Vow to fight supermarket plans (From Daily Echo)
When news happens, text SDE and your photos or videos to 80360. Or contact us by email and phone.
Vow to fight supermarket plans
7:50pm Tuesday 30th March 2010 in Fareham
Vow to fight supermarket plans
A SUPERMARKET giant’s plans for a massive new Hampshire store have been dealt a bitter blow after a community group vowed to fight the proposal.
The Bishop’s Waltham Society attacked the plans for a Sainsbury’s supermarket, saying it would threaten high street traders, ruin the appearance and character of the town and detract from the area’s attractive and historic features.
The society has thrown its weight behind a campaign group which is fighting to block the plans to redevelop the Abbey Mill site.
Society secretary Robert Shields said: “The society voted unanimously to oppose the plans for a Sainsbury’s on the Abbey Mill site.
“We hope to complement the work of Bishop’s Waltham Action Group and we are looking forward to working with them in the future.”
The controversial proposal sparked fierce opposition from residents and traders from the outset.
They claim the new supermarket will damage the identity of the town and kill off small shops.
A petition with thousands of signatures has been collected by the action group, and residents voted resoundingly against the project at a public meeting.
Action group chairman Tony Kippenberger said: “It is vital that we all now work together to protect the vitality and viability of the town centre and prevent dramatic increases in traffic and its associated congestion and pollution.”
Sainsbury’s has sent a second consultation update brochure on their plans to residents.
The planned store would be 35,000 sq ft and would create up to 300 jobs in the area.
The Daily Echo understands the project would also include a small number of new homes, a provision for open spaces, the restoration of the historic mill and ecofriendly measures for the store.
Currently no planning application has been made.
A spokesman for the supermarket chain said: “A new Sainsbury’s in this location would enable more people to shop locally, help to retain trade and expenditure in the town and increase footfall for the benefit of other traders.
“The proposals for the Abbey Mill site will be sensitively designed. This will ensure that the development sits comfortably within and respects the surrounding environment.”
Additional reporting by Andrew Napier
Comments(7)
colliwobbles
says...
6:46am Wed 31 Mar 10
Linesman
says...
9:11am Wed 31 Mar 10
Probably jump in their 4x4s and head for a Supermarket that is not in their back yard!
While the rest of the world is now living in the second millenium, there are still some people who want to hang on to the 1950s!
freefinker
says...
9:28am Wed 31 Mar 10
Linesman wrote:At least the world's population was a more sustainable 2.5 billion in 1950.
I wonder where the members of the Bishops Waltham Society do their shopping?
Probably jump in their 4x4s and head for a Supermarket that is not in their back yard!
While the rest of the world is now living in the second millenium, there are still some people who want to hang on to the 1950s!
Not much else going for it though.
shirleybanister
says...
9:38am Wed 31 Mar 10
Family Man
says...
10:06am Wed 31 Mar 10
There is already a Budgens in BW, but in the centre there is a proliferation of small shops, all very diverse and often quite specialised... and at present sustainable! However the presence of a very large supermarket would undoubtedly render those shops unprofitable, as they could not possibly compete on "core" goods. At the same time undoubtedly the community pays a price for that "diversity" as prices are invariably higher due to greater overheads and the inability to make the economies of scale. BW is not that big and cannot sustain both a "major" and local diversity, in the same way as other small towns have found. So I can well understand the depth of local feeling. The comment was made earlier harping back to the '50s in a fairly negative way, but how many people visit these smaller towns purely because they are so pleasant and maintain a sense of community and because they are interesting in not being typical of every other cloned high street...
One thing is for sure, you never appreciate what you have until you lose it...and once lost, you can never regain it...
bigronthestaff
says...
12:10pm Wed 31 Mar 10
SW= busy-save
warness says...
10:22pm Tue 30 Mar 10