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GUARDIAN Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:46:24 GMT
Clive Hay-Smith will find out tomorrow if an eco-Waitrose teamed with his food academy in Sheringham will get the go-ahead instead of a Tesco superstore
A former corporate executive will discover tomorrow whether his battle to halt Tesco's plans to build a supermarket in his town and provide what he claims is a greener alternative has been successful.
Clive Hay-Smith's efforts to overturn Tesco's 14-year interest in Sheringham, Norfolk, and bring in a rival instead, will cost him at least £2m if his crusade ends in failure.
If it is successful, it will cost him far more. While Waitrose will fund the development of what it promises will be its greenest store yet, Hay-Smith intends to bankroll the building of a food academy on the same site, offering training in nutrition and cooking skills, before the business is handed over to a charity. He has already moved community allotments, and increased their number, as part of his campaign.
The rival ambitions of Tesco and Hay-Smith, 52, former president of Pearson Assessment and Testing, part of the giant Pearson media empire, and now a local farmer, will be tested tomorrow before the planning committee of north Norfolk district council. "I am not an eco-warrior," said Hay-Smith, who has had links to the town since the 1960s, but whose direct interest in Tesco's efforts to build a store in the town started four years ago.
"I find it odd they should be regarded as a panacea to Sheringham … I am not interested in commercial gain. It is about how can we be creative and not just build a box selling cheap cannelloni."
Hay-Smith, who founded the Greenhouse Community Project to promote his alternative to "just another of thousands of 'Tesco towns'", said: "I don't have an exotic lifestyle. I have made my money and rather than spend it on fast cars, I will pootle about."
His initial approaches to Waitrose to become involved in Sheringham had foundered, he said, because then the company had thought a Tesco store was eventually "a done deal", he said. But in December 2009, the company had come aboard, a relief for Hay-Smith, who has conceded his lack of retail experience.
Waitrose said it was planning its greenest ever store, bringing together elements from existing stores, such as rainwater harvesting and new refrigeration methods, and will install its first ever sedum plant roof – to improve insulation and reduce water run off – and an electric bus service. It was also investigating the provision of an electric vehicle for home deliveries. Supporters of the plans include the Sheringham and District Preservation Society.
Tesco's plans for the town have for years aroused both vigorous support and opposition through websites, petitions and letter-writing.
The company, which already has 2,362 stores in the UK, said: "There are a large number of local residents who wish to see a Tesco store in Sheringham."
The latest plans are for a smaller store than those for a previous unsuccessful attempt, although Tesco may yet revive legal action to overturn its dismissal by a planning inspector.
Council officers prefer Tesco's plans because they say they are near the centre of town. Their report to councillors says the impact on the vitality and viability of other shops is considered "on balance" to be acceptable.
Hay-Smith's proposed complex would be about a kilometre walk from the centre of Sheringham, and on an inferior site, according to the report. Despite some "laudable" intentions, it would cause "material harm" to the town.
The local branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England said the planning decision will be a test case for new government planning guidance, alleging that planning officers have not yet taken sufficient account of the wider economic impact of either store plan, including jobs and skills that may be lost.
It is opposing the Tesco plan and taking no position on the alternative. The council says its handling of the plans is not "materially altered" by the.......
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GUARDIAN Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:05:11 GMT
• 24 firms account for 87% of emissions by FTSE 100 companies
• 77% of FTSE firms will aim to cut pollution by 2.5% a year
Greenhouse gas targets set by many of Britain's largest companies are too weak to meet UK commitments on climate change, a new analysis shows.
A report from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) says a lack of ambition from companies in the energy, materials and utilities sector threatens government plans to cut emissions by 2020.
The CDP report found that 77% of FTSE 100 companies said they have a target to reduce emissions, with an average annual reduction rate of 2.5%. That compares well with the 2.4% annual reductions on overall emissions that Britain needs to make to achieve a legally binding target of 34%-42% reductions by 2020, relative to 1990 levels.
However, the average annual emissions reductions planned by the firms in the energy, utilities and materials sectors total 1.2%. There are only 24 of these companies in the FTSE 100, but they account for 87% of all FTSE 100 reported emissions.
Joanna Lee, CDP's director of communications and corporate partnerships, said: "Across the board, companies are doing pretty well. But what's most striking is that if you look at the three most heavily polluting sectors, they are lagging significantly behind. If we are going to deliver on climate change targets these companies need to take more aggressive action."
The report, published today, says there is a "carbon chasm" between what is planned by the firms and what is required.
It says: "The targets set by the most carbon intensive sectors, responsible for the majority of FTSE 100 emissions, are not sufficiently ambitious and will not deliver reductions required by the UK climate change act."
It adds: "Clearly, UK regulation is sending strong signals to companies of the necessity to manage carbon, but as many of these companies operate globally, we also need a strong global framework to create the right incentives to set sufficiently strong targets."
The report is based on voluntary targets set by firms during 2009, before the climate conference in Copenhagen in December failed to establish a new global treaty. Analysts say the lack of such a treaty could make companies more reluctant to take on more rigorous targets.
"These carbon intensive sectors will need to take on more aggresive targets if they are to deliver in line with government commitments," the report says.
The CDP analysis showed that almost a third of company targets were based on reductions in carbon intensity, rather than absolute cuts in greenhouse gas pollution. Cuts in carbon intensity allow firms to increase overall emissions, while appearing to have gone green, the report points out.
"Companies should set company-wide targets for the reduction of their absolute level of emissions," it says. "Climate change can only be mitigated by a reduction in absolute emissions... therefore companies setting intensity targets should complement these with absolute targets."
FTSE
Corporate governance
Carbon emissions
Carbon footprints
Pollution
Climate change
Corporate social responsibility
David Adam
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NEWS SUMMARY
Bridge for flood town takes shape
Business weather woes in the spotlight
Cash to cut property flood risk
Police called on to check the weather
Flood-hit county gets extra cash
Flood defences improved in town
'Crack team' fixes 5,000 potholes
Scientists to review climate body
Flooding damages city bus station
Night-time tests on flood barrier
Measures to stop flooding in town
EA flood warning areas localised
Competition: Win a Sankey water butt and stand
Save the planet. But maybe not right now | Martin Wainwright
Vehicle scrappage scheme drives down emissions of new cars
Reporting on climate change
Plans for flood plain homes axed
The trouble with trusting complex science | George Monbiot
UK import emissions are the highest in Europe, figures show
Poor weather causes hay shortage
Gates proposed for snow-hit road
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