Tesco's £500,000 offer to Whitchurch in planning battle
Supermarket giant Tesco will hand over £500,000 to Whitchurch if controversial plans to build a store on the outskirts of the town get the go-ahead, it was today revealed. Supermarket giant Tesco will hand over £500,000 to Whitchurch if controversial plans to build a store on the outskirts of the town get the go-ahead, it was today revealed. Members of the Whitchurch August Bank Holiday Show and Fete Committee say they stand to gain at least £20,000-a-year for "the benefit of the inhabitants of Whitchurch" if the controversial plans are approved. The committee said Tesco planned to give no less than £500,000 to the town in £20,000 instalments over a number of years. [24link]
But campaigners against the plans for Edgeley Park today said they would rather see a "more accountable" body made responsible for dishing out any funds because the committee was not currently a registered charity.
Roger McMinn, a member of the WH21 campaign group, which is calling on Tesco to redevelop its existing town centre store instead, said it was essential the handling of any money set aside to benefit the town was "transparent".
He said: "If the committee was to become a charity they would have to say where the money comes from and where it would go to. That way it would be more accountable to the people in the town."
However members of the committee today said they were aiming to achieve registered charity status.
John Roberts, committee chairman, said: "Until now, the committee has had a modest income, which it has given to local causes. However, since it will now have greater resources, which may become substantial, it is taking steps towards agreeing and adopting a new constitution and hopes to be accepted by the Charity Commission as a registered charity, whose overall objective will be to use its resources for the benefit of the inhabitants of Whitchurch."
No-one from Tesco was available for comment.
By Tom Johannsen
