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Who are "We Like Milngavie"? "We Like Milngavie" (WLM) is a community group formed in January 2010 to oppose the planning application submitted by Tesco in 2009 to replace its present Milngavie store. The group is fully constituted, with a committee of twelve which generally meets monthly. Current office bearers are: Robin Brown, Chairman, Grahame Ross, Treasurer and Eve Gilmore, Secretary. It receives continuing support of numerous local groups and individuals which share its views. These include all local community councils, Milngavie amenity groups, local residents' associations and many hundreds of individual residents. The group will promptly correct any errors of fact in this website. Please email admin@welikemilngavie.org Tesco's first application was refused and their appeal dismissed WLM joined forces with Milngavie Community Council, as a third party to oppose Tesco's appeal, supported by many other local groups. Archive of original website concerning Tesco's first application. » After the appeal was dismissed, Tesco lost no time in serving notice that it intends a second application.
The proposal was for a vast out-of-scale store unsympathetic to the location, beside two listed buildings and adjacent to a Conservation Area.
Over 700 individually written objections were submitted to East Dunbartonshire Council (EDC), mainly from local residents and businesses. There were only 25 letters of support. EDC refused the application in April 2010. A Planning Appeal was lodged by Tesco in July 2010 which was heard at a Hearing and Inquiry in February 2011.
WLM acted jointly with Milngavie Community Council (MCC) as a third party opposing the appeal alongside East Dunbartonshire Council. WLM raised about £10,000 from over 220 contributors to employ consultants at the Planning Appeal. WLM-MCC led six witnesses at the Planning Appeal.
The Scottish Government Reporter Trevor Croft dismissed the appeal on grounds of impact on the setting of a Listed building (Gavin's Mill) and the conservation area
With full support of the local community WLM has produced the document "The Right Store for Milngavie" » outlining a re-development proposal which most local people would find acceptable. |
How Tesco portray WLM Tesco falsely portray WLM as a non-representative group of individuals, seeking to obscure its role as an umbrella group for the community at large. Thus during the appeal, the third party was consistently referred to as "We Like Milngavie", ignoring the partnership with Milngavie Community Council.
A letter published in the local press in August 2011, widely believed from other content to have been written by Tesco, stated "I WOULD like to know how many people are actually in the We Like Milngavie group because everyone I have spoken to about Tesco's proposals agrees that Milngavie does need a bigger store than what Tesco are offering at the moment".
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