[diggers350] Tesco colonize Morlands Glastonbury by proxy.

[biffvernon]

We've a similar problem in Louth, Lincolnshire:  
http://www.keeplouthspecial.org.uk/


Keep Louth Special group formed to stop supermarket
Pressure group formed

Published Date: 27 October 2008 
Monday 1.30pm - SELLING off Louth's Cattle Market site for a giant new supermarket would destroy the town's unique collection of little shops, according to a new pressure group.
Keep Louth Special, set up by a group of Louth residents, shoppers and local businesses, says ELDC being open to offers for the retail development of the five acre site amounts to playing Russian roulette with one of the few unspoiled market towns left in Lincolnshire. 

"Right across the country, big supermarkets are exterminating local businesses, and in doing so are taking the friendliness, the service and the fun out of shopping," said Richard James, one of the group's founders. 

"We all use supermarkets to a certain extent," said Joanna Heselwood of Keep Louth Special. "But the cattle market may end up with a store large enough for shoppers to get everything under one roof. What then would be left for the rest of the town?"

The group says whether people live in or around Louth, or merely value the unique shopping experience, they should write to their councillor or MP to make their voice heard. 

"East Lindsey is already mired in controversy over the siting of a leisure centre in Wood Lane, and the abandonment of responsibility for Hubbards Hills," said Keep Louth Special spokesman Nick Louth.
"It is high time that local residents were listened to and a full debate begun before any decisions are made."
The group is formally launching a petition on Saturday, November 1 and is aiming to get 5,000 signatures by Christmas. 

"We are entering a time of recession, when communities need to pull together," Nick Louth said.
"By spending locally, Louth shoppers can help local businesses, farmers and suppliers who in turn account for much of the town's employment. This in turn keeps up house prices and bolsters prosperity all round. By contrast, spending everything at a huge new supermarket would mean money sucked from the local economy, never to return."

http://www.louthleader.co.uk/news/Keep-Louth-Special-group-formed.4632848.jp



Keep Louth Special
What we are about

• East Lindsey District Council has invited offers for the cattle market site, and has received dozens of applications from supermarket groups keen to open a giant new store on the five acre site.	
 	 	
• Not only would this mean the loss of the livestock market, the last in Lincolnshire, but because it is too far from the centre it would threaten Louth’s unique collection of small independent shops and its open market.
 	 	
• A new supermarket on that site would mean lost jobs, lost skills, empty shops, noisy night-time deliveries and a loss of character. The town centre would die. Property values would sink.	
 	 	
• Louth IS worth saving. While most of the country’s clone towns are dull replicas of each other, Louth is unique. Where else do the local retail names outnumber the national chains? 	 	

• Louth’s historic connection with local farm produce means low food miles and the ultimate in sustainability and traceability. This is perfect for a Fairtrade town, and good for local jobs too.	
 	 	
• Architectural and retail heritage go hand in hand. Louth’s wonderful Georgian and Victorian shops would look sad if all they housed were charity shops, mobile phone outlets and burger bars.  	
 	 	
• Market Rasen has already lost its covered food market since Tesco arrived in 2005 and local food and convenience stores have seen 20-50% falls in sales. If ELDC decides to sell the cattle market site for a giant new  supermarket, exactly the same will happen to Louth.	
 	 	
• ELDC is following a flawed retail policy based the Farrell Bass Pritchard report 2006. This report is factually inaccurate, illogical and contradictory. It is high time ELDC recognised this and ditched the policy. Now is the time for it to nurture Louth, not undermine it. 	
• Make your voice heard. We need everyone in Louth and the surrounding villages to write to their councillors and their MP to demand that no new supermarkets be built	
 	 	
• Use them or lose them. Above all, it is up to us to use the small shops to keep the town healthy and thriving.