’Oppressive’ supermarket plan meets council objection
Last updated at 14:30, Wednesday, 17 August 2011
PLANS to build a supermarket in Ulverston town centre have been opposed by the town council.
The final decision on whether the “high-end” supermarket should be built on Robinson’s old brewery site will be made by South Lakeland District Council in October.
But Ulverston Town Council, in its capacity as a consultee, voted against the applications for the demolition of parts of Brewery Street and the construction of a supermarket.
The decision followed pleas from campaigners during a packed meeting on Monday night.
The council’s opinion is likely to form part of the report to go before SLDC’s planning committee.
Councillor Phil Lister forwarded the motions against the two applications.
The majority of councillors voted in favour, while some abstained, voted against or declared an interest because they were part of the anti-supermarket campaign.
Cllr Lister said the supermarket plans were “oppressive” and too large – and the “destruction of much of Brewery Street has to be restricted because it’s an integral part of the conservation area”.
He said the fact the supermarket provider remained unknown was another convincing reason to object.
Cllr Lister said: “Everybody who has ever put in a planning application, they’ve told me who it was for. Booths, when they applied, told me who they were, where it was going to go, how big, how many delivery lorries there would be etc.”
Earlier in the meeting, Keep Ulverston Special campaign chairman Colin Pickthall said the town was not dealing with a supermarket, “but a landlord who wants to build a supermarket”.
He added: “There might not be a supermarket interested in the site.
“Therefore, I suggest we as citizens are being invited to vote for a pig in a poke, and you are far too shrewd to vote on a pig in the poke.”
Fellow campaigner Gary Kirby said he had met the architects and was concerned to learn they plan to excavate four metres to create the proposed underground car park.
Mr Kirby labelled the plans “ridiculous” and said the obvious use for the site would be 15 affordable homes.
The meeting also heard there are more than 1,000 signatures on petitions against the supermarket.
Councillor Judy Pickthall said she and Councillor Colin Williams had issued questionnaires to 320 homes within three minutes of the site and, of the returns, four-to-one were against.
She said: “The residents are afraid because they don’t know what’s going to be there. The artist’s representation is too large. It’s out of scale for what they felt would be there.”
First published at 13:17, Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
OK, so I've been following, and contributing to this debate, and other threads, for a good while now, and we have a pretty good assessment of the "feel" of the mood of peeps. Lots want it, a few, vocal peeps dont, so, please tell me, how we can instruct our councillers, to organise a referendum. The issue isn't the development of the Brewery site, it's whether the peeps of this town want a Supermarket, Brewery site, or opposite the Daltongate park, dosn't matter, lets get this one settled, then discuss the details.
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Due to the selfishness, greed, and inflexiblity in their opening hours, of these town retailers, I will never use their shops again. £3.15p for 14oz rump steak at the Co-op, double that, minimum at a certain Market St. butchers, get a grip !!!
Posted by Petr on 23 August 2011 at 01:53