Tesco's new eco-store was opened in Seaton this morning by Cllr Steph' Jones, the Seaton Champion and Cabinet Member at East Devon District Council.

Residents and visitors to the new store voted with their feet, to produce scenes reminiscent of the pre-Christmas rush, with long queues on all tills and all 450 spaces in the car park full by 10.30am.

Judging by all the friends and neighbours I met, many Trinity residents had taken the opportunity to visit Seaton and check out the new 'Warehouse chic' eco-store, which has already created 217 new jobs in the area...

Whatever you think...

It's impossible not to be impressed by the speed and efficiency with which the new Tesco store and it's surrounds have been constructed. What just twelve months ago was a collection of abandoned concrete slabs in a wasteland sea, is now a bright, attractive store, with more to come. The arms of the access roundabout are already in place to access the housing, hotel and visitor centre developments which hopefully will follow quickly to complete the new site.

The challenge for Seaton is to build on the opportunity presented by the numerous additional visitors, whilst ensuring that we protect the environment of Axmouth and the other surrounding villages.

Read Steph's speech in full...

"I’d like to start by thanking you all for coming here today to see the dawning of a bright new day in Seaton’s future. I’d also like to extend a warm Seaton welcome to Ian Dyer and his staff, plus all the other Tesco folks who are here on this auspicious day.

We now have a wonderful new supermarket, giving us a shopping outlet on a scale that befits a town with over 12,000 residents - and providing 217 new jobs.

But, as we all know, the new store is much, much more than somewhere else for locals to shop. It represents an investment in Seaton by a nationally recognised company – a vote of confidence in the future of our lovely town – just the tonic we need in these difficult times.

And the vote of confidence in Seaton goes deeper than that, because the area around the store is already looking more inviting, thanks to the public realm work that has been carried out.

These are the things we can see today – but there are more improvements in the pipeline – if I can use that word!

We’re looking forward to seeing more shoppers from the surrounding area coming into Seaton. They will hopefully join townspeople in shopping at Tesco and also pausing while they are here to visit the rest of the town centre, where we want to see still more improvements.

I’d like to take a moment here to thank our Town Development Manager, Carolyn Dunn, for the good work she’s been doing over the past 6 months..

Unfortunately, Carolyn has decided to move on and pursue other interests, but we are grateful to her for working with us and the Chamber of Commerce to kick start some exciting ideas for the future.

It feels to me like Seaton is starting to wake from a slumber and, as the District Council’s Champion for Seaton I know I speak for my two fellow ward members – Jim Knight and Peter Burrows – when I say that I have great hopes for the future economy of the town.

We have some wonderful natural assets in the Jurassic Coast and the fantastic wetlands, so we must ensure that we make the most of these to welcome more visitors all year round – whether it’s families enjoying the beach or people of all ages marvelling at our beautiful marshes and the wildlife it attracts.

What a week it’s been, with the new classroom on the wetlands opening on Friday and this event today! It’s good to see Seaton getting in the news for all the right reasons.

Before I cut the ribbon and declare the store open, I’d just like to say that I never dreamt, 10 years ago when I worked for Tesco in Exeter, that I would be invited to carry out a ceremony like this one today.

This five minutes of fame is probably a bit like the excitement felt by Tesco’s Irish songstress Mary Byrne when she got to the finals of the X Factor – except of course that I’m not going to break into song. Thank goodness!

So, without further ado, it’s a pleasure and a privilege to declare Tesco Seaton well and truly O-P-E-N !

Snip..."

(she didn't actually say 'snip' - but cut the ribbon instead!)

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