Could supermarket giant Tesco be poised to muscle into Chatsworth Road?
Tesco Express in Lower Clapton Road. The grocer has suggested the planning application concerning Chatsworth Road is nothing to do with it. Photo: Emily Webber
Fans of a thriving shopping street fear Tesco may be behind ambiguous plans for a new “metro-style” store – but the supermarket giant has stumped planning sleuths by indicating that the scheme is not its doing.
An application to change 21-23 Chatsworth Road into a retail unit with 359 sq metres of internal floorspace will face resistance from ward councillors, residents and traders angry about the faceless nature of the scheme and potential impact on local businesses.
In a bundle of documents submitted to Hackney Council’s planning department the applicant is listed as “Mr L Albonico” and the agent as a Sussex-based company called RDjW Architects Ltd.
But anyone wanting to identify the actual operator of the proposed new store will be left none the wiser because this is not specified in the documents.
Councillor Ian Rathbone, who represents Lea Bridge ward, said he and colleagues Cllr Margaret Gordon and Cllr Deniz Oguzkanli were against the plans and spoke out over secrecy surrounding the scheme.
Cllr Rathbone told the Hackney Citizen: “If it was going to be an independent supermarket, they wouldn’t be hiding anything.
“We are suspicious of any development that is this large, and we know that the global supermarkets have been eyeing up Chatsworth Road because of the success of the market there.
“The way this is looking, from our previous experience with Tesco on Lower Clapton Road and our dealings with them elsewhere, this would be the right sort of premises for them. We don’t want another global supermarket – and we don’t need it.”
Proponents of the Tesco theory point to the proposed design of the new store, which appears to mirror that of many high street branches of the major supermarket brands.
It would contain a freight lift, in-store bakery, storage area and space for several aisles filled with groceries.
A spokesman for Tesco poured cold water on speculation that the company was pushing the scheme, however, saying the Chatsworth Road address was “not a site that we are familiar with”. But he refused to say anything further about the matter.
If not a Tesco, the store could potentially be operated by Sainsbury’s or the Co-op, or could in theory be an independent supermarket.
Ill feeling towards Tesco runs high in some quarters following the arrival in 2010 of one of its “Express” stores in Lower Clapton Road – against the wishes of residents who campaigned against this outcome.
Damian Patchell, chairman of the Chatsworth Road Traders’ and Residents’ Association, said the prospect of a branch of any big supermarket brand on the high street would place longstanding convenience stores there under “extreme pressure”.
“Due to the size of the proposed development, I’d put good money on it being a big supermarket’s metro-type store,” he said.
He added: “In general terms there isn’t an issue…but Chatsworth Road is a small local high street, and the traffic impact could be quite large due to multiple deliveries and vehicles stopping off to use it.”
Tesco’s founder Jack Cohen started his business in Hackney when he began trading from a market stall in Well Street shortly after the end of the First World War.
The Hackney Citizen contacted RDjW Architects Ltd to seek clarification about the planning application for 21-23 Chatsworth Road, which is currently a betting shop, and is waiting to hear back from them.
Update at 4.24pm on Wednesday January 4:
Lawrence Albonico, the co-owner of 21-23 Chatsworth Road, has told the Hackney Citizen that the proposed new retail unit is “not going to be a Tesco”. He explained that he is hoping to improve the flats upstairs and get his change of use application through, at which point the unit will be advertised via an agent to find a suitable occupant.
Mr Albonico, who also owns several other properties, said: “I’ve got a few ideas of what I want it to be but nothing concrete. I’m ok with going with food but I don’t want a Tesco in there. I wouldn’t do that. I don’t really like Tesco.”
He acknowledged that “whatever business gets in there is going to be in competition with somebody”, however.
On the issue of a potential increase in traffic resulting from deliveries, he said there were already several other grocery stores on Chatsworth Road, some in units larger than the 21-23 premises.
Most of the anger about the Lower Clapton Rd site came from locals saying it would kill the (excellent) Palm 2 shop next door. Palm 2 serves people with special diets (great for allergy sufferers), or has lots of food cooked in-store for millennials with disposable income who miss mum’s cooking. It is clear that Tesco and Palm 2 can co-exist, and even the owner of Palm 2 says he’s not bothered by any competition, indeed his prices have gone even higher since they came, because there is very little crossover on goods. The same would be true on Chatsworth Rd. The market itself is in trouble because of rising prices on pitches and even the trendies can’t afford to keep buying artisan bread. The street will eventually change into a high street that looks the same as everywhere else, it is inevitable.
Lawrence Albonico is an estate agent in Stoke Newington (next move) so maybe it is purely speculative to raise the value of the building?
Please not a Tesco. It’s hard to decide which of the current Tesco Expresses I Clapton – Lower Clapton Road or Upper is actually the worse supermarket I’ve ever been too. Upper Clapton Road one stinks, barely sells anything of use and has rude staff. Lower Clapton has aisles to narrow two people carrying baskets cannot pass without a faff and again, sells virtually nothing of use unless you want crisps, pre-grated cheddar or booze.
Sorry, this article made me laugh! Horror from those silly enough to have paid £900,000 for a house here… or a crazy rent. There are rather more ordinary people who have lived here decades and would very much welcome a supermarket that catered for those in between paying £5 for a bespoke scotch egg at the Sunday market (which dwindled to five stalls this Sunday morning) and the ‘pound a scoop’ of ageing veg at the other end. You dont live in Hampstead. This is Hackney… and Tesco and Hackney have a lot longer history than the new gang sneering at the possibility of a trusted known brand coming close to home.
Chatsworth Road is becoming a parody of gentrification – the number of “boutique” shops selling designer candles and ceramics is ridiculous – the population of the area east of chatsworth road down to the canal is triple that of the victorian terrace enclave and they need shops which cater to their lower income. The entire street is becoming a luxury shopping experience for the wealthy. Tesco’s wouldnt be my first choice but someone needs to provide affordable options to the majority of the people in the catchment area. Enough overpriced cereal and plates with skull prints already
A Tesco would be great though I’ll miss schlepping over to Aldi in Leyton Mills.
A fence should be installed along the length of Glyn Road and up Clifden Road then those who want to shop at Tesco can pop along to Well St in their cheap clothes with their uncouth manners and leave us in peace on Chatsworth Road
I get all the anti gentrification arguments but Tesco is actually just a crap supermarket and the metro sized ones in particular are terrible value. I live off mount pleasant lane In Clapton and was concerned about the distance to the nearest large supermarket. however the coop here is unbelievably good value and has almost everything you need (for both hipsters or long time hackney residents). If you have to have a supermarket chain, coop is cheap, ethical and supports local causes.
Erm Lucy, Tesco is better value than the CO-OP anyday. Have you actually done a full basket shop and compared the both? CO-OP is famous for selling expensive stuff! If you want cheap, how about an Asda on the street? But wait, its not ethical…
Hurrah! Co-operative store to open, restoring some retail sanity amidst the over-priced tat.
its an outrage – why cant Chats Road have its own Fortnum and Masons?
you are joking? those tesco metro’s are expensive, have very limited stock and are neither ethical nor support local causes. My Co-op is much better value than the nearby Tesco Metro