RUMOURS have been rife for months that Tesco had bought a former garage site in Holmfirth and wanted to build a supermarket on it.
Now the Examiner has discovered the plans are set to go ahead, and could lead to 350 full and part-time jobs.
The supermarket giant has now revealed the full extent of its proposals for the former Midlothian Garage site off New Mill Road in Holmfirth, describing it as an eco-store.
And the designers promise it will be the greenest supermarket in Yorkshire, possibly the entire UK.
Its entire roof will be covered in moss – just one of several proposals to try to make the supermarket fit into the Last Of The Summer Wine countryside.
Tesco corporate affairs manager Jennifer Duncan said: “We recognise that many residents in Holmfirth are getting into their cars and driving out of the town to do their shopping.
“We hope to provide more shopping choice within the town as well as creating over 350 new jobs with flexible working patterns and excellent training and development opportunities.
“We recognise that Holmfirth is a special location and we understand the importance of complementing the existing scenery, so we are proposing what we hope will be Yorkshire’s greenest supermarket.
“This will include on-site technology to help us heat and power the store as well as rainwater recycling to provide water for plants and toilet flushing.
“A green roof will provide a new habitat for wildlife and – coupled with the use of natural materials for the rest of the store – will help the store fit in to the surrounding scenery.
“We are excited about our proposals for Holmfirth, but before we finalise the plans we want to hear the views of the community. Listening to residents is a vital part of the planning process and we take all views very seriously.”
A Tesco spokesman added: “We own the site and have just started to talk to local councillors and planning officials about our proposals.
“We now want a full public consultation and give people the chance to give us their views, any concerns and what they want to see from the store.
“All this is before the planning application. We will then use this local insight and comments to finalise the plans, let people know what aspects of the proposal we are changing and then put the planning application in.
“We are now in the very early stages.”
It is understood the planning application is unlikely to be submitted to Kirklees Council until early next spring.
“There will be concerns,” added the spokesman. “But we believe our green proposals will mean the store will be in keeping with the town and its surroundings.
“Holmfirth is a special place. We recognise that and we do not want to spoil its gorgeous views.”
Andrew Bray, from Holme Valley Business Association, said: “There are pros and cons in every proposal like this and it may mean some people stay and shop in Holmfirth rather than drifting off down to Huddersfield.
“But the road infrastructure can’t take a supermarket as big as this. It could mean an extra 5,000 or 6,000 vehicle movements into and out of the store each day and the roads around there are a bottleneck as it is.
“The plan could also kill off the little shops in surrounding villages such as New Mill, Hepworth, Scholes and Wooldale. Communities are already losing their pubs – now it could be their shops. That’s the consequence of big stores.
“There’s not a corner of retail life that supermarkets like Tesco don’t touch from banking to chemists to opticians. It will be interesting to see how people react to the proposals and I would urge people to give their views.”
To coincide with announcing the plans, a full public consultation on the proposals is taking place at Holmfirth Civic Hall next week.
The consultations will be on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
People can drop in to see the plans and discuss how they can be developed with members of the Tesco team.
At the consultation there will be boards displaying the plans and the project team will answer questions.
The times for the event are Thursday, 2pm to 8pm; Friday, 11am to 5pm and Saturday, 10am to 3pm.
