They might also sell the kind of thing that problem drinkers drink. Which M Local would be very unlikely to do. But that's alright, because it's not really about the booze.

Ok. I'll start.........

How about the 'Tesco Tax'?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28495631

I can see why this sort of tax would be attractive to the simple black and white view that big is bad, small is good but in the context of the opposition to Morrisons M this sort of thing would be irrelevent.

I'm sure that the building of these big out of town supermarkets continues but a lot of the growth in the supermarket chains is in the smaller "local" brands. They see increasingly people getting their big weekly shop delivered and then picking up their stuff for tonight's dinner on their way home.

This is why they are starting to open stores on the high street such as the Sainsbury's local in Honor Oak and the proposal to open the Morrisons M in Forest Hill. These sort of stores will be below any such proposed tax threshold.

They see a market there and they are moving back onto the high street, which is why I fail to see why proponents of busy high streets are against this sort of proposition.

This post was last modified: 26-07-2014 12:55 PM by BringOutTheCranston.

Why can't we just accept that Morrisons are coming and get on with it? What does anyone think this petition will do? I would rather have an active business in an empty shop than none at all - we do seem to still have a lot of empty units that no-one is doing anything about of complaining about. I don't like Morrisons supermarkets - cheap, tacky, crowded, not very good quality - and know I am extremely unlikely to ever use this one. Seems to me that is the best way of showing your lack of support - just don't use it.

Going back to M&Co's current deliveries - there is an M&Co delivery truck parked at the top of Havelock Walk, loading in to their delivery bay as I type. As far as I know, they only get one of these a week, as opposed to multiple each day...

This post was last modified: 30-07-2014 08:47 AM by edpaff.

Edpaff,
Can you take a picture when they make a delivery, it would be really helpful to understand the potential impact of a store reliant on high turnover of goods.

Yup, sure.

How many deliveries do Sainsbury's in Honor Oak have each day? This seems to me to be the most likely comparison as what to expect.

Agreed Mr Cranston that would give a fair indication of what can be expected.

This would only indicate how many deliveries there are likely to be - I think we would all expect at least 2 a day because there is little room for storage.
And in any case, logistically, that is how the large shops operate.

I contacted Morrisons about my concerns for loading and deliveries. Below is the response I got after a couple of weeks:

I hope that the council and TfL will be given the opportunity to assess for themselves the logistics plan for this particular location. We already have Pizza Hut riding their scooters on the pavement outside M&Co, which shows what happens if not enough consideration is given to loading and deliveries.

Having just moved into the area south of Stanstead Road, in between Forest Hill and Catford, I would be much more in favour of one of the major supermarkets providing a much-needed outlet along this stretch of road. Although there are lots of off licences and small grocers, a supermarket would give us much more variety!

A public meeting of the Licensing Committee will be held on Thursday 4 September 2014 at 7.15pm in the Civic Suite Catford to discuss the application for a new premises licence.

I can't make it this evening, but will be interested to hear about the discussion and decision.

I have heard that the licence was granted, which is not really a surprise.

There is likely to be a planning application to address some other issues and I hope that delivery and refuse issues will be taken into account.

Of course as there were no sensible grounds for refusal.

These are genuine concerns and so the council should be making sure that these issues are addressed.

I am quite surprised that Lewisham council feel that there are any practical solutions to the obvious problems of locating a supermarket chain at this limited site.
But they will have the full details, so we can only hope that between them they have come up with a cunning plan that has evaded everyone on this thread, sceptics and supermarket chain fan club alike.

Who says that they have?

The committee that met and made the decision would have been a licensing committee and so would have been looking at licensing issues only and not general practical retail solutions.

I'd be interested to hear from the councillors if they (either personally or through the council officers) have been in touch with Morrisons and talked to them about their plans?

Job vacancies for Forest Hill's new 'M Local' have gone up in the Peckham Morrisons store.

So it can't be long before M&Co leave?

M&Co all stocked up for Christmas sales. Any update on this subject ?