STUBBORN inaction by Tesco has been blamed for delaying a vital Mid Devon road scheme aimed at tackling traffic problems in Cullompton.

The supermarket chain owns a parcel of land near its store in the town that the planned relief road near Junction 28 of the M5 would need to go over.

But efforts to kickstart dialogue with the chain to get them to relinquish it have remained unsuccessful after nearly five years, Mid Devon District Council has claimed.

Cllr Steve Keable (Liberal Democrat, Taw Vale), cabinet member for planning and economic regeneration, said Tesco’s land was “essential to the construction of the Cullompton relief road” and that it was not used by them.

He said the company was first approached in November 2019, and yet the council had still had no luck in securing meaningful discussions with the company about the land.

The council even asked Richard Foord, who was the MP for Tiverton and Honiton before parliament was dissolved ahead of the general election, to write to Tesco in a bid to move things on.

Addressing the council’s cabinet this month, Cllr Keable said efforts to deliver the scheme “continue to be frustrated”.

He said a submission to Homes England had been made to secure further funding to help build the relief road, but this would now be reviewed after the election.

“Building on the excellent work of this council and others, I should say that this delay also allows Tesco further opportunity to demonstrate their own commitment by engaging more proactively and positively regarding the disposal of the land they own in Cullompton, which is required to support the delivery of the relief road,” he said.

“Presently, Tesco continues to drag its heels on meaningful, positive engagement and proactive negotiations, which is a shame when over 92 per cent of residents support the relief road and 95 per cent support the upgrade to J28, both of which require vacant land owned by Tesco to enable the planning upgrades.”

Cllr Keable added a compulsory purchase of the land “remains a viable alternative” but that he “strongly encouraged” Tesco to work with the authority.

Tesco said it remains in dialogue with Mid Devon District Council over use of land near its Cullompton store.

By Bradley Gerrard