“was surprised to hear our Trowbridge based Asda delivery agent suggest that Asda were interested in the Odd Down site but in his words were stopped from getting it because someone on the council was being paid by Sainsburys."

Nothing like a good conspiracy theory. a) Just how would someone at B&NES have prevented Hayesfield School selling the site to Asda? b) Why would B&NES care which supermarket went wherever? Or is it just that Sainsbury's pays the biggest bribes to corrupt officials?

"it was interesting to see how far this perception of a pro Sainsbury's bias extended even outside the sometimes overwrought confines of Bath"

Not if he reads it on here where this nonsense crops up ad nauseam.

--”

“Bearing in mind Sainsbury's aren't producing speculative plans for a Homebase site they don't have any hope of getting just to "contribute to the debate", its pretty clear they are looking to convince planners to shut out Tesco at Bath Press at least in part on the grounds that an enlarged (monopolistic) Sainsbury's at Green Park is a better bet."

I appreciate that's your own theory but there's no evidence to back it up and I imagine Homebase will be amenable to the right offer, particularly given the state their business is in. Not much of a Sainsbury's monopoly either when there are other supermarkets within walking distance.

--”

“Typical BANES”

“Ric - the eyesores provide a good reason for increased care, but we seem to just have delays that ultimately still result in flawed plans.

Roger - was surprised to hear our Trowbridge based Asda delivery agent suggest that Asda were interested in the Odd Down site but in his words were stopped from getting it because someone on the council was being paid by Sainsburys. Its nothing like credible evidence and most likely plain wrong, but it was interesting to see how far this perception of a pro Sainsbury's bias extended even outside the sometimes overwrought confines of Bath.

Bearing in mind Sainsbury's aren't producing speculative plans for a Homebase site they don't have any hope of getting just to "contribute to the debate", its pretty clear they are looking to convince planners to shut out Tesco at Bath Press at least in part on the grounds that an enlarged (monopolistic) Sainsbury's at Green Park is a better bet.”

“Any evidence for that? There's only been one Sainsbury's opened in Bath in the last 25 years that needed planning permission (or any other sort of permission from the Council). That - the Odd Down one - was approved by one vote.”

“Tesco bullying there way into Bath, mmmm come on, I can think of another supermarked in Bath that has done that already or they did not need to bully themselves in Bath at all !!!!!”

“Are we meant to be upset because Tesco hasn't (yet) been able to bully its way through the planning system?”

“It can certainly be very frustrating when planning applications take so long to pass through the planning system. However if I had to choose between a system that was too lenient or too harsh I'd choose the second one any day. I think some eyesores throughout the city could have been avoided if the planning system had always been like it is now.”

“Quote - "The spokesman also denied that Bath was seen as a "graveyard of developers", pointing to the recent schemes at SouthGate, Bath Riverside and the Holburne Museum as examples of success."

That's a bit of a cheek! Southgate was first proposed for redevelopment before 1990 so it took nearly 20 years from the need for redevelopment being recognised to it opening. I also seem to recall the developers getting so frustrated with the planners obstructions that they threatened to abandon it altogether.

This article - http://tinyurl.com/6d8r8df - is hardly high praise re the Holbourne planning process and planners willingness to accept something new.

Similarly Western Riverside has taken years of wrangling and delays to actually finally get somewhere near phase1 - with most of the site still to be decided.

Not sure Bath is a graveyard for developers but its almost certainly a graveyard for anyone contemplating any form of contemporary architecture, and even if you stick a load of mock georgian columns on, you can still expect any project to take years longer than anywhere else. The other irony is that all the wrangling over all 3 schemes hasn't avoided us ending up with flawed schemes - Southgate looks traditional but feels cramped and causes transport congestion, the Holbourne sounds like its compromised, and Western Riverside is neither aethetically pleasing nor efficient use of land space - being some kind of bodged compromise between the two to appease the heritage lobby over building heights.

Its a while since I was a kid, but even then the joke was that it would take three planning applications and an appeal to put a cat flap in, in Bath!”