Oswestry21

The long running Oswestry supermarket/retail saga is ramping up nicely. From the Shropshire Star yesterday: Council Asked To Revisit Store Plans

In the article Oswestry mayor, Margaret Chamberlain, says ……….”the proposals (to develop the Smithfield site). These have been the subject of the widest consultation”.

No, they haven’t. There was one presentation to the public when the Smithfield was  presented as a fait accomplis and a done deal, and at which one person who stated her objection to the scheme was called “a communist” by a Liberty Mercian PR representative. This does not constitute public consultation by any measure, let alone in the “widest” sense.

The developers of all the other schemes have, admittedly with varying degrees of engagement, consulted with interested stake holders such as CPRE, Civic Society, Chamber of Trade, affected residents groups and associations, in ways that make the Liberty Mercian consultation appear both spectacularly arrogant and lamentably feeble by contrast.

On the topic of consultation, it would be interesting to know what independent consultancy advice, both planning and financial, the Town Council has taken in order to arrive at the conclusion that the largest and most out-of-town site is the most suitable, under current planning guidelines, for a relatively small market town, and why this conclusion has been arrived at with such certainty that they are now “legally committed” to it before any planning decision has been made.

Requests under the Freedom of Information Act may, or may not, prove fruitful.It would seem that the intention is to ensure the future of a cattle market that is surely successful enough to look after itself at the cost of leaving the town centre of this “historic border market town” as dead as a dodo.

Excellent coverage tonight on the front page of the Shropshire Star of the CPRE report on whether Oswestry needs any new retail development outside the town centre. Many thanks to Iain St. John for coming to last nights meeting, covering the event and picking up on this particular story, I will put a link up to the latest version of the CPRE report as soon as I can, but it makes clear the arguments against retail development on the sites concerning the three current planning applications, Smithfield, Burbidge and J T Hughes.

The link is here >CPRE report updated July 2009 

It is also interesting to consider that at the time of Sainsburys coming to Oswestry, 15 years ago, the Five Acre Site (Village Green) was considered by developers a suitable for retail/supermarket development, but was turned down by planners at the time as being too far from the town centre.  During those 15 years, concerns have grown, just as evidence has, about the effect of out of town supermarkets upon town centres and particularly those of market towns - this in turn has coloured government guidlines on out of town retail development in such document as PPS6 - Planning Policy Statement 6 - Planning for Town Centres, which states in para. 2.44:

A sequential approach should be applied in selecting appropriate sites for allocation within the centres where identified need is to be met.All options in the centre (including,where necessary,the extension of the centre) should be thoroughly assessed before less central sites are considered for development for main town centre uses.

It is clear that neither the Smithfield, nor Burbidges, nor J T Hughes, have moved closer into town centre in the last 15 years than the 5 Acre Site that was deemed unsuitable on grounds of distance at that time. If such sites were at too great a distance from the town centre for retail development then, why are they being considered now when 15 years of evidence of damage to town centre economies and vitality have been witnessed since then?

PPS6 also states that sites should be suitable, viable and available. In the case of the Central Car Park, the fact that the Town Council is seeking to, (or has done so), extend it’s lock-in agreement with Liberty Mercian (Smithfield developers) concerning no retail development upon the Central Car Park until 2018 instead of the existing 2014, seems to suggest that both the Town Council and Liberty Mercian feel threatened by the suitability and viability arguments for a town centre development, and appear as a result to have sought to counter this threat by closing down the availability by gratuitous and artificial means.

The Strategic Planning Committee is meeting in Sept/Oct on these matters, and “It is the intention to approve only one application” says Mr Tim Rogers, Principal planning Officer, North West Area, Shropshire Council. Well God help ‘em, it’ll all end in tears and Judicial Reviews, and as the CPRE document says do we actually need out of town retail development at all?

Well, presentations of the three current applications have been put before the Special Development Control Committee. All were characterised by laughable overuse of the word “sustainable”, all got the violins out for the future of OCA, JT Hughes/Guttercrest and Burbidges respectively (notably no violins for the town centre), and Liberty Mercian and Vernons seemed sufficiently rattled by a potential Central Car Park proposal to forget about kicking each other and to jointly give the Central Car Park site a kicking instead.

