Sunday 29 August 2010

Tesco, cycling and car dependency


























Yet more promotion of car dependency, by a firm which is contemptuous of cycling:

For a flat fee of £2 they will be able to drive to a dedicated area in a Tesco store at a set time and pick up their shopping without having to leave their car.

Laura Wade-Gery, chief executive of Tesco dotcom and Tesco Direct, said:
This will be especially popular with busy mums who have the school run and children's activities to manage.

Tesco despises cyclists. There are no less than ten bicycles visible in the picture above, which shows the giant Tesco near the Green Man, Leytonstone. There might have been eleven but I decided to take my money elsewhere. Tight-fisted Tesco supply just four bike stands.

One interesting question is why did the Planning Committee of the London Borough of Waltham Forest grant Tesco planning permission for a massive supermarket with extensive car parking but provision for only four bike stands? And really cheap, crap stands they are, too. (The covered shelter in the background is for supermarket carts. Tesco is more interested in keeping them dry from the rain than supplying shelter for parked bikes.)