Kingsbridge

Kingsbridge's proposed Tesco store will take around 18 months to build and should create 140 jobs, according to a spokesman for the retail giant.

Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket chain, unveiled proposals for a new 32,500 sq ft store at Cookworthy Road Car Park earlier this year.

The plans have already been given the go ahead in principal and the detailed proposals are due to come before South Hams District Council planners later this month.

Tesco officials have called a meeting with the town council and the Kingsbridge and Salcombe Chamber of Commerce to discuss their plans for the store.

This meeting will take place at Quay House, Kingsbridge, on Tuesday 8 April.

"This is very good news. They have come back to us and offered to come here to address the council," said town mayor Rufus Gilbert.

The Tesco spokesman said the firm would use the meeting to document how it will improve the pedestrian link with Fore Street.

Kingsbridge Town Council, meanwhile, said it would try to encourage Tesco to make the store plastic bag free.

Tesco spokesman: "I think local traders should note that in many cases, including for example Axminster in East Devon, whilst the arrival of Tesco in the town caused some apprehension among the local traders, in the event they have found that the increased number of shoppers in the town, attracted by the Tesco store, has actually been good for their businesses."

It also wants Tesco to team up with the town's bloom committee to add colour and live to the store.

Tesco, which accounts for nearly a third of the UK grocery market, is also planning to share its detailed plans with the local community through a public exhibition in Kingsbridge in the spring.

Campaigners have protested against the plans, saying the new store would harm the character of the town and damage small businesses.

But according to the Tesco spokesman, the store will have a "positive" impact on the local economy.

"Previous experience suggests that the impact on the local economy will be positive," he said.

"It will have the effect of enabling Kingsbridge residents to carry out their main shopping without having to travel to other nearby towns, and it will attract residents in surrounding areas to come into Kingsbridge to shop.

"Both of these will benefit the Kingsbridge retail community."

The store will stock a wide range of ‘Tesco Finest’ goods, and will also offer free-range chickens.

It will not sell items of clothing, but will offer a very small selection of DVDs and books.

The spokesman also noted that the store will use a wide range of local suppliers, including St Merryn (Cornwall) for beef and lamb, Roach (Cornwall) for pork, Westaways (Newton Abbot) for sausages, Case & sons (Wiltshire) for bacon, O'Hanlons brewery (Wimple) and Moor Chocolate (Dartmoor).

He also said the store design would offer environmentally friendly features such as photovoltaic energy sourcing, pollution control, waste minimisation, solar panels and rain-harvesting drains.

"I think local traders should note that in many cases, including for example Axminster in East Devon, whilst the arrival of Tesco in the town caused some apprehension among the local traders, in the event they have found that the increased number of shoppers in the town, attracted by the Tesco store, has actually been good for their businesses," the Tesco spokesman concluded.

Figures suggest that nearly one pound in every three goes into a Tesco till. The supermarket now ranks alongside Wal-Mart and France's Carrefour as one of the world's largest retailers.