The Smithfield doesn’t appear to have an operator on board, (though rumours persist of Tesco backing all horses - God knows they’ve been seen to be desperate enough for the Oswestry £ in the past, so why so coy now?), nor did the spokesman have answers as to who might occupy the other retail units, but made much of having a DIY operator interested, as if we can’t trip over DIY outlets already. The free bus service will operate for 5 years, with unspecified funding after that period. Mention of bus stops made considerable mention of on site bus stops at the Smithfield, but town bus stops were left off the Liberty Mercian drawings as they would have made the drawing “far too detailed”. Well…… indeed. A slick presentation that glossed over the “no operator” issue, and the implication that potential occupiers would seem to share the opinion that this ridiculous and out-dated out-of-town development is a dead duck.

The local team, J T Hughes/Guttercrest, made much of “architectural opportunity”, “unique site”, “sustainable development(!)”, “gateway design statement” etc etc. And to be fair, it seems apparent that considerable thought has gone into these issues, and also tha- a successful traffic solution to this awkward junction has been seen as being essential to the proposal. Despite all reassurances, it would take a real life scenario to demonstrate whether a roundabout at the junction of two of the main roads into town, with truck deliveries, branches off to a supermarket,  to the cemetery, close to the garage, and adjacent to the blind bend on the railway bridge would actually work as described. James Evans of Samuel Wood Commercial rightly spoke of the devastation to Wrexham town centre since the coming of Eagles Meadow, but made the curious claim that the J T Hughes/Guttercrest supermarket would have a role in “control and protection of the town and town centre” without substantiating quite how an “out of centre” (Nathaniel Lichfield Retail Survey) would succeed in doing this. Considerable woolliness about re-location of existing businesses and the time scale of this and thus of delivery.

The Vernons/Burbidge/King Sturge presentation reflected the confidence of the only developer with a named operator on board. Much made of public consultation, permeability and linkage with the town centre and “improved” traffic flow, despite the odd situation on Whittington Road described in a post below. Described emphatically as “edge-of-town” despite the Nathaniel Lichfield tablet of stone that all three developers cling to so enthusiastically describing all three sites as “out of centre”. No mention of future mezzanine with the 20,000-25,000 sq. ft. added retail space that that would provide. King Sturge’s spokeswoman claims that “Tesco is unlikely to draw trade from traditional and independent shops in the town centre”, which flies in the face of all evidence to the contrary over the UK over the last 20+ years, so how Oswestry town centre independents, of all in the country, are going to flourish in the shadow of a potential “category killer” store was left unclear. Perhaps the Special Development Control Committee would like to ask. The Tesco’s as applied for at this date will be 60% food and 30% comparison goods, 23% larger than Sainsbury’s, and the car park will be “basically free” - err…….. how basically? Free or not free? Big claims for environmental issues and the building having the potential to be Tesco’s 2nd environmentally friendly store. This does not ring many bells with those who feel that the “green industry” is just a means of enabling us all to live in the manner to which we have become accustomed, and not actually encouraging us to face up to the reality of living with less, consuming less, eating less, wasting less etc. etc. in a world of finite and declining resources.

Questions that should be asked by the Special Dev. Control Committee should include those concerning plans for future mezzanines with the potential for expanding retail space in any of these stores by up to 30%, how any of these “out-of-centre” (Nathaniel Lichfield) schemes guarantee to regenerate a town centre already described as “dead” by some councillors. Councillors should also ask whether town centre vitality is important enough for developers to bias their linkages and transport systems with the town in order to favour inward bound trips rather than outward bound supermarket trips. There are any number of extremely pertinent questions that require clear answers, and perhaps readers would like to assist councillors by suggesting some below.

The Central Car Park came in for a kicking by both Vernons and Liberty Mercian, who, despite their seeming disparagement of the site’s potential, took some time to cover the ground regarding it’s unavailability. They both appear rattled enough about a PPS6 compliant site to have written on this website in the case of Liberty Mercian, and to the Advertizer in the case of King Sturge.  Three key words come up in relation to the Central Car Park - suitability, viability and availability. The Nathaniel Lichfield Retail Survey described the Central Car Parks suitability as “good”, as opposed to “reasonable” or “poor”. The viability of the site is up to a developer to resolve, it’s what they do, just as the other developers have endeavoured to do with their own respective sites and schemes. The availability of the site - it is only unavailable due to the Town Council’s own pecuniary interest in the Smithfield site. The case rests, M’lud.

If you’ve read this weeks Tizer, you’ll know that the Liberty Mercian/Smithfield application has been presented to the Planning Dept. The others are expected to follow shortly. For the time being the 21 day objection period is not being implemented, as the Smithfield proposal consists of 7 boxes of documentation, and the other applications are not yet in. This means that numbers have not been allocated to the applications, and nor do  the public have access to them, so no formal objections can yet be constructed. But preparation is required, so if you are interested in making a formal objection, keep looking at this site, and reading your OS21 e mails. If you don’t receive them, then ask to be included on the mailing list. 

