Wednesday 25 June

Tesco Chief Executive replies to MP’s letter re Hanley Grange

• Sir Terry Leahy agrees to meet Andrew Lansley MP to discuss bid

• Lansley “disappointed” that Leahy fails “to answer the key question posed”

• Tesco signals U turn on previous policy not to build on greenfield sites

Legal Note to Editors: This release is 2 separate statements – upon the same topic.

Andrew Lansley is making the first statement.

Simon Ellis is making the second statement.

Tesco Chief Executive has agreed to meet Andrew Lansley MP for South Cambridgeshire to discuss the supermarket group’s controversial backing for a bid to develop an eco town at Hanley Grange.

In a statement this morning Andrew Lansley said:

“I welcome Sir Terry Leahy's offer of a meeting to discuss Tesco's bid regarding the proposed eco town at Hanley Grange in South Cambridgeshire.”

“I hope, given the urgency of the matter and the tremendous local opposition to Hanley Grange, it might be possible for the meeting to take place in the near future"

“I am disappointed that Sir Terry Leahy has chosen not to answer the key question posed in my letter which was this:

Given Sir Terry's clear statement of policy (see Notes) in January 2006 that Tesco "does not build on greenfield sites" how can its proposal for Hanley Grange which is 100% a greenfield site possibly be consistent with this?”

In a separate statement Simon Ellis of the Hanley Grange Campaign Office added:

Sir Terry Leahy’s failure to respond to the specific question raised by Andrew Lansley together with the fact that Tesco is backing a proposal on land controlled by them at Hanley Grange suggests a major policy switch by Tesco about building on greenfield sites.

Sir Terry was asked a simple and direct question about his previous statement that Tesco does not build on greenfield sites. He has chosen to sidestep this question.

Tesco’s silence on greenfield development speaks volumes.

Taken together Tesco’s proposal to build on greenfield land and Sir Terry’s deliberate silence on this issue would seem to indicate the policy has changed, but it is inconvenient for Tesco to admit its U turn publicly at this stage.

The other problem for Tesco to explain is they started promoting a development on this greenfield site via its agents in 2005 – well before Sir Terry made his statement to the Observer newspaper published on 8 January 2006.

Presumably this was simply a genuine error and Sir Terry had not been informed at the time he made his statement to the Observer that agents acting for Tesco had already proposed developing on a greenfield site.

There is no suggestion at all that Sir Terry has behaved incorrectly or improperly but the timing of his statement after a proposal involving Tesco building on a Greenfield site is clearly something of an embarrassment.

Tesco’s website recently stated: “Our commitments under the Community segment of the Steering Wheel are to be fair, responsible and honest in everything we do and to be a good neighbour.”

To demonstrate that it is “fair, responsible and honest”, please can Tesco now tell its neighbours answers to the following questions:

• Can you confirm that your bid regarding Hanley Grange which is a greenfield site means your previous policy statement no longer applies.

• With hindsight, does Tesco now regret that Sir Terry was allowed to make his 2006 statement to the Observer without being fully informed about Tesco’s involvement in a proposal to build on greenfield site?

• How many other greenfield sites are currently the subject of development proposals involving Tesco or its agents?

• How many other greenfield farmland plots does Tesco currently hold which it intends to develop in the future?

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