Today D-Day for Tesco plan, 9.30am Thursday

DESPITE a 275-signature petition and seven objecting letters, Rother planners still had a recommendation before them to approve the controversial Little Common store plan.

Applicants H22 Ltd. seek permission to demolish the present Ken Hood car showroom in Cooden Sea Road and build a 418 sq metre store with 10 flats above and 2d2 parking spaces.

The petitioners include independent traders in Little Common who fear that if Tesco Express took the site the retail giant would put them out of business.

Motor trader Ken Hood says the purchaser might not be Tesco and that he feels a store on the site would draw trade into the village, not destroy it.

Last year Rother planning committee refused an application for thee three-story town houses, 15 flats and new shops on the site.

The county highways department says the current proposal is better than the last. But it wants a 20,000 contribution from the developer towards the cost of planned improvement to Cooden Sea Road.

Recommending granting approval, chief planning officer Frank Rallings says Little Common's shopping area is designated within the Rother Local Plan and there is therefore a presumption that commercial activity needs to be maintained.

Rother policy also says that use of the site should involve jobs.

He says the three-storey design produces "a mass and proportions complimentary to several nearby buildings."

The architect is willing to discuss with him alternatives to settle his concern over the use of materials and colour in the design.

The design provides for 10 parking spaces for the flats and 12 for the store plus cycle parking.

The applicant's agent has told the officer the required opening hours are 7am to 11pm Monday to Sunday, Bank Holidays included with deliveries between 7am and 7pm Monday to Saturday.