Tesco plan for Little Common

They are petitioning Rother District Council, opposing an application to demolish the car sales depot in Cooden Sea Road and build a Tesco store with 10 flats over it.

At its last meeting, Rother planning committee deferred debate on the subject pending a site meeting.

At that stage the planning department had received two letters of objection.

But the recommendation from chief planning officer Frank Rallings is to approve the application.

This would leave Little Common with a new 418sq metre Tesco Express store directly opposite the existing Co-operative supermarket.

Thirugnanum Sureshan gave up a good local authority job to take on the former JJ's convenience store in Church Hill.

Now he fears that if a Tesco Express springs up on the Ken Hood car sales site the buying power of the nation's top retail giant will quickly put him and co-signatories to the petition out of business.

He told the Observer: "I don't think it is fair at all because all the businesses here are going to be affected very badly.

"We won't be able to sell things at the prices that Tesco Express will sell them.

"Of course they are going to take sales from us!

"I don't think any of us little shops will be able to continue to trade - quite apart from the safety of the school children with all the traffic that it will generate.

"It is going to be absolute madness there.

"People are going to go straight to Tesco Express because we cannot compete with their prices - they have the big money and can buy so cheaply.

"Although this is a Tesco Express, it will be a far bigger one than at Collington. People here believe that even the Co-op opposite may have to close.

"The first anyone down here knew about it was a little poster on the wall. If you don't go out and see the little poster you don't know what is going on.

"Every business down here signed the petition.

"I had a good job which I gave up to run a little family business here."

At florists Casa de Flori, the owners were trying to put a brave face on it.

They hope a Tesco's would bring in more trade but that being a specialist firm they would still have a niche market even if Tesco's sold bunches of flowers.

Like others, however, they are concerned that a second supermarket would make traffic congestion and the parking problem in the village even worse.

Glenys Lacey at Earl's bakers agreed. "I don't think it's a good thing. We have a supermarket already."

Customer Barry West told the Observer: "It will ruin the village completely. Something sympathetic to the village would be OK but not something as big as Tesco."

A customer in the convenience store said: "It seems to me that this is a throat-cutting experiment!

"What's the point when you already have the Co-op on the other side - so it and Tesco can beat each other over the head?

"All it will do is drive the small shops out of business. Tesco's have got more than enough share of the market already."

At Carrolls fruit and vegetable shop, Richard McDevitt said: "It is going to take trade away from the small businesses.

"Nobody can compete with the big groups' prices."

At Betts and Lloyd's butchers, Mark Betts said: "I can't see that it's necessary. Cooden Sea Road has got so busy as it is.

"It's just going to make it worse."

But he believes the public perception based on isolated "loss-leader" lines that big supermarkets are always cheaper is a myth.

"I look at Tesco and Sainsbury's meat prices and frankly most of them are dearer than us.

"People see the prices in supermarket but they don't compare them with other shops.

"I can't see the need for a Tesco's in the village when we have the Co-op and other shops around."

Eve at Paper Chain said: "I use Tesco all the time - but I don't want to see one in the village.

"I feel angry about it.

"There is another Tesco at Collington, which is where I live. I use it. But parking at Collington is hopeless now."

Shopper Dawn Harmer said: "It is a good idea in principle but it is not very good for local shops. I prefer going to the local shops."