6 August (Part 3) - Checking out ASDA
ASDA’s
car park was full yesterday afternoon and although the queues had gone it was
still packed solid inside. It was not clear what the many car park attendants
were doing, however customers should be aware that ASDA is keen to fine you £100
if you offend against any of their
many parking rules and regulations.
Checking back on the records of
the planning committee meeting that approved the new ASDA I discovered that
it was not only local Tory councillor Kerry Allon who campaigned against it but
Labour’s Gill MacDonald was also keen to deprive her electors of the ward’s only
large grocery outlet; not that ASDA is solely a grocery outlet.
Much was said at the planning meeting of the need to restrict the items ASDA
should sell in order to protect existing nearby retailers. Mrs. Clark, Head of
Building Control, was most anxious that the mistakes made with Morrison’s in
Sidcup must not be repeated such that it ended up selling a bit of everything to
the detriment of local traders. So I was surprised to see that ASDA in Belvedere
is selling far more than food items. Clothing, stationery, computing
accessories, DVDs, electrical items and televisions were all on display.
Maybe Bexley council failed to impose the restrictions discussed at the meeting in
March last year after all.