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£2.5 million: Why Scarborough won't get an Asda - COMMENT ON THIS STORY
TESCO'S bid for land off Dean Road was accepted on the basis that it was £2.5 million higher than Asda's, the Evening News understands.
Sources within the council yesterday revealed that Tesco's offer for the former St Mary's Hospital and Dean Road site was 20 million, while Asda's was 17.5 million.
Asda initially bid 16 million, but subsequently upped their offer.
On Monday, councillors at a behind-closed-doors meeting voted to accept Tesco's joint bid with Assura property development company, which currently owns the former St Mary's Hospital site and will now sell it to Tesco.
The sale of the huge plot will be completed once planning permission has been granted for a development on the land.
The 20 million will be split equally between the council and Assura; the latter acted simultaneously as buyers and sellers in the process.
Many residents have reacted furiously to the news that Tesco's bid was accepted, arguing that despite the lower offer, the additional jobs and competition Asda would have brought to Scarborough is worth more than 2.5 million.
Tesco have said they will close their Westwood branch to move to a new superstore, bringing in 370 jobs, but the supermarket giant's plans for the Westwood site remain unclear.
The council's decision to hold the discussion of the bids in private, on the grounds that sensitive commercial information would be discussed, has also provoked outrage among the public.
But council leader Tom Fox yesterday defended the council's decision to back the Tesco bid, and said the process to decide the preferred bidder had been open and democratic.
He said the criteria against which proposals would be judged had been agreed in public in February.
Then, it was decided that the decision would be based 80 per cent on price and 20 per cent on other conditions such as the viability of the scheme and ability of the candidates to deliver it.
Had the lower bid been accepted, he added, the decision may have been referred to the Secretary of State.
In private papers passed to councillors before Monday's full council meeting, it is stated that the council has not ruled out the possibility of a legal challenge from unsuccessful bidders.
An Evening News online poll, as well as independent polling commissioned by Asda, revealed that an overwhelming majority of respondents would have preferred Asda to move into the town.
A number of residents, as well as several councillors, have accused those that voted for Tesco's bid of not listening to the opinions of their constituents.
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Weather for Scarborough
Friday 25 May 2012
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