'A blot on the landscape': Architect hits out at new Welshpool stores

Doug Hughes, of design and planning consultants Hughes Architects, says good work in the canalside wharf area of the town is being let down by developments which are inconsistent with local planning design policy.

Mr Hughes says that while positive enhancements have been made to areas of Welshpool and Newtown in recent years, a spate of commercial and residential developments has brought into question the design standards which have previously helped protect local environments and communities.

"The area around the canal at Welshpool is a prime example," said Mr Hughes. "It's an area for local people and visitors to enjoy – a gateway into the town.

"There are a lot of older, established properties in the area and high-quality public realm work attracts people into the town. But the retail development work being undertaken close to it has resulted in large retail units not aesthetically consistent or in keeping with the immediate local environment being developed.

"There should be more consistency in the approach to planning such developments in the area to protect what we have and to ensure sustainable and appropriate commercial and residential developments in such areas."

Budget food chain Aldi is scheduled to open its major new store in Mill Lane, Welshpool, on April 27. About 40 jobs are being created by the German supermarket chain. A new B&M store is also being built across the road, bringing another 70 jobs.

The Aldi store is being built near Montgomery Canal, next to the Smithfield Bell pub, just yards away from the town's existing Tesco store.

Mr Hughes wants to see a local design panel to help enhance such developments with independent, professional advice during the planning process. Local design panels work with the planning authorities to obtain independent, impartial expert professional and lay informed advice on draft development proposals to improve schemes, not redesign them.

Mr Hughes said: "Development is important for the economic and social growth of our communities. But these need to be carefully balanced with what we already have in terms of our built environments and in some cases there doesn't seem to have been a great deal of thought put into how the two merge together."