Council says new supermarket ‘would boost Newport’s shops’
Friday 29th July 2011, 3:30PM BST.
A new supermarket on the outskirts of Newport could actually boost high street trade in the town rather than kill it, it has been claimed.
Retail planning consultant Martin Robeson, said people would get into the habit of doing their weekly food shop in Newport and then look for other items in the town centre.
He was joined by representatives from Telford & Wrekin Council, St Modwen and Davidsons Developments at last night’s meeting with town councillors.
The partners have unveiled plans for a large supermarket and more than 600 houses on land either side of Station Road, off the A518.
Councillors said they were worried a 50,000sq ft supermarket and petrol station would take trade out of Newport’s centre.
But Mr Robeson told the meeting at the Guildhall: “We have to deal with the issue that 65 per cent of people in Newport and the catchment area don’t do their weekly shop in Waitrose or Co-op.
“If we can keep people in Newport, they are more likely to look locally for other things. There are positives as well negatives.”
Mr Robeson said whether or not the store was open 24 hours would depend on the operator which took over.
Alan Fox, the council’s estates and investment manager, said he hoped an operator would be secured soon.
Town councillor Peter Scott said the planned supermarket was in the wrong place. He said: “I can’t believe that anyone with half a brain would want a supermarket there.”
More than 200 comments were received at a public consultation this month.
A Facebook campaign against a supermarket has also attracted support from more than 500 residents.
The scheme also includes an extension to the business park and a care village. About 500 jobs would be created and money would also be made available for town centre improvements.
Mr Fox said: “A new bus service would be run throughout Newport for many years.”
A planning application is expected to be submitted in late summer after another public consultation event.
By Sean Wozencroft
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According to a 1998 report by the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions edge of town supermarkets caused the diversion of trade from the town centres to the edge. I cannot see how things can have changed since then. With a large supermarket situated on the edge of Newport where you can do all your shopping under one roof what incentive is there for people to shop in the centre of town? And who is Mr Robeson to presume to speak on behalf of Newport residents when he states “WE” have to deal with the issue that 65% of Newport residents shop outside of Newport? Does he even live in Newport?
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And how exactly does Retail planning consultant Martin Robeson, based in central London, know whats best for a small market town in Shropshire. As his clients include Tesco and Persimmon Homes hes hardly neutral is he?
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I live in Newport but I don’t shop there, too little choice
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If a new supermarket is built and, as it is feared, it impacts on trade within Newport’s high street causing shops to close and possibly one of the existing supermarkets – then you are left with even less choice. Supermarkets are not about offering choice, they are about cornering the market and forcing out opposition.
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Not really I’d at least be able to feed myself for a week then without paying Coop and Waitrose inflated prices, all you can get in the high street is a tin of beans from B & M’s
If they don’t build a new supermarket I and the majority of Newport residents will continue to shop out of town so you won’t get any new custom to the high street anyway which will rather defeat the purpose of the opposition campaign in part.
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Then this is an issue that needs to be taken up with Waitrose and the Co-op, why not petition them asking them to reduce their prices, after all it is in their interests to attract more customers. Building a new supermarket on the periphery of the town is not going to benefit traders in the centre of the town, it will have a detrimental effect on their trade.
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You seem to be missing the point of the opposition campaign. The campaign is about the destruction of Newport, turning a little rural market town into a characterless replica of Telford, covering green open fields with concrete. You seem to be obsessed with the cost of baked beans.
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Is this the same council that a year ago blocked a proposal for a supermarket on the outskirts of town as it would take trade away from the town centre supermarkets??
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So they don’t even have an operator lined up yet? How can this so-called expert predict all these things if they don’t even know who’s going to be running the supermarket?
Equally, how does he know that adding a third (!) supermarket to this small market town will have any significant impact on the people who he claims shop outside the town? Will the supermarket be one that all these people want to use? Will it sell the things they want? Will it fit into their shopping habits? Presumably these people have no other shopping needs at all, so they can satisfy all their requirements at this new supermarket and won’t need to shop outside Newport at all? Or will it be the case that plenty of people will still want to shop outside the town as they can’t get all the things they need at the new place? If you can get 50% of the stuff you need from Newport and 100% from Telford, surely you’ll just go to Telford?
The way that the “estates and investment manager” talks makes it sound like this is a done deal. Surely there is a conflict of interest with the council controlling the land and also having a say with the planning decision? In the interests of fair play and transparency, the final decision needs to be taken out of the hands of the council.
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This won’t bring extra trade to the town. Newport residents will simply stop off at this supermarket as they leave or enter Newport. It won’t do anything for the town centre. It will only feed those who own the supermarket.
Newport is already a town of commuters as there are no jobs within the town unless you work in a shop so the extra housing will do nothing except further increase the already heavy traffic flow in and out of the town.
Why build on a green site anyway? There are plenty of existing locations. What about the empty Focus DIY building? I only hope it’s a Morrisons and not another awful Tesco.
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Instead of using the ‘bribe’ from the developers to build houses, why not abolish business rates in the High Street?
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Don’t believe the council, Newport. You only have to go to Madeley to see how Tesco as affected its high street. It’s like a ghost town – with Tesco in the middle. Keep on fighting!
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