Tesco Glastonbury Store plans shelved

Almost a year to the day that it announced its intention to build a 41,000 square floor flagship store on the outskirts of Glastonbury, supermarket giant Tesco has withdrawn its application for the project.  

The store was to be constructed on stilts with the provision of 324 car parking spaces below, and was due to be built on the home of Avalon Plastics, crating somewhere in the region of 200 jobs in the process.

As a result of the initial proposal Avalon Plastics itself was to move next door on to the Morlands Enterprise Park, and indeed in recent months work has pressed ahead on this £5 million development which will safeguard the employment of around 140 people.  Tesco’s decision has not affected this plan and the building and relocation will carry on unabated, with a proposed opening date towards the end of this summer.

Ward councillor Jim Baron, was saddened by Tesco’s decision and said upon hearing of the application withdrawal that it seems that they did not want to pursue the current application which had been called in for a planning enquiry by Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State due to its possible wide ranging impact.

Nevertheless Tesco still owns the land and it remains to be seen what they will do with it in future, and according to a company spokesperson they have not abandoned plans to move to Glastonbury in the future  and hope to submit revised plans for an even better store in the future.