Normal for Norfolk

Tesco still haven't got planning permission to build a shop in Sheringham. (That link takes you to a rival publication.  Don't click on it else I will be taken to the Farmers Weekly correctional facility again - it makes Guantanamo Bay look like Ragdale Hall).

Instead the planning permission has been awarded to a local farmer, Clive Hay-Smith, who proposed an alternative in the form of an eco-version of a Waitrose store which support local producers. 

I am perplexed why this treatment of Tesco should make me feel as joyful as it does.  Generally I side with people who are passionate about making things happen rather than those who devote their energy to stopping things from happening.  At least Clive has provided a credible alternative - without his action the Tesco trucks would be trundling towards Norfolk already.

My schadenfraude is completely hypocritical - I shop in Tesco myself, after all.  There is a store less than 2 miles away which has everything that I need at reasonable prices (I never buy meat there though).  Like most humans, I am essentially lazy and take the easiest course of action in most situations. 

I could be self-righteous and tell you that I have to run a business AND a household and I don't have enough time to spend a day a week trawling the high street but, however convincing that sounds, it would be disingenuous.  Holbeach, the small market town in which I live, still has a greengrocer, fishmonger and baker, they bring a stall once a week. I could take an afternoon off work to go into town and shop there instead.  Instead I am addicted to the convenience of shopping when I have finished work.

There is no question that the majority of people are behaving in the same way that I am and Holbeach high street has suffered as a result.  If Tesco started doing haircuts, it would kill the town completely.

Obviously it is a shame for the people of Sheringham that they should be denied the convenience that the rest of us enjoy but I admire the stance of their planning officials.

We cannot, and should not, tell consumers where they can and can't shop and so it is only through planning regulation that we can challenge the unhealthy dominance of the food retailing giants.  Supermarkets usually offer financial inducements to local authorities and communities in order to get planning consent (I used the word inducements rather than "bribes" - I won't stand in your way if you wish to cut and paste this entry into a Word document so that you can substitute it).  It is to their credit that the Sheringham town planners did not bow to the commercial might of Teso and I wish them every success with their alternative vision.