Shropshire Star

Party leaders clash over plans for Newport store

Labour politicians in Telford & Wrekin  today accused the Conservative group of hypocrisy after revealing it was the Tories who first came up with the idea of a new supermarket in Newport – despite vehemently opposing the plans for three years.

Published
The Station Road site owned by Telford & Wrekin Council,

Local Conservative leader Councillor Andrew Eade has been one of the most vocal opponents against a proposed Sainsbury's in Station Road.

But the leader of Telford and Wrekin Council, Kuldip Sahota, said today it was Cllr Eade's Tory administration that first came up with the plan for the greenfield land in 2011 when the party was in power.

The site for a proposed Morrisons supermarket in Audley Avenue, Newport

Councillor Eade has previously conceded this – but the council claims that talks were at a far more advanced stage than the Tories like to admit.

Letters seen by the Shropshire Star show that the Tory-led council had got as far as appointing St Modwen as the developers of the site – and hoped to have the store open by October 2012. Councillor Eade says the supermarket his group promoted was much smaller than the current proposal.

He said that the money would have been used to rebuild the town's Burton Borough School – and said a ballot would have been held to find out the opinions of residents.

The Station Road land is owned by the council. If the Sainsbury's scheme goes ahead, it would bring in about £21 million in land sales.

Telford & Wrekin Council has been accused of using Newport as a "cash cow". The local authority had backed the store at a public inquiry, which was halted when the lead inspector died before delivering his verdict. A second inquiry is scheduled to take place this year.

It has also appealed against a rival Morrisons supermarket in Audley Avenue on three occasions – and lost each time.

Today the leaders of both parties spoke out about the saga which has cast a shadow over the town since 2011.

Councillor Kuldip Sahota:

Councillor Kuldip Sahota

Councillor Kuldip Sahota, the leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, today said it was time that the people of Newport knew "the truth" about the long-running supermarket debacle.

He produced letters from 2011 which prove the Tories were courting supermarkets to operate on the Station Road fields when they were in charge.

The letters show that Councillor Andrew Eade's party planned to submit a planning application in July 2011, with work starting on site in February 2012.

In an open letter to Councillor Eade, Councillor Sahota said: "In an interview you gave in April, you said that you weren't in any way in favour of the supermarket development in Station Road and that there was no excuse for building on greenfield sites.

"These views have been repeated numerous times by you and other members of your group.

"The process for the Station Road site and supermarket development, which included developing on greenfield land, was begun under your administration of the council in early 2011.

"The people of the borough and, most importantly, the people of Newport deserve to know the truth and why you have chosen to hide the fact that the Station Road development was put on a firm contractual basis while this council was under your control.

"Your version of events and opposition to the Station Road plans have been widely reported over the last three years, and now with legal issues decided, I feel it is time for people to know the truth of who and how this whole issue was started.

"Our aim throughout has been to protect and secure best value for the public purse and to secure a supermarket for Newport to further enhance the town and create employment."

Councillor Sahota said the council had spent £155,000 on court action against a Morrisons in Audley Avenue as, without developer contributions, "the cost of infrastructure works in Newport is likely to be in excess of £2 million".

His letter added: "As you are no doubt aware, the Sainsbury's supermarket would create over 400 jobs in Newport and generate a significant sum of money that the council would use to lessen the impact of cuts by around £1.2 million a year on key local services including adult social care and services for children, the environment and highways."

Councillor Andrew Eade:

Councillor Andrew Eade

Councillor Andrew Eade, the leader of the opposition Conservative group, admitted that his party first came up with the idea of a supermarket in Station Road.

But he said the store would have been 40,000sq ft – about half the size of the proposed Sainsbury's – and would have raised enough cash to rebuild Burton Borough School at a new location.

He said that the Tories would have held a public ballot before going ahead with the scheme.

In a letter to Councillor Sahota, he said: "The potential development of the Station Road site was indeed identified by my administration, something that we have never made a secret of, and something that we exchanged views over at the one and only public meeting in Newport that you have so far managed to attend.

"As you well know we were looking to identify a further £10 million capital receipt to add to the Building Schools for the Future programme to allow the total rebuild of Burton Borough School, an aspiration you have fallen well short of.

"We were also looking to deliver a new recycling centre and business park in Newport. That is something you have also fallen well short of, even to the point of cancelling the recycling centre.

"Critically, the ultimate choice, as to whether this project ever saw the light of day would have been left to the residents in Newport as, rather than the so-called consultation undertaken by your administration, we had resolved to ballot the town for a decision to develop on the Station Road site in return for the desperately-needed new school and the infrastructure projects I have just mentioned.

"The proceeds of any sale would have been wholly spent in Newport whereas your administration have made it blatantly clear that none of the £21 million – over double what we were looking to raise – for which you have been reported as selling the site for, will be spent in the town."

Councillor Eade said that the Labour administration could have pulled the plug on the scheme when it took over.

He said that claims the council could be left with a bill of £2 million for infrastructure were "laughable".

He said the money spent dealing with supermarket applications in Newport was "the largest waste of cash in the council's history".

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.