News. . . .
6 May 2009
Report on Town Council Special Meeting
Mayor of Newcastle Emlyn Cllr Maureen Webley called a special meeting of the Town Council last night – Tuesday 5th May 2009 – to discuss developments on the Supermarket planning application by Eiddo Davies Properties Ltd (Cawdor Cars).
This report is by Richard Vale who attended the meeting:
“At the special Council meeting held last night, the Town Council took another look at the plans. The meeting was well attended, and there was an interesting discussion. As an observer, it was clear what a difficult job the council faces with this application, which is almost certainly the most complex and controversial one they have ever had to deal with, and they certainly have not been helped by the poor information provided to them by the applicant and Carmarthenshire County Council.
“As quite a few people suspected, the applicant’s analysis of the commercial impact of the new supermarket was a very flawed document. The council now has access to two other reports, one from Lidl and the other produced by an independent group. These show that Cawdor’s figures are way, way out of line with what other specialists believe.
“Second, the Highways Department appears not yet to have reported on the plans, although they did carry out a traffic census on a single day back in January. The impression I gained, especially after impressive contributions from Councillor Fiona White and others, was that, all other considerations aside, the application should fail on the grounds of road safety and the devastating impact it will have on traffic in town.
“One important piece of information to come out of last night’s meeting was that this is a full planning application. This means that if the application succeeds, there will be no going back and neither the council nor anyone else will have any more say in the matter. Given that nobody, apart from Cawdor, knows which supermarket chain is likely to move in, the town and county councils are in effect being asked to sign a blank cheque.
“It is probably safe to assume that we are not about to get a branch of Harrods, and that the likely suspects will be Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons, Asda or Co-op. All of these companies (except for Co-op), and Tesco especially, are extremely successful at pushing through planning applications in the teeth of often overwhelming local opposition, and they certainly have far more experience and expertise to bring to bear than our local authorities. This means that opponents of the scheme can expect a very tough battle indeed over the next few months. Perhaps they should look at the handful of other small towns which have successfully kept Tesco out and see what we can learn from them.
“Another important step would be for the council to look at holding a local referendum on the plans. That would certainly be a powerful and democratic way of making the community’s views known loud and clear.
“In the meantime, I am sure that that everybody who is worried about the future of the town will be grateful to Councillor Webley for the honest and courageous way she went about making the council take another look at the plans.”
i support the idea of a referendum
a large supermarket would be disastrous for the town, in terms of both traffic and trading
it would be useful to know how many people drive to cardigan and/or carmarthen on a regular basis to do supermarket shopping, and whether they would shop in newcastle emlyn instead
i would support the co-op, (or lidl if they re-apply)limit the size, insist on the provision of adequate parking, and hope shoppers from out of town would visit both the store and the town
I feel that a proper supermarket in Newcastle Emily would be good for the town, it would provide jobs, bring people from places like Llandysul, where shopping facilities are poor and promote competition
I am affraid that progress cannot be stopped.P Murphy is right in her comments that people now travel to Carmarthen and Cardigan for their main shopping of the week,they then top up at local shops.If we can keep the main shopping of the week in Newcastlemlyn we will inject money in to the local economy through jobs and services provided.The position of the new store is aslo important,it needs to be close to the town center as possible,as this will then encourage the weekly shopper to visit the town other trades and therefor increase their businesses.The site at the Cawdor Cars is idial as it is close to the town center,has parking.Any other site will be the death nail of the town centre as has been shown over and over again across the country.We need to revitalise the town and encourage more shoppers into the core of the business area of the town.If you can increase foot traffic to the town we are on to a winning formula.It will encourage other owners to revitalise their properties.
I wish I could be more hopeful about the prospects of a supermarket in town but looking at the research of other small towns like Emlyn, in most cases they have destroyed the towns and at least 75% of businesses have closed down.
Imagine how Emlyn would look if all the shops disappeared – what would replace them? Bookmakers, charity shops, takeway food shops? This has already happened to other towns up and down the country already.
As for creating more jobs – yes to a point I agree there will be jobs for those working at the supermarket, they would increase but don’t forget to count the JOB LOSSES WITHIN ALL THE SHOPS AND BUSINESSES ALREADY IN NEWCASTLE EMLYN. More jobs lost than created that’s for sure.
If anyone can show us a good story where a supermarket was placed in a town like ours that worked then I would be encouraged. But the figures show the rate we are losing small businesses each year because of supermarkets moving in – by 2025 there wont be any of small independent shops left.
If the town goes along with hundreds of jobs then people would have to move away and others wont move into the area…shame really just as Emlyn seemds to be finding its identity again.
In these days of a falling economy we need groceries at realistic prices instead of paying a premium at the likes of the Somerfield and CK’s. At present most folks have to travel to Carmarthen every week. There is nothing in-between NE and Carmarthen and a lot of people are not able to travel. It will bring people into the town which will be good for other businesses. Lidl does not have a bakery or butchers so those businesses would not suffer. Somerfield is small, expensive, has limited stock and causes no end of traffic problems due to its location. The new supermarket will also create more jobs with better propects for people. The proposed new site ins’t on the high st so the main road wont be blocked by illegally parked vehicles. Provided there is adequate parking I really cant see a problem traffic wise.
I think its time to move into the 21st century!
I support it, CK’s is over priced and old fashioned, they sell the basics and then a load of old tat in my opinion, Spar and Somerfield are over priced, bring Tescos to the area, it would bring more people to the town and local business would benefit.
