New dawn for Tesco at Rising Sun, Burghfield

Talk has been rife in the village for a number of years that Tesco would open a store at the Rising Sun pub in Reading Road.
Delicia Consolidated Limited, who own the site, applied for planning permission in June last year to convert the pub to a shop, cafe, restaurant, pub or bar, but planning officers rejected the plans on grounds of poor design.
However, the application was approved at appeal in May, and now Tesco has confirmed it will be moving into the ground floor, while the first floor will become three flats.
Corporate affairs representative for Tesco, Simon Petar confirmed that the store would be open by spring next year.
“We’ve taken the lease for the bottom part of the building which will be our new Express store. We will be employing about 20 people locally and the store will have 12 car parking spaces, in addition to three spaces for residents.”
However, the spokesman said that details of the lease, including the duration of the agreement, were confidential.
The vice-chairman of the Burghfield Residents Assoc-iation and Liberal Democrat councillor for Burghfield, Royce Longton, is worried that other shops in the village, such as Nisa, Londis, Esso On The Run, the Co-operative, Wellers The Fruit Shop, Warings bakery and the post office will be adversely affected by Tesco’s arrival.
“Tesco could be a real threat to our shops, as well as the post office. I think there will be a certain amount of loyalty to the existing shops in the village, but obviously people will use the new Tesco.
“I’m also concerned about the need for a pub in Burghfield Common. We have The Bantam, which is in Omers Rise, but the Rising Sun site is the ideal location for a community pub,” Mr Longton added.
However, in response a Tesco spokesperson said: “Our stores are extremely popular in local communities. We have found that our Express stores rejuvenate and revitalise shopping areas.”
There are currently seven Tesco stores in West Berkshire and North Hampshire, with a further 12 Tesco stores in Reading.