Traffic more of a threat than supermarket say Tesco supporters

A pro Tesco support group in Thame is claiming that town centre traffic congestion poses a far greater threat to the future sustainability of shops and businesses in the town, than a proposed Tesco store in Howland Road.

Thame resident, Rachel Lester, who is the Secretary of ‘Thame Needs Tesco’ (TNT), said in a statement today: “The town is unprepared to deal with the huge amounts of extra traffic that will be caused by the 775 new homes already allocated for the town over the next 12 years.

“Thame town centre is already congested at peak times with traffic at a standstill and very limited parking. We are concerned about how much worse that could be with foreseeably hundreds of extra vehicles in the centre as new families move into Thame.”

The statement quotes Peggy Long, who spent 24 years as Thame’s traffic warden, agreeing with Rachel: “Parking has become an issue in Thame and I really do fear for the town unless something is done to improve the situation,” she said. “We are already bursting at the seams and there’s absolutely no way the current system can deal with the hundreds of extra vehicles that are heading our way in years to come.”

TNT says that its members believe that a possible consequence of this situation is that people could actively avoid the centre because of the congestion and shop elsewhere, in more car-friendly towns with better parking. As a result, they say: “Local shops risk losing custom and footfall due to the lack of infrastructure needed to deal with housing growth.”

“Members of TNT care passionately about Thame and the continued success of its independent businesses, but we also want the choice and convenience a new Tesco would bring,” continued Rachel Lester.

“The traffic reality could be even worse if South Oxfordshire District Council increases the number of new homes for Thame as an outcome of its ongoing review of the Local Plan, with no current plans on the table for major road or parking improvements in the town centre.”

The counter group to TNT, Thame Centre First, takes a different view. It states on its website: “Thame does not need another large supermarket. Despite the town growing, an independent survey concluded Thame needs an additional 600sqm of new retail space by 2027, this space is equivalent to two tennis courts. The proposed superstore is more than four times this size. The bottom line is that Thame and the surrounding area can not support a large out of town supermarket and our High Street shops.

“A large superstore on the edge of Thame would undermine the town’s vitality and the viability of town centre shops. Just as the current town centre supermarkets provide an important anchor role in bringing shoppers into the town centre, an out of town supermarket would draw these shoppers away. This would be detrimental to the overall sustainability of the town and would reduce the choice of services and facilities available to the community.”

Find out more about TNT (Thame Needs Tesco) see their Facebook page HERE and about Thame Centre First HERE