News. . . .
July 16th, 2009
Newcastle Emlyn Action Group delivers 250 letters objecting to town supermarket plan
Julie Gerrity and Gill Davies representing the recently formed Newcastle Emlyn Action Group today delivered 425 letters and a petition with 724 signatures to the Carmarthenshire Planning Department as a part of a battle to halt plans to build a supermarket on the Cawdor Cars site in the middle of the historic market town.
The letters and the petition were all signed by local residents and visitors to the town, which has a population of just over 900.
Gill Davies, who manages Ruby’s shoe shop in the town said,
“The response from the public to the Action Group’s campaign has been fantastic for such a small community. The number of local people who have taken time to write to the Planning Department shows how strong local opposition is to this plan, which would so drastically change the character of Newcastle Emlyn and have such a devastating effect on jobs and the wonderful range of independent shops we have.”
Julie Gerrity, who runs the town’s popular Spar shop said,
“Newcastle Emlyn is a traditional Welsh market town and is now sadly one of only a small number of towns left in Wales with a full range of traditional butchers, bakers, grocers and other food shops, as well as exciting specialist shops selling everything from local cheeses, bread and cakes to flowers, pottery and electrical goods. You can buy pretty much everything you need here, which is good for the environment and the local economy generally.”
The controversial plan for a new supermarket is not expected to come before the Council’s Planning Committee until August at the earliest. The supermarket itself would be almost three times the size of the existing CK’s supermarket, dwarfing all other retail businesses in the area.
Dr Tim Swann, a retired engineer who lives in the area said,
“Newcastle Emlyn already struggles to cope with all the traffic trying to squeeze through its narrow streets, and yet incredibly the early signs are that the Council’s Highways Department does not believe that the huge increase in cars and large delivery lorries will pose a threat to road safety or disrupt the flow of traffic. We have discovered that the Council carried out its survey of road use in early January during the ‘Big Freeze’ during which one pedestrian was tragically killed when she slipped and fell under a lorry. Not surprisingly, there were not many cars on the road.”
The Action Group believes that the supermarket plan would also be very damaging to the environment, with increased air pollution, more noise and lights round the clock, seven days a week. It also says that any new jobs created by the supermarket would be more than offset by the loss of jobs and businesses in the town’s busy main street.
The Action Group’s views are supported by the recently re-formed Newcastle Emlyn Chamber of Trade, local County Councillor John Crossley, the local Assembly Member Rhodri Glyn Thomas and MP Adam Price.
Good Luck!
I do hope you can stop this supermarket ruining a super little town