MP for South West Surrey Jeremy Hunt has written to the Chief Executive of Tesco, Philip Clarke, to raise his concerns over plans to open a Tesco Express in Meadrow, Godalming. Jeremy chaired a packed public meeting of around 300 people on Saturday 27th October and vowed to follow this up with a letter to Mr Clarke. In his letter he outlined the campaign’s history and expressed his concerns over the store’s close proximity to a roundabout and a busy Junior School. He explained that the community had come out in support of Hari Patel and his business R & V Newsagents which is a successful community shop under threat from the proposed store. He also added that over 6000 people have signed a petition opposing the store which is over a quarter of the town’s population. In particular he asked Tesco to explain what the business case is for locating a store at this site and explained that he believed the independent traffic report indicates the road safety concerns are justified. He asked Tesco to address both his questions and those raised by the Chamber of Commerce in a separate letter sent to the company last week which he also forwarded on to the CEO. He concluded by pointing out that people are proud to live in Godalming and are determined to have their voice heard.
Jeremy said: “I promised everyone at the packed public meeting that I would write to The Chief Executive of Tesco and I look forward to receiving answers to all the questions that have been posed. The campaigners are not ready to give up the fight yet and Tesco need to address these genuine concerns and ensure they are listening to the residents of Godalming”.