Owners of Axminster eyesores under fire for lack of action

TESCO bosses at Axminster have come under fire for ignoring calls to tidy their boundary fence.

Members of the town council wrote to the company, in April, urging it to repair and tidy up the historic ironwork railings on the edge of its site in West Street.

Deputy Mayor Jeremy Walden said the fence, which had been put up by the J H Shand factory, which formerly operated there, needed urgent attention before they could ask English Heritage to list it.

But at their meeting last week he told members that Tecso had failed to respond to their request – and had not even acknowledged receipt of it.

“It is appalling that an organisation like Tesco can’t respond within a month,” he said.

Cllr Walden said a key element of successful management was attention to detail and he suggested the lack of response to their request was indicative of why the company was not doing so well any more.

Members backed his call to send a letter to a more senior manager – with a warning they would also be writing to the press to express their concerns.

Town councillors are also writing to the owners of the former Busy Bee florists shop, in the town centre, urging them to tidy up the derelict property.

Members agreed that it would be left as an ugly eyesore following completion of the community art project to mask the front of neighbouring former Websters Garage.

Cllr Walden said the former florists shop and Websters were under the same ownership. It was “appalling” the developer had done “absolutely nothing” to tidy them up except for giving his “gracious permission” for the mural to go ahead.

Cllr Sue Spiller said she thought the owner would simply laugh at any letter asking him to tidy up the eyesore – when work to improve Websters was being done free for him by the community.

Mayor Andrew Moulding said the Websters project was a first class community art project and was nothing to do with the owners.

The council agreed to write demanding work is carried out to tidy up the former Busy Bee shop.