Will planters installed outside Tesco Express in Grantham finally solve saga of churned up verges?
A long-running dispute over verges outside a Tesco Express store in Grantham may finally have been resolved.
It has taken more than seven years to find a solution to the verges in Keats Avenue, which have been churned up by cars and delivery vehicles, and kerb stones broken.
But now, three large planters installed outside the store may have done the trick. The highways department at Lincolnshire County Council says it installed the planters at a cost of £291.56 each.
County councillor Linda Wootten, who represents Grantham East, said: “At long last we have the final solution, or do we? I have had years of negotiation with Tesco and the [council] highways managers and I have held them to account on numerous occasions.
“However, in spite of their mission statement regarding the community, Tesco didn’t contribute towards solving the problem of parking on the verges and they certainly weren’t prepared to contribute to fund any improvements.
“This store is an asset to the community and I believe it has been more popular than ever during lockdown, which brings me back to the change of use argument in this case. The change of use from the old Cherry Tree pub to the Tesco Express store through planning did mention concerns about extra traffic and noise from the ATM machine, but I suppose hindsight is an informative extra.
“If ever I was faced with the same situation today, I would scrutinise the plans ruthlessly, as this store is within a residential area and due consideration wasn’t given to nearby residents and the functions of an operation like Tesco and how it can impinge on daily life.
“Before any blame is attributed to me, I am going to point out I wasn’t a councillor when all this happened and I hope the work that has been carried out is a worthwhile improvement.”
A Tesco spokesperson claims changes to its delivery policies have had a positive impact.
They said: “We have been in very close conversation with the council and highways for some time, concerning the issue of damaged kerbs at our Grantham Express store.
“After discussing a number of ways we could help, we reviewed our delivery policies to ensure lorries do not drive onto the kerbs while delivering to our store and are pleased to see that the planters have also now been provided by highways, which will be welcomed by all.”