There are concerns about the partiality of the Advertizer, which seems to think that journalism consists of reiterating the publicity blurb of Liberty Mercian, when there is a need for a less partisan approach which might involve investigating the veracity of claims of job creation, beneficial effects on the town centre, what exactly is being offered in terms of free transport etc. There are plenty of towns that have had the supermarket/retail park combo foist upon them having swallowed the sales pitch, only to belatedly realise that the economic and social result didn’t stack up to the bullshit.  

Out of the stalls and away round the first bend, and it’s neck and neck. And how’s the field looking?

Well, there’s the lardy looking Liberty Mercian/Smithfield, carrying far too much weight, and despite the hype won’t like the heavy going, and then Vernons/Burbidges, looking flashy and in blinkers, another heavy horse and rider - keenly competitive, but over confidence could be it’s undoing, and then the outsider, riding in local colours, J T Hughes/Guttercrest, carrying less weight and may find current conditions more to it’s liking. And what’s this? Oh dear! Poor old Town Centre seems to be stuck in the stalls and it’s jockey, the veteran Town Council, appears to be doubling up on Liberty Mercian/Smithfield!! A very poor start indeed there for Town Centre……….what hope for a recovery?

Of course, there could well be a nasty pile up and a lengthy steward’s enquiry, and it’s a long race with a couple of months to run, so plenty of time to get those binocs out, enjoy a glass or two and watch them head out down the next straight and into the notoriously tricky Planning Application Corner.

So, who’s got a bet on? 

Fascinating piece in the Advertizer, 10th June, illustrating some oddly schizophrenic views from the Town Council.

A pension compamy, The Pension Trust, operating on the industrial estate, had made an application to Borough planners requesting them to “lift the condition that 30% of sales must be to the trade”. Councillors said that the current restrictions on how much trade should be allowed to the public were being widely breached. 

Councillor Martin Bennett said that out of town retailing to the general public had been allowed to grow  and had damaged town centre trading. “I would not think there are many premises down there which are not trading to the public”. Councillor Heather Bickerton said “There is more retailing down there than there is in the town centre. Perhaps that is why the town centre is so quiet”.  

These two Town Councillors are members of the council that have been negotiating with Oswestry Cattle Auctions and Liberty Mercian to provide a 40,000 sq ft sales area supermarket, a 5 screen cinema, 30,000 sq ft of non food retail floor space, 3 restaurants, a filling station and office space at the Smithfield. Of the three developments being proposed currently (Smithfield, Burbages, J T Hughes) the Smithfield would occupy the most out of town location.

This is an open and genuine invitation to both Councillor Martin Bennett and to Councillor Heather Bickerton to respond by commenting upon why an out of town supermarket and retail park will somehow not impact upon the town centre while the business of an out of town pension company does.

We will await your response with interest.    

Does Oswestry really need a hypermarket three times the size of Sainsburys, (whether at the Smithfield or Burbidges), which will retail food, electrical goods, chemists goods and clothes? What effect will this have on the town centre?

How does such large scale retail promote authentic choice when the effect it has is to force out independent retailers and the variety that they provide?

When an out of town Safeways opened in Leominster the number of empty shops rose from 16 to 36 in 5 years and the town unfortunately found itself qualifying for £2.2 million of Single Regeneration Budget funds as a result of town centre decline.

www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/2000/fulltext/446a13.1.pdf

The need for increased retail is recognised and there are alternatives. Smaller, varied outlets within and nearer the town centre of scale in keeping with the size of the town and it’s population. (e.g. M and S, Somerfield opening in the old Choices building).

At a time of steeply rising oil prices and declining resources after peak oil, is such car dependent consumerism wise planning for the next 20 years?

It’s time for Oswestry to become pro-active; traders need to coalesce and face development and economic challenges together. It’s time the town demanded a Town Council that was voted in on merit and not longevity of tenure, that didn’t whiff of nepotism and self interest, and that had a genuine and visionary interest in dealing with a post peak oil town at a time of huge environmental and economic change.

Is it not time for Oswestry to join the other 50+ towns and cities in the British Isles which are realistically facing the challenges of peak oil and climate change and become a Transition Town?

http://www.transitiontowns.org/

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” - Charles Darwin