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 13th June 2007
Dursley supermarket approved at Development Control Committee yesterday
Photo: Cam Coop that was taken over by Tesco
John Marjoram as the only Green party member on the committee was the
lone protest voice yesterday as the supermarket in Dursley was
approved.
John Marjoram as the only Green party member on the committee was the
lone protest voice last week as the supermarket in Dursley was approved.
Cllr Martin Whiteside, the Green party's Parliamentary candidate for
Stroud said: "There is precious little evidence that supermarkets have
any beneficial effects on local economies or communities (i). The
Castle Street site has managed to blight Dursley even before the
supermarket has been built. After almost twenty years Stroud is
beginning to see a revival in independant food retailers, we can only
hope that Dursley will not now be faced with decades more of a
declining town centre as this supermarket goes ahead."
Martin Whiteside continued: "The Council was naive in its negotiations
with Tesco's: if they had really wanted to develop this site they would
have done so many years ago. However instead Tesco pushed the Coop to
selling it's supermarket in Cam (ii) and the District Council has
continued to push for a supermarket as the only way to regenerate
Dursley. The Council never seems to have seriously considered any other
option to regenerate this rather fine medieval market town. Indeed they
commissioned reports in 1990 and 2002 that appear to be about
specifically supporting the view that a supermarket is the only way
forward - rather than considered any alternatives (iii). They have also
ignored polls expressing majority opposition to the proposed
supermarket in Dursley in both 1993 and 1999. Now despite the Councils
support for community involvement and its own Environment Green paper
which talks about supporting local food production we have permission
for a supermarket, albeit one that tosses a figleaf to green concerns.
Martin Whiteside said: "The need for economic regeneration for Dursley
is clear. As Greens have argued before, another supermarket is a
mistake that will cost the local community dear."
Martin Whiteside added: "I have a number of difficulties with this
application not least as I think the need for the this development has
not been correctly assessed with regard to its impact on the viability
and vitality of the area. This should have been enough for this
application to have been rejected. Furthermore as English Heritage
point out we should not be pulling down locally cherished buildings
that provide a much needed sense of place and continuity to make way
for this supermarket."
Notes:
(i) "Supermarkets: Challenging the myth that they promote jobs and are good for the local economy"
(ii) In a letter to Coop members the Coop Chief Executive, Bob
Burlton announces with "great regret" the sale of the Cam store to
Tesco. He writes: "Following extensive negotiations the Society has,
with great reluctance accepted their offer to purshase the store." He
went on to say the Tesco store in Dursley "would have a profound effect
on our business resulting in a dramatic fall in trade and consequently
significant job losses."
(iii) More background information:
At no point have SDC considered an alternative to the regeneration
of Dursley town centre other than with a supermarket. Reports have
confined themselves to arguing about why a supermarket would be good
and where it should be sited. Reading the reports, the impression
gained is that the Council decided a supermarket would be good then set
out to prove that that was infact the case.See for example "Stroud
District Council Local Plan Policy S7; Proposed Supermarket Allocation"
by Matthew Morris, GVA Grimley December 2002. This report, far from
being an independent look at whether a supermarket would be good for
Dursley, was commissioned by SDC to provide evidence to support that
view: Under “1.2 Scope and Purpose of this Evidence”, point 1.2.2.
says: “The provision of a new ‘quality’ supermarket is considered vital
to the sustainable regeneration of Dursley and therefore the Council
requires that the store must occupy a location within the town centre,
where linked trips to the supermarket and the rest of the town are a
likelihood. Accordingly, this evidence provides a supporting
justification for the allocation of the subject site and its
relationship to relevant planning policy guidance.”
Later in the report in section 8.1.2. it is noted: “The requirement
for a new supermarket in Dursley dates back to 1991, when the Council
commissioned a study of the Dursley town centre which concluded that
the centre was in a difficult trading position. The study considered
that to produce a substantial improvement in the centre’s trading
position, expansion was needed by way of the development of a
supermarket within the town centre.” Infact the proposals for a
supermarket date to earlier than 1991 - see below.
The 1994 Deposit Local Plan included the supermarket site in
Dursley. In May 1997 the Dursley Town Centre Partnership produced a
regeneration strategy. It includes the need for a supermarket. A look
at the report “Dursley Town Centre Report” (January 1991) by Chartered
Surveyors “Antil,Cowper, Reeves” commissioned by SDC is interesting.
Again it appears the decision had already been made for a supermarket.
The introduction to that report reads: “In April 1990 this firm was
approached to advise on a Stroud District Council identified site for
supermarket development as proposed in the Local Plan for the Centre of
Dursley.” They go onto acknowledge: “In August further discussions with
Officers led to a wider brief to consider retailing in Dursley from a
commercial and development point of view.” However while they were
asked to consider the “appropriateness of the proposed provision of a
large food store in Dursley centre”, they did not discuss alternative
developments seriously. Infact the only reference in the report appears
to be: “We believe that apart from small scale redevelopment and
further environmental and parking improvements, the only route forward
to produce a substantial improvement in Dursley centre’s condition and
the expansion by way primarily of the development of a major food
store.” (Dursley Town Centre Report 9.6).
It seems plans for a supermarket were already agreed by the early 1990s
and probably in the late 1980s. This is perhaps not surprising as at
that time supermarkets were not the retailing giants they are now;
little was then known about the environmental, health and economic
effects they were going to have on communities. However that is no
excuse for that decision not being reviewed at a later date. Indeed it
is interesting to note that the January 1991 report reminds us that the
Local Plan then indicated 15,000 sq feet could be supported. By
December 2002 the GVA Grinley report suggests 1,858 sq m net floor
space. The proposal accepted by the Council this year was for 20,000 sq
feet.
The GVA Grimley report notes that The Dursley Town Appraisal 1993 and
Town Poll 1999 both showed the majority of residents do not want a
supermarket.
For alternative ways forward see "Living streets, local food; Green Party action plan for a local, independent, vibrant economy"
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