MANY local people will have visited the exhibition held at the Longfield Centre, Prestwich, recently, "promoted" by Tesco in support of their proposals to expand retailing on the former hospital site.

On the basis of the comments made by Tesco's representatives at the exhibition, however, we see no evidence that there is any understanding or desire to deal with problems which the existing store has created, or to acknowledge the serious impact that the current proposals will have on Prestwich town centre.

We would have no hesitation in working with any organisation to regenerate Prestwich but it is important to recognise that we will not allow the needs of the local community to be sacrificed for the aspirations of any commercial organisation.

Tesco have made a lot of money from Prestwich in the past five years but we see little, if any, evidence that any of this money has flowed back into the community to counter the problems created by the development of their existing store. The proposed mix of retail uses within the new scheme would have a direct impact on several shops that currently operate in the Village, leading to a loss of trade which may then lead to their closure.

The Tesco scheme will also have an adverse affect on businesses in Prestwich centre which do not compete directly with Tesco or any of the occupiers of the proposed retail units, because if key tenants are lost to the centre then other businesses will be hit by the loss of visitors and a general downturn in trade. An unstoppable cycle of decline would be set in motion which would be marked by an increasing number of vacant units and a further loss of quality businesses, with new tenants being of an increasingly temporary and down-market nature. The general quality of the environment would decline further and the centre would become an even greater target for crime as the numbers of visitors fell.

If this scenario seems far-fetched we have only to look at the decline of Whitefield centre and the Elms precinct to see what could happen.

We are now at a critical time in terms of the future of Prestwich town centre and recent proposals by the council to improve it, together with initiatives such as Quality Bus Corridors, could start to turn the fortunes of what is still essentially a viable centre. Unlike the Tesco store, Prestwich centre provides important community facilities as well as retail and other services. It is also accessible by pedestrians and all forms of public transport.

In considering what is, in effect, an out-of-centre retail scheme, the council need look no further than Bolton for a precedent of how to deal with such a scheme.

A planning inspector recently turned down the extension of retailing at the Middlebrook complex in Bolton because of its potential impact on Bolton town centre. The Inspector also noted that although the scheme did not propose many more car parking spaces, it was essentially a car-based development that did not encourage the use of other forms of transport.

If the aims of sustainable development and the needs of local communities are to count for anything then a serious re-think is required on this Tesco scheme.

GILLIAN BOYLE,

Prestwich Residents Association.