COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Supermarket giant's latest city location is on the way



Tesco is set to open a new store in Coventry. The supermarket giant is revealed a Tesco Express store is on the cards on Albany Road in Earlsdon.

It will be located at the ground floor of the new student village recently built opposite the Albany pub. The building is part of a wider cluster which has been in the works for several years.

Plans are for it to accommodate students from both of the city's universities. A spokesman for Tesco said: "We’re always looking for the best ways to serve local communities and we’re excited to be opening a new Tesco Express store on Albany Road, Earlsdon.

"We will keep the local community updated with our plans as we get closer to opening."

The company has recently applied to Coventry City Council for an off the premises licence which would permit the sale of alcohol between the hours of 6am and midnight, seven days a week.

Last month Tesco also sought permission for new signage to be erected at the site - a new box fascia with internally illuminated acrylic lettering, a new projecting sign with internally illuminated acrylic lettering and a new store directory.

Plans for student village Tesco and bar in Coventry take next steps despite objections

Plans to make changes to an existing student village site in Coventry have been given the green light - despite objections. Updated plans submitted over the summer have been granted by Coventry City Council with a number of standard conditions which should permit work to now begin.

The plans granted for the ground floor of Albany Student Village on Albany Road mean developers can now add a drinking establishment, a takeaway shop and a retail shop.

There had been a discrepancy between developers and planning officers surrounding the opening times of the retail outlet - but an agreement has been reached which would see the shop - understood to be a Tesco Express - open for business daily between 6am and 11pm.

The planning officer report shared as part of the latest steps revealed objections had been raised "due to the out of centre location of the retail unit and impacts upon nearby businesses, increase in anti-social behaviour and arising safety issues".

The planning officer report stated: "In this case it is noted that an objection has been received as to the principle of the proposed use of the premises as a retail store. It is acknowledged that in this case the application site is located in an out of centre location, however the scope of this application is for the variation of condition 3 (opening hours) only, as opposed to the wider principle of development.

"For completeness however, it should be noted that the principle of development was deemed acceptable for the change of use owing to the duration of the period of vacancy, indeed the site has not been occupied since its completion despite active marketing."

It later adds: "The applicants have demonstrated via the preparation/submission of a Sequential Test that there were, at the time of the assessment, no other sites which could reasonably accommodate the use within a reasonable proximity, as such the principle when weighing against relevant planning policy tilted the balance in favour of the application."

The building is part of a wider cluster which has been in the works for several years. It consists of dozens of student clusters, 101 self-contained studio apartments and hundreds student bedrooms over several storeys.