Oswestry21

Over a third strong black coffee and about to hit the work schedule, I heard the following on the Today programme on a piece about the level of retail space vacancies and the disparity between North and South , word for word - “Various serious academics are now suggesting that some towns should be allowed to die……’ and they should “contain fewer shops” and become “discount centres”.

Hold that thought and consider what a supermarket development of the sizes projected in the current applications will do for Oswestry……………

We now understand that Shropshire Council have asked that all four applications be called in, that is - heard together by a planning inspector, probably at a public inquiry. Schedule and dates to be announced.

J Ross have lodged an inevitable appeal against the decision taken at the last Special Planning Committee meeting on the 29th July to turn down their application for a super market development on Central Car Park.

Their appeals can be seen here:The appeals have now appeared on the PINS website:

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/professionals/appeals/search/“Search for a Case” using just “Oswestry” as the town brings up:

APP/L3245/A/10/2134748 – the appeal against the main application

APP/L3245/E/10/2134877 – the appeal against the conservation area demolition application.

The Planning Inspectorate have put this down for a “hearing” rather than for formal Public Inquiry. Which is surprising given the level of controversy and public opinion. A hearing would consist of a round table discussion between the appellants and the Planning Inspectorate about the pros and cons of the CCP development. This would appear to mean that a decision either way on CCP could be taken quickly, or it might mean that either J Ross or the Planning Inspectorate might push for a full formal Public Inquiry.

In the meantime the Special Planning Committee could, theoretically, have decided on the other three applications. Their next scheduled meetings are 23 September, 22 October and 18 November.

The schedule for the J Ross appeal hearing seems to be: “start date” is 2 September. By 16 Sep everyone who commented/objected on CCP should have been notified formally by the Council of this appeal. Copies of all those previous comments/objections will be forwarded to Robert Wordsworth, the appeal Inspector. OS21 and Coalition parties need to then submit, no later than 14 October, an electronic copy of any additional statement they wish to make, summarising their case.

A brief summary of the current state of play sifted from a  considerable amount of info. In the interests of clarity, if anyone who has a clearer understanding of the schedule and timings of this appeal process wishes to comment or correct, then please feel free to do so.

So - it ain’t over ’til the well stacked diva bursts into an aria…………………

It seems as though Oswestry is fortunate to have its former Woolies occupied. According to the Local Data Company, of 807 former stores nationwide more than 300 remain empty two years after the company went into administration.

A quarter of the group’s stores now house a discount retailer, with the second biggest taker of the empty shops being supermarkets (namely Iceland, who took over 60 premises).

How would the situation in Oswestry have been altered had a supermarket taken over our Woolies? Would such further provision of grocery retail space have helped to put an end to the dubious claim that Oswestry needs not only another large supermarket, but one way out of town?

SHOPPING FOR FRESH FOOD IN OSWESTRY

A  year long study of fresh foods in Oswestry undertaken by OS21 has shown that fresh fruit and veg. are cheaper in the Powis Hall Market than in Sainsbury’s and Morrisons. Meat is more expensive in independent butchers, but invariably comes from local sources, and food is more heavily packaged in the supermarkets.   

 Fig. 1 The mean price in £ per kilo of 12 items of fresh Fruit and Veg. is consistently lower in the Market and Covent Garden when compared to Sainsbury’s and Morrisons (more…)

D day tomorrow. Decision or Deferral? After two years of debate since the Town Council/OCA Smithfield shambles first came to light, during which Oswestry has become encircled by Tesco in every neighbouring town,  the Strategic Planning Committee meets at the Lion Quays tomorrow afternoon to decide whether Oswestry is to become another clone town/ghost town and become one of the last to clamber aboard the sinking ship of supermarket over-provision, or whether it can have some self belief in its own economy and community and offer the rare opportunity to inhabitants and visitors alike to experience what it is to be a market town.

All the current applications were visualised in a very different economic climate to that which we are now experiencing. All are based on a need argument set out by Nathaniel Lichfield Partners which have been steadily and incrementally reduced since 2007 to a shadow of their initial findings. Petrol costs are rising, food miles and local food issues are now common components of newspaper articles and news items. And realisation that true leakage is the leakage from the local economy created by supermarkets is now common knowledge.

All the applications facing the Strategic Planning Committee are either far too large or too far out of town, or both. All will affect the town, independent traders, the community, and drain the local economy. Until real need in the form of sensible creation of employment land for real long term and decently paid jobs and the subsequent building of housing in the locality is in place, there is no need for further supermarket presence in a small market town that already has Sainsburys, ALDI, Morrisons, M & S; S, Iceland, and the various other outlets that provide food retail that have opened recently.

Here’s to a sane and pragmatic decision to either refuse all four applications or to defer a decision until such time as scale is appropriate to need. The desperation evidenced by developers in recent days says far more about their need to make the bucks than it does about any consideration for the town’s need to continue as an economic community.

Twist or bust.

350 people made a presence that put paid to recent rumours of a “vociferous minority” of supermarket protesters. It was a strong turnout which met with no opposition views and represented concerned individuals of all ages from Oswestry and it’s surroundings. This was a definite message that many are tired and angry at having the future of what is a market town dictated by supermarket retailers and developers and by elected councillors that are so in thrall to them that they have little vision for the town as a community and economic entity in the changing times that are facing us.

The arguments and reasons have been discussed many times in these back pages, and if the process after a planning decision on the 18th March is to go to appeal, as expected, then these arguments will have to be refined and honed further. But for now, the fact remains that 350 people gave up their Saturday morning for their voices to be heard and their actions seen. Many thanks to all.