New Tesco and Home Bargains to open in Houghton Colliery
Written by Josh Wilkinson on 23rd March 2023
Work on a new Tesco and Home Bargains store has started in Houghton Colliery, with the project hoping to bring a 100 new jobs to the Houghton area. The new shops have an estimated opening date of Spring 2024.
Construction is being handled by property developers Hellens Group and Fintry Estates, who bought the area for development in 2019.
When asked for opinions on the new project that is happening, Margaret Wilkinson, a Houghton resident said: “There isn’t a lot of option for shopping. There are two freezer stores and one actual supermarket so hopefully this will boost business for the area.”
When asked about the proximity of the new Tesco, Margaret said: “The new Tesco is handy for me due to the distance of the store itself, I only live five minutes away from where its being built and it saves the longer walk to Houghton front street, what would make it better for older folks is if they included a delivery service as the store is up a bank.”
The size of the Tesco is estimated t0 be about 45,000 square feet, and the size of the Home Bargains is estimated to be 20,000 square feet, with sizes like that, shoppers will have plenty of room to look around the aisles.
A car park is also being built to support traffic and help more people have access to the store. However, with a car park that has 300 parking bays there are worries about noise, with one local resident, Peter Wilkinson, 36, saying: “Most of the properties next to the construction are private allotments and privately owned residences so I wouldn’t be surprised if they hate the traffic that it will bring”.
This could mean those who are living next to the soon to be Tesco could be dealing with a lot of noise during and after construction, with multiple construction vehicles coming in and out of the area, then a high volume of traffic to potentially deal with afterwards.
What are your thoughts on the new Tesco and Home Bargains opening? Let us know @sparksunderland