Letter: New superstore will damage Oswestry

Letter: We believe that any new superstore in Oswestry will be highly damaging for this market town.

However, Shropshire Council planners have said that the "fifth option", ie that of not building a new superstore in Oswestry, cannot be considered by the Strategic Planning Committee when it meets on July 29.

Technically they are correct, but it is also correct that none of the four bids for retail development in Oswestry needs to be approved by the committee.

There have been suggestions that the current applicants are engaged in a "beauty contest" and the best scheme will be app-roved. This is not the case.

While planning rules favour centre of town developments, each application must be judged on its individual merits. Planners must also examine the impact of development on existing retail provision, especially the small shops in the town centre, and whether the development is needed.

Shropshire Council's own consultants are absolutely clear that no large-scale retail development is required in Oswestry for at least six years, and our own analysis suggests that it will be several years beyond that, if at all, before another superstore is needed.

The Strategic Planning Committee has the option of rejecting all four applications. This is the best option for the vitality of Oswestry as a market town. The committee must not feel pressurised into accepting one of the schemes just because there are four rivals.

It must make decisions on the basis of what is best for Oswestry. This is the fifth option — no more large scale retail development.

The Oswestry Coalition