Residents fight supermarket and pub plan near Bridgnorth
A proposed £1 million supermarket development near Bridgnorth, which would create 20 new jobs, has met with opposition.
New River Retail purchased the Squirrel Pub and surrounding land in Alveley back in December 2013.
It now plans to renovate the pub and build a Co-op store on the site next to it.
Protests have begun against the development which is to be submitted to Shropshire Council soon. An online petition against the plans has been created where local people are voicing their opinions.
The developers say the shop will create choice, new jobs, training opportunities and fresh produce.
The plans include 15 car parking spaces for the new food store and a free cash machine. Developers said the amount of parking spaces should be adequate given that the average stay at shops of this size is around ten minutes.
The developers also plan to invest £1 million in the pub.In addition to the £1 million investment in the new shop, the developers intend to make improvements to the pub too, internally and externally.
A spokesman for NewRiver Retail said: "We will shortly submit a planning application to Shropshire Council which aims to inject substantial new investment into the site.
"The new convenience store is only part of the story as we have been working with the current licensee on plans to make significant internal and external improvements to the pub to bring it up to modern standards.
"The new convenience store aims to offer local people high quality fresh produce at great value and it is expected that the majority of customers will visit by foot from the immediate area.
"In conjunction with the modernised pub, we believe that a really attractive new 'community hub' will be created, increasing choice and providing 20 new jobs for local people.
"We have circulated a local community leaflet explaining the plans and have also held an open evening in The Squirrel in early June. The response we have received from local people has been largely positive."
The petition against the development has been signed by 47 people, and there are 13 comments against the development.
James Seymour, who created the petition, said: "As you may be aware, New River Retail have purchased the Squirrel pub and surrounding land in order to build a Co-operative supermarket. It is a service our village does not require. It will be on an extremely busy road, accumulate a horrendous amount of dangerous traffic and ruin the appearance of our beautiful rural village.
"Not to mention the wider impact - packaging now makes up nearly a quarter of our household waste; approximately 40 per cent, ending up in landfills, comes from the market leading supermarkets. "Suppliers are exploited and the environment is damaged. "Supermarkets use their market dominance to exploit suppliers and farmers.
"The proposed development lies outside the village boundary of Alveley within the Green Belt.
"Let's save our village and sign this petition to prevent a supermarket being built on rural land."
Chris Beddoes, who has commented on the petition, said: "There is no practical or logical reason to build on that land, anything that is going to create traffic mayhem on the road, you only have to look at the mess Tesco has created in Bridgnorth with fuel, shopping and deliveries.
"We don't need it so don't build it."
Another comment, from Danielle Keeling, said: "It would force out local well-loved businesses who provide the basics and more, we've survived this long without a supermarket and we can carry on doing so."
