Scaled down plans revealed in Ludlow supermarket saga
Scaled-down plans for a controversial out-of-town supermarket near Ludlow have been revealed, with planners claiming it will have a "very low" impact.
Developers hope the new plans for a smaller store at Rocks Green, on the A49 as it bypasses Ludlow, will assuage the concerns of councillors and neighbours alike.
Shropshire Council has reopened a consultation until January 12 for the public and various organisations to give their views on the changes.
The supermarket plan has met opposition from many in the town who say it will take trade away from the town centre.
Shropshire Council's south planning committee came to the brink of throwing the plans out in October, only for councillors to be stopped from making a final decision by the authority's own officers.
In a letter to Shropshire Council, Sean McGrath of Indigo planners, acting on behalf of developers Blackfriars, said: "Members were concerned that the store proposed was 'too large'.
"Councillors Tina Woodward, Richard Huffer and John Hurst-Knight agreed that a smaller store would be favourable.
"The size of the store will have a direct influence on the turnover of the store and hence its trade diversion and impact on the town centre.
"As you know we have not signed a named operator, although there is significant interest in the market. Therefore, we have the flexibility to reduce the store size."
He added there was a 17 percent reduction of the net floor area of the store.
He said: "Having a smaller store has also allowed us to re-position the store so that it is rotated by 90 degrees.
"This will mean that the service yard will back onto the A49, reducing the potential impact on nearby residents."
He said members seemed to have taken a figure of 11 percent impact on the town centre as on the town's small independent traders, when in fact most of that impact would be only on the town's Tesco store.
