Letter to Jane Davidson
Dic Dastardly
up and take notice. I have also written to the Tivyside and Carmarthen
Journal along the same lines, encouraging as many people as possible
to write to Jane Davidson and their AMs. As the letters say, there is
a tidal wave of supermarket applications right across the whole of the
South-West at the moment.
Dear Minister
I am writing to you personally to draw your attention to the tidal
wave of supermarket planning applications and developments now going
on in South-West Wales.
Currently Sainsbury’s is building a large new store in Cardigan and
Tesco’s has now said it plans to more than double the size of its
existing store in town; Tesco’s are planning to develop a new store in
Fishguard; Lidl is planning to build a new store in St. Clears and
plans for another supermarket, identity currently unknown, are being
considered for Newcastle Emlyn as well; CK’s is about to open a large
new supermarket in Llandysul; and the Co-op is planning to build a
store in Narberth, with rumours that two further applications for
supermarkets there are pending.
I belong to a group campaigning against one of the developments in
Newcastle Emlyn and have twice written to your department asking for
this application to be called in. Sadly, our request which is
motivated very largely by a lack of confidence in Carmarthenshire
Planning Services, has been rejected on the grounds that it is
considered to be of local importance only.
As I hope you can see, the particular application we are opposing is
only part of what seems to be a general onslaught in our region, with
the supermarkets apparently desperately jockeying for position and
trying to fill the last remaining gaps on the map.
Although there are undoubtedly valid arguments to be made for some
supermarket developments, rampant development of the kind described
above poses a serious threat to the fragile economies of some of our
smaller towns, undermining local businesses and often destroying at
least as many jobs as are created.
I am therefore asking you to “press the pause button” and put these
applications on hold to enable the Welsh Assembly Government and the
public to give serious consideration to the long-term implications for
our region of all these plans.