Little Common Tesco debate

Shopkeepers in the village have already made their feelings clear with a petition to Rother District Council against the building of a 418 sq metre convenience store and 10 flats on the site of the car sales depot on Cooden Sea Road.

And they made their feelings known to Rother councillor Joanne Gadd and Town MP Greg Barker on Monday as the pair surveyed village opinion on the project.

It was part of the MP's 'business as usual' approach in the wake of newspaper allegations about his private life.

Although saying he was not 'anti-Tesco' Mr Barker said he was keen to protect independent shops and had been involved with a local community sustainability bill to help small-town economies.

Cllr Gadd has gone on record with her worries for local stores and increased congestion in Little Common.

They found plenty of members of the public against the scheme in the village cheese and delicatessen.

"If you lose shops like this one you lose part of the community," said one customer. We don't want to lose our identity," another told the fact-finding party.

Their views were shared by Ray Bisbey, of Wendel's Dry Cleaners, on Cooden Sea Road.

He said: "People come here because they love the village and what the village offers. To stick a big store like that opposite other shops would be madness."

A few doors down manger of Threshers wine shop, Phil Masters, agreed.

"A lot of my staff live in and around the village and we have got to know the traders and this has got to be a bad thing for them. Not just for ourselves - there is a delicatessen, a fishmongers, a butchers. It could ruin the village as far as we are concerned."

But not everyone thought a Tesco Express store would be a bad thing.

Joy Pitman, of Gifted Dotcom on Cooden Sea Road, said: "I don't actually mind. I don't think it would effect us because it is an express and are lot of local people are very loyal to other shops."

"Anything that brings people into the village is a good thing, but I would need to look at the details of it first," said glassware seller Alison Purdy.

Mr Barker told the Observer: "So many places like Little Common have disappeared in recent years. Constant building of more and more houses and businesses has put pressure on parking, school places and roads. It is not just an issue in Little Common but the whole of our area.

"It is not that I am anti-Tesco, but I am passionately pro-small shop and feel very strongly we need to fight to preserve the special character of Little Common."

"The car parks are nearly always full and they are talking about 22 spaces," said Cllr Gadd. "Where are they going to park their customers who they think are going to come?

"The majority of people are against it."

Planners are due to make a decision on Thursday. H43101