Newport won't reap rewards of superstore, says expert
Shoppers visiting a superstore planned for the edge of Newport would visit the town's High Street, but not in 'significant' numbers, a planning inquiry witness has admitted.
Peter Blair, a highways planning expert called as a witness by Telford & Wrekin Council, was speaking under cross-examination by Miss Nathalie Lieven, for Morrisons, yesterday. The council owns land at Station Road, and has granted permission for a Sainsbury's there.
That decision was called in by the Government and is now the subject of the three-week inquiry.
The pair were discussing the number of 'linked trips' people would take between the supermarket and work or another destination.
Mr Blair said there would not be a huge number of people walking into town after shopping at the new store, although it would happen.
He said: "There is potential for people to walk into the town centre – but the number of people would not be significant."
Mr Blair also told the inquiry that there would be an extra 6,000 shopping trips to Station Road compared to the proposed Morrisons, off Audley Avenue.
He said: "The figures suggest 24,000 trips would be made to Audley Avenue each week, but there would be 26 per cent more trips going to the Station Road site."
Mr Blair's figures suggest that 6,240 more trips would be made to the Sainsbury's a week, or 324,480 a year.
However, he did say a small number would be people working at the Audley Avenue Business Parks.
He said: "Five per cent of linked trips are people who actually work at the site, so five per cent of the people working at Morrisons is a fairly small amount."
The inquiry, at the Park Inn Hotel in Telford, will continue today.
