News. . . .
October 14th, 2009
Council still undecided on Lidl supermarket planning
Contrary to reports you may have read in the local press, Carmarthenshire County Council has again adjourned a decision on the Lidl application for the Castle Motors site opposite CK’s in Newcastle Emlyn. The planning officers apparently have no further objections to this application, and it may be approved as early as the November meeting of the Planning Committee.
The Lidl application attracted only 4 objections from the public, and at least one of these came from the rival Cawdor camp.
Work on a new Cawdor application is understood to be progressing, although it seems increasingly unlikely that this will be decided until early 2010. The main change expected in the new plans is the re-siting of the proposed supermarket building away from the river to a site next to the houses in Tanyard Lane.
Readers of the Tivyside may have seen an interview given by Newcastle Emlyn’s county councillor, Haydn Jones, this week, and his comments have puzzled a good many people.
For those of you who haven’t seen the interview, he says that he believes a silent majority may be in favour of the Cawdor supermarket, and he dismisses opponents of the scheme as a noisy, well-organised minority.
In the same interview he says he really does not know what people think about the application for a Lidl store on the Castle Motors site opposite CK’s.
In order to help him make his mind up, he says, he would like readers of the Tivyside to cut out and send off a questionnaire which asks if they would like to see a supermarket in the town and whether it should be located in the town centre (i.e. Cawdor) or outside (i.e. Castle Motors).
Councillor Jones’s interview is strange for a number of reasons:
• It contradicts what he has been saying publicly and privately for some time (speaking in the Council Chamber three weeks ago he said he thought that a majority in the town were opposed to the Cawdor plan).
• The Castle Motors/Lidl application is almost certain to be approved and has attracted only 4 letters of objection, one of which came from a Cawdor representative. So why is he trying to make this application controversial at this very late stage?
• Councillor Jones is a very experienced county councillor, and he has previously served on the planning committee, including the fateful meeting when the County Council gave the go-ahead for the Tesco superstore in Carmarthen. So it looks odd that he should now be calling into question the Council’s own public consultation which resulted in over 600 objections being lodged against the Cawdor plan.
As any politician can tell you, the great thing about silent majorities is that nobody can prove they exist because they are, um, silent, and they can always be relied upon to support whatever you want.
But what do you, the readers of this website, think about Haydn and his poll? Is he right to muddy the waters, or has he badly let down the people he represents?
Councillor Haydn Jones wants you to help him make his mind up – here’s your chance!
Having moved to the area in march 2009 we believe that there is a requirement to provide competition for CK’s who do not provide a modern standard of service, particularly in areas of fresh fruit and veg.
I suggest that the proposed Lidl store would provide that competition without seriously affecting the excellent specialist shops within the town centre.
However, a further development at the Cawdor site is not considered as important and would certainly impact negatively on the town and its character.
From those I have spoken to about his comments – all of them are very angry indeed. Clearly we need to vote for someone else who has our best interests at heart – by the way when is the next election and can you put those details on the front page of the website?