Does anyone know WHO to email to submit an objection to this proposal?
Such as planners, planning committee, welsh assembly etc?
Thanks
A supermarket would mean the end of Newcastle Emlyn as we know and love it. It would become just another dormitory town with nothing but a handful of charity shops in the high street. It’s happened all over England. Let’s not let it happen in Wales.
Some interesting comments. It is fair comment that quite a few people in the area without cars end up paying more and have less choice than those who can shop in Carmarthen and Cardigan. Personally I feel that a Lidl on the proposed Castle Cars site would be good – they do stock all the basics (including meat and bakery products) and would force CK’s to be more competitive. Although some of the independent traders might feel some pressure from Lidl, I think it would be nothing like as damaging as a very large new store bang in the heart of the town.
Or how about a decent, affordable hopper bus service to Cardigan or Carmarthen? One which ran on time and didn’t stop so it got you there in the same time as a car but at a fraction of the cost and with less pollution? Tesco’s might even subsidise it!
Catriona: write to
Eifion Bowen, Head of Planning
Carmarthenshire County Council Planning Services
40 Spilman Street
Carmarthen
Carmarthenshire
SA31 1LQ
re: Planning Application W/20805, Cawdor Garage site, Newcastle Emlyn
or email to planning@carmarthenshire.gov.uk
If you go to http://www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk you can find all the relevant documents (keep following the “Planning” tags).
You can also contact you AM and MP via http://www.writetothem.com
Chris & Lynn, I wish it would happen the way you think it would in a small town like ours. Look at what they say about Tesco’s. Just a snippet here:
Who now controls over 30% of the grocery market in the UK. In 2009, the supermarket chain announced profits of over £3bn. Growing evidence indicates that Tesco’s success is partly based on trading practices that are having serious consequences for suppliers, farmers and workers worldwide, local shops and the environment.
It does make you think about these large supermarkets and how they treat their workers in the shops and suppliers.
Some interesting comments. It is fair comment that quite a few people in the area without cars end up paying more and have less choice than those who can shop in Carmarthen and Cardigan. Personally I feel that a Lidl on the proposed Castle Cars site would be good – they do stock all the basics (including meat and bakery products) and would force CK’s to be more competitive. Although some of the independent traders might feel some pressure from Lidl, I think it would be nothing like as damaging as a very large new store bang in the heart of the town.
Or how about a decent, affordable hopper bus service to Cardigan or Carmarthen? One which ran on time and didn’t stop so it got you there in the same time as a car but at a fraction of the cost and with less pollution? Tesco’s might even subsidise it!
Of course it seems more convenient to have a supermarket in town, and of course we all want to pay less for our groceries, but I’d hope we can see through the blinding propoganda to the truth about how supermarkets are destroying towns, global farming, human rights, as Grace points out above. We need, as Richard Vale has said above, to be prepared to fight for improved public transport to the supemarkets that already exist… that is, if we HAVE to shop in supermarkets at all. It is absolutely possible to do all your grocery shopping in Newcastle Emlyn at present, and not have to go to ANY of the big chains, or CKs.
If we all just changed our habits, educated and helped our neighbours, and were prepared to spare a little extra money (perhaps what we’d normally be prepared to pay for transport and the crap you eventually end up buying when tempted in the supermarket) we would keep Emlyn thriving as it is, and encourage further small businesses and even more competitive prices. We all have the power, as consumes, to change the norm!
Glad to see that some people can see the benefits of having ‘a supermarket’ within walking distance of the town and local shops along the high street.
Holly Cross I think if you are shoppng for a large family you would struggle to do it all in Newcastle Emlyn without going to any supermarket! The cost, the carrying of bags would be some issues causing problems. If you are just shopping for yourself then yes maybe you could.
I go to Cardigan shopping and always see a lot of people from NCE area there shopping in Tesco’s. I remember when Tesco’s first came to Cardigan there were a lot of people against the store but now I see them all shopping there!
A store on the ‘Lidl site’ would be disaster for the town as then people would just shop there and go home!
We will have to wait and see what supermarket will be interested in coming to NewCastle Emlyn, if planning was to be given. Think that will be up to the Land owner who he sells to.
Remember ‘Cawdor’ will still have a business in town to think of and they will want it to be a thriving market town for their benefit as well.
Tesco’s or other large multinational chain have enough power to undercut all competitors until they fold. Tescos say they are cheap- but comparitively speaking we are able to buy cheaper/better quality meat at the local butchers and fish at the fishmongers. Things are only ‘cheap’ if you buy in bulk- then throw 50% of it away unused anyway! So, in actual fact it is more expensive than going to the local shop and buying what you actually need!
TESCOs squeeze the producer to the point of poverty- whilst THEY rake in the profits. When the credit crunch originallly began to bite it wasn’t TESCO that dipped into its profit margin- the producer had to do bear the cost of this.
As Dairy farmers fold at an alarming rate because they are paid less than it costs to produce the milk in the first place- consumers BEWARE. When we, in the UK cannot produce our own food we will be subject to market forces- well above the rate of inflation. Each year we become more reliant on Overseas producers.
If we need to buy in food from abroad, these Countries will only sell us excess produce. NO Excess, no food. We could all reduce the impact of global warming if we only bought seasonal food.
Let us support the local economy and shop local. There will be more jobs as it currently stands with shops in the Town Centre. That way, more money ends up in the local economy.
If TESCO do want extra trade- why not supply a free bus service as mentioned by another commenter.