I am sure that those people in Andover and the surrounding villages who have not 'committed' one way or the other to the Tesco MegaShed just do not understand the sheer scale of the beast that would be placed within our beautiful countryside and Town. Your Editor is on the Andover Vision and I cannot believe that he, and its members, envisaged this environmental distaster. Why? Because:
1. A MegasHed is not just a larger Distribution Warehouse, imagine comparing Popham Aifield to London Heathrow International, or Andover Railway Station to Waterloo, Kings Cross, St.Pancreas combined.
2. Should it go ahead it will devalue properties for years. Would you buy something near 'Tesco Megashed'?
3. The volume of extra HGV's on an already busy road, but this time 24/7 365days will place enormous strain on limited service resources i.e. Fire, Ambulance, Police.
4.This increase in HGVs will further increase the disruption to normal life caused by continual noise fron the A303. Imagine a irrating toothache, for a few hours bearable, but continually for 24hrs unbearable. It will be like having an Army convoy on the go not for a few hours, but 24/7 every day of the week.
5. Some jobs will come from this, but why should a few jobs, providing they are real jobs, take precedent over the lives and homes of thousands? Surely that is unfair and unjust?
6. To Tesco this is just somewhere to move their product, to us it is our way of life, where we and our family live, yet we stand to be cursed by Tesco for generations.
7. If this goes ahead and people then realise just what this MegaShed means I do not think that those who vote for it will ever be forgiven, or forgotten.
8. This is our Andover, not Tesco's
9. Councillor Ian Carr has an ambition to bring a leading department store to Andover. That is a wonderful objective and should be supported by all, for that will bring in the diversity of people and skills that will enhance our town. If we have a MegaShed it will never happen.
10. This is not just a planning conservatory extension or similar, this development is going to affect people and their homes and lives for generations to come. It should not be left to a planning officer as such no matter how professional, it should be put to the vote of all in Test Valley. Is that not the reason we pay Council Tax? Is that not real democracy?
11. How does Tesco answer the environmental questions about all these vehicles going 24/7 to Andover and back again?
Paul Marr
Upper Clatford
Andover
Hants
SP11 7PS

At the same time Tesco are making their so-called job promises to Andover people, their current hard working employees in Weybridge are facing redundancy and closure as a result.

If that’s how Tesco treat loyal employees, just to save some money, that's how they will treat Andover people in time.

What goes around, comes around.

Paul Marr.
1. It is big but there are plenty of bigger buildings.
2.Far from devaluing properties it will help maintain values as it will raise effective demand.
3. Tens of thousands of vehicles use the A303 and there are very few incidents - so much for strain on emergency services.
4. Most people will hear nothing.
6. Cursed for generations? STOP says Tesco will be gone in 12 years - you can't have it both ways.
7. If it is voted out the councillors will look pretty stupid when permission is won on appeal and many promised benefits are lost.(plus costs)
8. Our Andover - you are from the Clatfords. Most Andover people I know are in support, albeit with some reservations.
9. A department store will not come to a depressed town so we need 1,200 jobs paying 24k, 34k and above.
Dozens of planners and experts have looked at this and have given it the thumbs up.
Why should the well-off nimbys win when this will benefit so many people?
Bryan. Tesco has to remain competitive otherwise it will go out of business.

I'm with Paul on this one, a truly dreadful decision that will affect us for years to come. It seems kind of inevitable that this was going to happen, let's hope that the councillors do refuse it at the meeting in September.

Dave wrote:
Paul Marr. 1. It is big but there are plenty of bigger buildings. 2.Far from devaluing properties it will help maintain values as it will raise effective demand. 3. Tens of thousands of vehicles use the A303 and there are very few incidents - so much for strain on emergency services. 4. Most people will hear nothing. 6. Cursed for generations? STOP says Tesco will be gone in 12 years - you can't have it both ways. 7. If it is voted out the councillors will look pretty stupid when permission is won on appeal and many promised benefits are lost.(plus costs) 8. Our Andover - you are from the Clatfords. Most Andover people I know are in support, albeit with some reservations. 9. A department store will not come to a depressed town so we need 1,200 jobs paying 24k, 34k and above. Dozens of planners and experts have looked at this and have given it the thumbs up. Why should the well-off nimbys win when this will benefit so many people? Bryan. Tesco has to remain competitive otherwise it will go out of business.

