Tesco store heads Linwood regeneration
August 19 2014
Designed by Manson Architects on behalf of Barr Construction the 40,000sq/ft retail-led project incorporates a new community hall, library and office space.
Andy Ferguson, operations manager at Barr Construction, said: “The new Tesco superstore is now almost ready to open its doors to the people of Linwood and we're confident the development, alongside Tweedie Hall and the new library, will bring new life to the area and be a real benefit to the community.”
Linwood was recipient of a 2011 Carbuncle Award for the dilapidated nature of its town centre, with residents unflatteringly comparing the rundown town centre to Iraq,
Completion of the supermarket marks the final stage of the town’s regeneration.
A community hall and library sit at the heart of the scheme
A number of smaller businesses also operate from the development
Tesco have footed the bill for new civic amenities on the site
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6 Comments
#1 Posted by Edward Harkins on 19 Aug 2014 at 10:45 AM
Hmm... old failed model of retail-property-led regeneration?
#2 Posted by Thomas Hamilton on 19 Aug 2014 at 12:21 PM
Planning policy allowing the creation of big box retail has wholly led to the decimation of high streets and town centres, therefore it is deeply ironic that this regeneration has been led Tesco. I was taken aback in a lecture by a Viennese planner where he stated that their system prohibited edge of town retail to preserve local high streets, it really is that simple.
#3 Posted by Thomas Manley on 19 Aug 2014 at 16:02 PM
not sure how developments such as this and your recent aspirational headline re Asda in Barrhead can be heralded as the solution to kick start renewal.. ok may create jobs, but as Thomas above points out - these developments in town centres often kill off local commerce - and opportunity. Would love to see the likes of Tesco etc share some profits in local communities and their renewal - i.e. give back a little of what they take! Maryhill Rd in Glasgow has also been taken over by Tesco!
#4 Posted by Jamie on 19 Aug 2014 at 17:18 PM
Kick start regeneration by kicking any other small retailers out of the high street.
#5 Posted by David Wilson on 19 Aug 2014 at 19:07 PM
The headline says it all.
Society today requires a supermarket to revive the community.
Not a multi-purpose public space for all to meet, chat, discuss,dance ,sing, laugh etc, but somewhere to bloody shop
Society today requires a supermarket to revive the community.
Not a multi-purpose public space for all to meet, chat, discuss,dance ,sing, laugh etc, but somewhere to bloody shop
#6 Posted by Jimbob Tanktop on 19 Aug 2014 at 22:10 PM
Sorry, but a gigantic box, designed to hoover up the maximum amount of money from an impoverished town in order to repatriate it to shareholders across the various financial centres of the world will regenerate nothing.
If politicians were truly serious about regenerating towns, why give supermarkets licenses to sell everything? Is it essential they sell CDs and DVDs? Books? Tobacco? Be a dispensing pharmacy? Okay, it's convenient, but at the cost of deserted townscapes, enormous barriers to entry for any new start business in a nearby locale and the extinguishing of innovation in the service industry for the sake of nationwide conformity.
This isn't a supermarket: this is a gravestone.
If politicians were truly serious about regenerating towns, why give supermarkets licenses to sell everything? Is it essential they sell CDs and DVDs? Books? Tobacco? Be a dispensing pharmacy? Okay, it's convenient, but at the cost of deserted townscapes, enormous barriers to entry for any new start business in a nearby locale and the extinguishing of innovation in the service industry for the sake of nationwide conformity.
This isn't a supermarket: this is a gravestone.
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