Is this blog anti-Tesco?

A recent commentator has said that this blog is anti-Tesco. We pointed out that Tesco has more supermarket stores than all the other big 4 supermarkets put together and that, much as we try to find topical posts about the other 3 store groups (Sainsburys, Asda, Morrison) there just isn't the same amount of stuff out there about them.

Also, let us be aware that Tesco is not just a supermarket company that wants to come to Seaton and build a shop. It owns as an investor 80% of the Seaton REGENERATION area and, as such, has to be responsible for 80% of the regeneration of the whole site.

However, it got us thinking and we have analysed all the postings for September 2008, which cover:

building swimming pools cheaply, supermarkets (all of them) selling sugary foods at discount prices, charity shops, Tesco chief says we must go green, tourism, Pink Floyd (?), delisting of world heritage sites, building on flood plains, Sheringham wins planning inquiry against Tesco, regeneration (general), EDDC's Swimathon (drawing attention to the fact that we are about to lose our pool), Pink Floyd (again!), insurance policies for people whose houses are built on flood plains, Tesco and Sainsburys exhibition dates, the Axe Riverside planning application, holiday camp profits soar, coastal erosion, the community art project, climate change, reminder about Tesco exhibition times.

So, there was one item that might be construed as "anti" Tesco (the Sheringham planning inquiry). Building on floodplains would apply to anyone who owns a floodplain site.

What we do bang on about, again and again, is that this is a REGENERATION site and not a DEVELOPMENT site and that Tesco knew this when they bought it.

WHAT IS REGENERATION?

To see ten definitions of what constitutes regeneration from 10 important people in the construction and related industries see here.

Basically these 10 different people, who come from all areas, say regeneration should include:

investment in social capital (e.g. facilities for the whole community, not just development), social, economic and physical action to help people in neighbourhoods experiencing multiple deprivation to reverse decline and create sustainable communities, not property development by another name, partnerships, creation of aspirational new environments that work both on an economic level and for the community as a whole, makes people feel good and makes them proud to be part of it, comprehensive and integrated vision and action that leads to the resolution of urban problems and which seeks to bring about a lasting improvement in the economic, physical, social and environmental condition of an area, no "one size fits all approach", responsive to local and market needs, social, economic and environmental benefits, good design, visually attractive buildings that will stand the test of time and make long term contributions to their surroundings, revitalising an area by attracting economic investment and new employment, a good quality of life for the people who live and work there, ensuring that everyone in the community benefits.

This is what ANY owner of the vast majority of the Seaton Regeneration area must expect to sign up to. None of it is new and anyone buying a regeneration site can expect these criteria to rule.