IN a dramatic new twist Tenbury Town Council is backing Tesco in its plans to build a supermarket in the town.

A special meeting in a packed Pump Rooms saw the town council overturn its decision made two weeks ago when it went against its own survey of traders and voted to recommend refusal of the scheme.

But this decision resulted in councillors being inundated with e-mails, many complaining about the way in which the issue had been handled that included the almost unheard of use of a secret vote.

This time six councillors voted in favour of the application and four against.

Councillor George Price, who moved the motion for approval, said it was time for the authority to respond to the wishes of the majority of Tenbury people.

“I had wanted the council to hold a referendum and am sorry that this did not happen,” said Coun Price.

“But I am sure that if there had been a referendum it would have shown a large majority in favour of this development.”

He was backed by Jay De Costa who told the meeting that the application must be considered on its merits and not whether people liked Tesco.

Councillor Adrian Rigby warned that if the scheme was refused the town might well find itself regretting the decision for years to come.

He said it was clear that Tesco was determined to come to Tenbury Wells and if they were denied the opportunity then they were likely to look for an out of town site with devastating consequences.

“If this council and Malvern Hills District Council do not approve this, Tesco have every right to look for something across the bridge in Burford. I say to councillors that if that were to happen we all know what would happen to the town,” he said.

“We are in a catch-22 position. The risks are very high and the stakes are very high.”

Coun Sue Corfield warned that people in the town were wondering why the council’s previous decision to reject the application went against the result of its own survey of traders and had left some of them feeling ignored and wondering why they bothered.

But Tenbury mayor Elizabeth Weston was concerned about the impact of the proposed development on existing businesses in the town and her deputy Peter Mound expressed concern that the survey did not properly reflect the feelings of shop keepers in Tenbury.

Coun Eric Hudson said he was very worried about plans for parking and traffic on the site.

“I am not against Tesco but the parking layout is bad,” he said and called unsuccessfully for a decision to be deferred to allow further talks with Tesco.”

The town council's recommendation for approval will be considered by Malvern Hills planners at a special meeting at Tenbury Primary School on Tuesday, November 2.