I did a really fun show last night at the Shelford Feast - a fund-raising festival just outside Cambridge. While I was there I noticed posters all over the place saying "Stop Hanley Grange" and I learnt that Hanley Grange was a planned "eco-town". As an environmentally concerned individual my knee-jerk reaction was to assume it was NIMBY*-ist reactionism. But then I got chatting to a local resident who told me the main reason people object to the eco-town is because the main investorr behind it is ... Tesco. ...yes Tesco, one of the least socially responsible companies in the country. A company that spends a fortune every year avoiding paying tax - for schools and hospitals and services which they and their employees use - through dodgy overseas trading. A company that still sells intensively farmed chicken and eggs despite many major retailers switching to free-range on the back of consumer campaigns. A company that is notorious for forcing smaller family-run businesses off the high streets. Surely it's more than a little obvious that Tesco cannot be trusted with this sort of project. When I hear that environmental groups are being given the chance to manage the development of eco-towns I will be right behind the idea, but for now I agree with the people of Shelford!
*Not In My Back Yard
3 comments:
I've also heard these eco towns are hardly eco at all. A bit of a greenwash. I quite like their Cath Kidston eco shopping bag which I blogged about last week (www.theginlady.com), coz all the profits are going to Marie Curie Cancer Care fund, but I also used my post to lobby against the chickens. I like this blog post. Check out mine and add your name to the Hugh's chicken petition - it's really gaining momentum. Glad to find another Tesco protestor!
Gah - if I'd known you were in the area I'd have gone along... Yes, round here we're at war with Tesco.
Be it the "eco"-town or just down the road from me.
"A company that spends a fortune every year avoiding paying tax - for schools and hospitals and services which they and their employees use - through dodgy overseas trading."
You mean those Caribbean partnerships to avoid paying stamp duty? The same method the Guardian Media Group used to avoid paying stamp duty on the Emap adventure?
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