Supermarket plan ‘threatens Oswestry revival’
Monday 26th July 2010, 8:00PM BST.
Oswestry’s retail “revival” will be put at risk if councillors approve plans for a multi-million pound supermarket, campaigners claimed today. Councillors will decide on Thursday which one of four bids gets the go-ahead.
Planning officers have recommended the application by J Ross Development to build the store on Oswestry’s Central Car Park should be approved.
But the Keep Our Town Special coalition, an organisation comprising members of campaign group Oswestry 21, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Oswestry Civic Society, said today a new store would “wreck” Oswestry’s retail experience.
Mike Bullen, chairman of CPRE Oswestry, said: “The Central Car Park scheme is vastly oversize for a town the size of Oswestry.”
Saffron Rainey, chairman of the Oswestry Civic Society, said: “Oswestry is enjoying a great revival. A new superstore, wherever in the town it is located, will wreck the unique atmosphere of Oswestry.
“Shropshire Council has a once in a lifetime opportunity to keep this town special.”
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Oswestry Town council own the main car park and have clearly stated that it is not available for development.
Can that be the end of the matter?
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revival?
Dont make me laugh, Oswestry is dead on its feet and these NINBYs just want to keep it a quaint old dead market town only fit for the farmers.
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Developers would like you to think that Oswestry is dead on its feet. But this is simply not true. We are currently experiencing the worst recession in living memory and yet Oswestry is riding out the storm. Developers are scrambling to build in Oswestry. If it was dead would they be so interested?
Four separate developers are hoping to make a killing in the town. What they will kill is the mix of different types of multiples, independent shops, including specialist shops and niche retailers that make for an excellent shopping experience. These businesses are all interdependent and support a wide range of service providers like solicitors, accountants, car mechanics and so on. Another supermarket won’t pull more people into the town it will just take its trade from existing Oswestry stores. Towns like Oswestry are becoming very rare and should be valued for what they are.
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Towns like Oswestry are becoming very rare because they don’t work in the 21st century, they’ve had to change to survive just like we will. Like it or not Oswestry is dead on its feet, theres nothing to attract people here anymore you can shop around the entire town centre in an hour and find nothing worth buying thats why so many people choose to shop outside of town now.
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