Pretty much every comment is incorrect. But the first comment probably the worst of all.

Name a few of the buildings that are bigger?

^^^^Jeff, from Andover. how can you type that the majority of what Paul Marr commented on, was incorrect? please dont hesitate to explain why he was wrong. i'll look foward to your reply

Hey Andy, you will not get any response from these suckers. They need to get a life. They come up with all this ridiculous small over the top statements, points, there's no talking to them, they're tunnel visioned. I agree with what you say, bring on the mega shed

Andy Peachey wrote:
^^^^Jeff, from Andover. how can you type that the majority of what Paul Marr commented on, was incorrect? please dont hesitate to explain why he was wrong. i'll look foward to your reply

Well, let's make it easy. Let's take one at a time.

Name plenty of buildings that are bigger.

As I understand it Terminal 5 at Heathrow is one of the largest structures in Europe and the megashe's footprint (not volume) is around 10% larger.

I'd like to hear of some of these plenty of buildings that are larger becasue they do not exist.

The problem is that even if they find out they're wrong it doesn't make an ounce of difference because they are not bright enough to understand that the pictures in the brochure inaccurately portray the building and it will belight the lives of people who live close by - but will make Andover a magent for even more East-Europeans.

Some peole do not get it.

Jeff, two larger buildings found in just 20 seconds on the net.

Colliery, near Bevercotes, Nottinghamshire.
The detailed plans show four distribution units on the former colliery site, of 210,000 sq ft, 620,000 sq ft, 715,000 sq ft and 1,230,000 sq ft. Building the latter two units together would create one single facility of more than 2 million sq ft.

Plus snowhill Birminingham is 1.2million sq ft

There are several buildings built or planned bigger than the Andover.

Re house prices falling. Andover is very unusual in that it depends on manufacturing industry to an extraordinary degree unlike most other towns these day. We need to diversify into service industry otherwise we could have a depression rather than just a recession in the town. This is why Tesco has to come and why the council seems so keen.

Dave,

Perhaps you should try a further 20 seconds.

1. Colliery near Bevercotes is a planning application not a building and it has not been approved.

2. When you say Snowhill at Birmingham, I take it you mean the whole city center regeneration project (currently planned at around 1m sq feet but not completed) which includes sperate phases of a 44 story appartment block,two new skysrpaers,5 star hotel, which is described as a "new city center" - also not yet completed? In total 1m sq feet - again not complete but hardly a signle building

I think you are making my point. There aren't "plent of buildings larger"

If all supporters can find to compare with the size of a megashed is two non-existand developments including one complete city centre regeneration projects that includes several skyscrpaers, hotels, shopping malls, piazzas etc ...... then I am scared.

Jeff, lets not be silly about this, try showing the adult side of you and tell us, the readers, what is wrong about Paul Marrs' other points, without being pedantic about it. you and your fellow losing campaigners, pick out all the needless information, even down to the 0.00000001 of a square foot youre finding faults with. your estimates an exaggerations arent working with me, nor most of Andover. pathetic

one more thing, jeff, why the hell didnt you and your fellow anti-megashed fools, protest about Tesco originally wanting to come to Andover to build this megashed on the Walworth industrial estate? the stop! campaigners were all for it. whats the difference now? pot kettle black springs to mind. the best you can do is go and mow your lawn or do something worthwhile

Okay another 20 seconds and another building bigger found. How about the bottling plant at Avonmouth 870,000 sq ft which is under construction - but will only employ 100 people.
Our building will be the larder of southern England and provide 10 times the number of jobs and be slightly smaller.

Dave wrote:
Okay another 20 seconds and another building bigger found. How about the bottling plant at Avonmouth 870,000 sq ft which is under construction - but will only employ 100 people. Our building will be the larder of southern England and provide 10 times the number of jobs and be slightly smaller.

