Britain’s biggest retailer wants to install a cash machine at a Tesco Express it is planning to open at Plymouth’s multi-million pound Mount Wise regeneration.
The supermarket giant has submitted a series of planning applications for the unit currently used as a sales office at the former naval base.
It is asking for permission to install an ultra-low noise gas cooler at the rear, various signs, an aluminium shopfront and automatic telescope single sliding door – and an ATM with a security camera and light.
Documents submitted to Plymouth City Council planners, by ROK Planning on behalf of Tesco Stores Ltd, said: “Planning permission is additionally sought for the installation of an ATM, camera and light. To facilitate Tesco’s occupation of the unit it is proposed to install an ATM to the front elevation. An ATM is a key part of the Tesco Express operation, and it is considered that an ATM is appropriate in this location.”
It added: “It is considered that the proposed ATM will fit well within the proposed shopfront, be safe, and ultimately provide an additional service to shoppers.”
And it said security was paramount and added: “A camera will be installed above the ATM, next to the light. Protection by a digitally recorded CCTV system viewing the ATM and its users will deter physical attacks on the ATM and ensure the identification of offenders is digitally preserved.”
If given permission, the ATM will help address a national decline in the number of such machines, with Which? research showing 8,000 were switched off around the nation since the start of the Covid pandemic.
The unit being eyed by Tesco, next door to the Space to Move yoga and dance studio, was given planning consent for a convenience store when the land was originally earmarked for development. The unit is on the ground floor of a six-storey block of flats in Charles Darwin Road opposite the Plymouth Cricket Club pitch.
The new Tesco Express would be in a block near the main entrance of the Mount Wise development currently used by housing association Sovereign and opposite the £13m Teesra House apartment building being completed by family-run Brady Construction Services, which has offices at the Millfields.
Mount Wise – from naval base to luxury livingThe 28-acre waterside plot was used by the Royal Navy for 200 years before the senior service pulled out in 2004.
The land, including a cricket pitch, was sold by Defence Estates for £5.5million in 2006.
Work started on Phase One’s 159 units, a £14.5million project at that time dubbed “the village by the sea”, in 2010 and ended two years later.
In 2013 Mount Wise (Devon) Ltd started Phase Two, building flats and houses either side of the Grade II-listed Admiralty House, once the home of the Royal Navy’s top brass.
The £13.5million Phase Two scheme encompassed 59 units, a mix of houses and flats, built either side of the square, now a car park, outside Admiralty House. This has been named Maritime Quarter.
Meanwhile, 30 units (28 flats, and a couple of three-bed houses), went up either side of Admiralty House, with extensive views over the River Tamar.
Scott House, the last building constructed in the second phase, was completed in 2016.
Phase Three was Leeward House, the £10million, six-floor apartment block overlooking the Tamar. Work started in 2016 and it is now complete with 59 flats inside it.
Work has now started on Phase Four, a strip of land bordering Devonport Hill, in 2019, with it becoming home to a 73-apartment block.
Phase Five will comprise an area next to Richmond Walk – and a disused Cold War underground bunker.
It was planned to turn Admiralty House (pictured), once home to former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, into a boutique hotel.
But Mount Wise (Devonport) ltd said demand for an establishment of that type in the area was “non-existent” and in November 2016 applied to turn it into luxury flats.
It was thought it would be problematical running a boutique hotel in the midst of a residential development.
The proximity of residents meant it would have been difficult to stage events such as weddings without causing disruption. Work has now begun to turn it into 12 apartments.
The application for installation of a shopfront said: “The design of the entrance is in keeping with the existing building and with the wider area in terms of its residential and commercial context.
“It is additionally notable that the proposed new automatic door will significantly improve accessibility to the unit for all persons, including those with disabilities.
“Similarly, the existing entrance benefits from very little design quality and thus it is not considered that the proposal to alter the frontage will worsen the character or appearance of the site.”
Comments on all the applications should be submitted to the council by January 4, 2022.
Tesco is understood to be considering opening a Tesco Express at this block of flats at Mount Wise in Plymouth, pictured in 2016 (Image: Goodle)There are already nine Tesco Express stores in the city, in New George Street, Notte Street, Mutley Plain, Alexandra Road, Eggbuckland, two in Plympton, and under the St Teresa House and Discovery Heights student blocks in Beaumont Road and Cobourg Street. Tesco also has a large superstore at Transit Way, and huge Tesco Extra outlets in Woolwell and Lee Mill.
If Tesco does progress with its plans, it will be the first store it has opened in the Devonport area of the city. A Tesco Express did open in Wolseley Road, but has been closed for more than five years now.
The Mount Wise site was used by the Royal Navy for 200 years before the senior service pulled out in 2004. The land, including the cricket pitch, was sold by Defence Estates for £5.5m in 2006 and is being developed into a mixed-use scheme by Mount Wise (Devon) Ltd. It started on Phase One’s 159 units, a £14.5m project at that time dubbed “the village by the sea”, in 2010, completing it two years later.
In 2013 Mount Wise (Devon) Ltd started Phase Two, building flats and houses either side of the Grade II-listed Admiralty House, once the home of the Royal Navy’s top brass.
How to contact William Telford and Business LiveBusiness Live’s South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade’s experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
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The £13.5m Phase Two scheme encompassed 59 units, a mix of houses and flats, built either side of the square, now a car park, outside Admiralty House. This has been named as Maritime Quarter. Meanwhile, 30 units (28 flats, and a couple of three-bed houses), went up either side of Admiralty House, with extensive views over the River Tamar.
Phase Three was Leeward House, the £10m, six-floor apartment block overlooking the Tamar. Work started in 2016 and it was completed by 2019 with 59 flats inside it. Admiralty House is now being restored and transformed into 12 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, with access to private gardens and parking. Teesra House represents Phase Four of the overall development.
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