tesco shareholders and the Broadlands Estate.

Totally agree. In the end traffic will get so busy nobody will visit tesco let alone Romsey.

STAR member wrote:

Brusher Mills wrote: Who needs Tescos, Romsey already has everything you need go on a Saturday morning and you have a nice little market, you can get bread, fresh fish, etc Then in the town you have Drummunds the best butchers for miles around, Reeves for your bread and a green grocer. You then have Co-op, Aldi and Waitrose. If you want other supermarkets, Morrisons, Asda and Tesco Millbrook are not that far away.

......and where will I buy kids clothes, a cd, or a DVD...... It's not just about bread meat and veg. It's about price, choice and convenience. Not everyone has the time to browse the market or the money to shop in waitrose. Maybe a little consideration for the less well off wouldn't go amiss from the snobs of Romsey. !!!!!!!

Well firstly just because we say no to tesco doesnt mean we are snobs. Now go and have a look at the Tesco plans and tell me where in the plans it says they are going to sell clothing of any kind?? Many people keep mentioning this but it does not say anywhere in there plans to sell clothing. It says a food retail and coffee shop.

From everything I've read I think there should be 2 anti groups. 1 who are just anti tesco no matter where they go and 1 who have this weird idea that if tesco are on the fairground site then the town will suffer, I can count on one hand the shops I use in romsey and that will stay the same whether there is a tesco or not, the bank, post office, chemist etc. There is one shop in Romsey for women under 40 to buy clothes, nowhere for kids clothes, that's what we need more of, I can remember a decent market before bradbeers bought the dolphin, a fishmongers before waitrose took over, so get over it, change happens!!! A good job too I reckon!!

The mindless vandals who draped Lord Palmerston have,as Mark Cooper said,devalued the cause of the anti-Tesco campaign.What next;will Romsey Abbey be 'decorated'?
Romsey is about to lose a shoe shop and over the years has lost many others; a fishmonger,an electrical goods and TV store, a motorcycle dealer amongst them.
Waitrose,Aldi,Coop are not filling the need.