Tesco applies to open store in Darlington's former Elm Ridge site

The national retailer plans to open at the former Elm Ridge Garden Centre on Consicliffe Road. 

Plans for a new mixed-use building combining a convenience store and offices were approved by Darlington Borough Council last month. The former garden centre will be demolished before a replacement site is built. 

Applicant Ward Estates said the new store will occupy the ground floor, with offices on the first and second floors. A new car park with 44 spaces is also proposed.

The site was previously home to a garden centre (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sainsbury’s was previously signed up to the scheme but later withdrew - and residents continue to question whether another shop is needed. 

At a council planning meeting in October, Kate Heljula said: “We are an area that is very well serviced for convenience stores. We seem to be adding something that residents don’t need in a place that is not suitable.”

The owners of the nearby Blackwell Stores also objected to the plans, saying it threatened the future of their business. “Customers have expressed their worry about this development to us and what it will do to their community,” they said. 

Existing convenience stores include the nearby petrol filling station, two stores on Cleveland Terrace and the Co-op at Mowden.

The meeting heard the new store is intended to be marketed as a ‘top up’ store that allows more convenient access for local customers, reducing the need for dedicated, larger shopping trips to conventional supermarkets, and reducing the need to travel by car.

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Andy Darby, of ELG Planning speaking on behalf of the applicant, said: “We emphasise that the convenience store is mainly for people nearby who would walk to the store and most car trips would be by people already passing by as opposed to new trips on the highway network. 

“The application will secure the much-needed redevelopment of what is currently a prominent vacant site to deliver enhanced local facilities for the communities in the west of Darlington as well as a number of job opportunities.”

Local ward councillor Heather Scott also called for better road safety due to the extra traffic the store will attract.

“This is a danger for everybody in the area,” she said. “We don’t want to wait until there is a serious accident. We need to take these precautions in planning.”