Another misspent 20 seconds. gain my point is being made by the supportes.

You mean the two seperate buildings - the warehouse measures approximately 527,431 sq ft and the Production Centre measures 285,243 sq ft. The total project measures approximately 870,000 sq ft.

Finding a larger building hasn't been so easy has it?

The problem is that the supporters clearly do not know or care how large this building is. They should go to Heathrow - have a look at Terminal 5 - and then imagine a building with a 10% larger footprint a kilometer or two from their home.

So far none of the supporterd on this thread has apparantly been able to visualise the scale or find a building the same size let alone larger.

They will only understand AFTER it has been approved which is exactly what Goodmans are relying on.

jeff, youre clutching at straws. how about answering my comments to you, huh? instead of being pathetic on size of buildings!

cant or wont answer?

or would you like me to type in upper case for you to see my points, which you cannot clearly answer?

WHY DIDNT YOU OPPOSE THE MEGASHED WHEN IT WAS ORIGINALLY WANTING TO GO TO THE WALWORTH INDUSTRIAL ESTATE?

Other warehouses:

Morrisons Kent - 900,000 sq ft
Unipart Oxford - 1,000,000 sq ft
MFI Northampton - 950,000 sq ft
IKEA Peterborough - 900,000 sq ft
Tesco Lichfield - 850,000 sq ft
Amazon Swansea - 800,000 sq ft
B&Q Worksop - 875,000 sq ft

Other buildings:

O2 Arena/Millenium Dome - 3,000,000 sq ft
Heathrow T5 - 5,000,000 sq ft

Carry on with the abuse if that's all you can post.

I'm afraid you still do not seem to grasp it.

The FOOTPRINT of the Megashed is 800,000 square feet. Not the TOTAL floor space.

So all of the buildings you have listed that have more than a single floor ie all of them are smaller.

The FOOTPRINT of T5 is 750,000 sq feet. The figure you have for it is the total development.

ALL of the buildings you have listed are smaller buildings with the exception of the dome when completely empty.

.... sorry to correct you.

The total Dome site devlopment of which the dome itself is a component is just 1m sq feet. So the dome has a much smaller footprint than the Megashed.

"The consortium argues that the Dome which covers a million square feet is a prime site at a time when demand for office space in London is at a premium. "

http://news.bbc.co.u

k/1/hi/uk_politics/1

147815.stm

Perhaps people who cannot grasp the size should go to Andover Town Center tonight to see a representation of how big it actually is because clearly here a little ingorance goes a long way.

You're wasting your time.

The people "for it" actually don't care how big it is. If it were 35 miles by 35 miles they still wouldn't grasp it - and they're too dumb to see that there will be limited employment benefit, and the questionable benefits are dwarfed by the disadvantages. It's pointless reasoning with the plain dumb.

jeff, try not to patronise people, its very irritating. you STILL havent answered my question! why? because you have no answer.

ethel, another exaggeration from a pro-campaigner i see! 35miles x 35miles. its not even worthy of a comment! and 'dumb'? 'plain dumb'? so we cannot speak then, as thats what 'dumb' means? hmmmm..strange theory!

arthur, ignorance is bliss.....

so, after all this, i still havent budged. none of you pro-campaigners can answer my question, which i will reiterate:-why didnt you all oppose this 'monstrous' building when it was originally planned for the Walworth industrial estate?

i meant 'anti-campaigners' rather than 'pro-campaigners' in my last comment. apologies!

Andover needs the mega-shed, and will get it.When Tesco appeal and they no doubt will,the councillors who voted "no" just to appease the tiny minority,(but know full well that Andover is in desperate need of the jobs ) will have had plenty of time to think up their excuses when they change their mind.....it only needs two of them to do this.Enjoy your day in the sunshine anti-campaigners, i don't think it will be to long before it is raining on your parade! Just for the record, i am one of the hundreds who have lost their jobs on the Walworth Estate this year. Fortunately i have found employment,many have not.Buy your umbrellas anti-campaigners!