Waitrose

[naga]

Van Hage was indeed VERY busy on Sunday, but it was their first Ice-Skating weekend (which we went to and was good fun - the rink is now roofed which is good for rainy days)
It looked like Santa's Grotto was open too, maybe a bit early but need to get all these kids through...

It's good to see Van Hage busy, I for one wouldn't like to see it close down.

[Steve]

Van Hage was indeed VERY busy on Sunday, but it was their first Ice-Skating weekend ... It's good to see Van Hage busy, I for one wouldn't like to see it close down.

Who said anything about it closing down?

[mb1]

It's not closing down, it's going to share the site with Waitrose. If anything the business is likely to grow from extra traffic on the site.

[naga]

I didn't mean "It's closing down", I just meant it's good it's busy, because if it wasn't...

[mb1]

Apparently Ware is in a strange position on supermarkets. While Waitrose is growing strongly, albeit from a very small marker segment, Asda and Tesco are looking at cutting up to 20% of their store capacity. So it's unusual for a town to have both arriving at once. The Sainsbury entry fits the pattern of current growth, with a small store in town.

[Steve]

Recommended for refusal

http://online.eastherts.gov.uk/moderngo ... P%20TH.pdf

Final decision by the Development Management Committee on 10th December.

[mb1]

I'm a little confused by the refusal because this is green belt land!! After all, East Herts are proposing to build thousands of houses north of Ware on pristine farmland, which will be a disaster for the town. But building on an already built on site is against Green Belt regulations?

[The Masked Woler]

This bit is bizarre

"the submission highlights high levels of impact on key town centre stores, particularly Tesco in Ware, Waitrose in Hertford and Sainsbury‟s in Hoddesdon. Indeed the ongoing viability of the Tesco and Sainsbury‟s stores could be undermined."

No mention of the Sainsburys in Hertford/Ware or ASDA (which they have recently given permission for) surely they will impact far more on Tesco than Waitrose - I will be very surprised if Ware Tesco survives. Also no mention of Hertford Tesco.

They also happily granted permission for the new Morrisons in Hoddesdon (which isn't mentioned either)

Is the ommission of all the stores for which they have recently given permission an admission that to do so rather shoots their reasoning down?

It also ignores that Waitrose have said the Hertford store closes whatever.

[Steve]

This bit is bizarre

"the submission highlights high levels of impact on key town centre stores, particularly Tesco in Ware, Waitrose in Hertford and Sainsbury‟s in Hoddesdon. Indeed the ongoing viability of the Tesco and Sainsbury‟s stores could be undermined."

No mention of the Sainsburys in Hertford/Ware or ASDA (which they have recently given permission for) surely they will impact far more on Tesco than Waitrose - I will be very surprised if Ware Tesco survives. Also no mention of Hertford Tesco.

They also happily granted permission for the new Morrisons in Hoddesdon (which isn't mentioned either)

Is the ommission of all the stores for which they have recently given permission an admission that to do so rather shoots their reasoning down?

There's no mention of Sainsbury's in Hertford or Ware, or Asda in Ware, because they are not out-of-town stores. The comments are specifically about how an out-of-town store could potentially draw custom away from town centres. They've only mentioned stores which could be particularly impacted, which doesn't mean that others no mentioned won't be.

It also ignores that Waitrose have said the Hertford store closes whatever.

That depends very much on whether you believe that fat lady has sung, which I don't. Don't be surprised if they change their tune.

[Scouter]

This bit is bizarre

"the submission highlights high levels of impact on key town centre stores, particularly Tesco in Ware, Waitrose in Hertford and Sainsbury‟s in Hoddesdon. Indeed the ongoing viability of the Tesco and Sainsbury‟s stores could be undermined."

No mention of the Sainsburys in Hertford/Ware or ASDA (which they have recently given permission for) surely they will impact far more on Tesco than Waitrose

I wonder if any consideration was given to the Hertford Waitrose when a large Sainsbury's was built within spitting distance, to go with the very large Waitrose and M & S convenience?