Say Yes to Tesco in Stourport
Like Fox News the Shuttle has tried to be fair and balanced by published some letters from people who approve of a new Tesco store in Stourport. Unlike Fox News (and the Shuttle) I'm going to take these comments and show that the writers are morons whom agreeing with will only lead us closer to godless homosexual socialism; well no I'm not actually.
Okay so the first letter points out that Tesco won't be competing with other "local shopkeepers". Amusing to hear a consumer wanting a store because there isn't and won't be any competition for it; that's normally the business argument. In a sense he is correct in that we don't have any grocers or fishmongers in town, we do have grocers out of town though, but using this as an argument is the equivalent of saying we need a dry dock for boats in town so we might as well build one that can handle the QE2. In this case site size really does matter.
His next argument is that Tesco are proposing considerable improvements to the town structure then fails to tell us what they are. Other then renovating the CoW site the only additions are the extension of Discovery Road and a bridge over the Stour, which a) are all scheduled as work to be done by the council at some point and b) as some have pointed out may in fact be handled by the land agent and not Tesco themselves. In the meantime Tesco will be leaving yet another building in town vacant.
Next letter who kind of makes the point themselves
Having shopped locally for years - butchers, pet shop, greens - I then proceed to Kidderminster to do my main shopping in order to gain access to the stores' full range of foodstuffs and look forward to the day when my grocery needs can be wholly inclusive in Stourport.So would you still visit the local "butchers, pet shop, greens" then go to Tesco, or would you go to Tesco first find they do everything you want and then leave?
And finally this letter with which I agree. There's nothing worse then the equivalent of summer home people coming down and then whining that the town is changing and how it should all stay the same as when they first turned up.
So as to my credentials - well I've lived here for 20+ years, my father for 40+ years, my grandfather (who worked at the power station) for 70+ years, his father (a house builder who constructed some of the houses in the town) for 70+ years; well in all totality I can trace my family back to when a Kidderminster gent married a Mitton lass back in 1790-odd. Heading back through her line and well we've been here in Stourport before it was Stourport. hope that sets things straight.
I'm not against progress, I'm not against change. I'm for the Basin Link, I'm for the redevelopment of the CoW site; just not for siting retail businesses there.
1 comments:
How strange, I was about to blog about the samething! However, after reading your responses I let you take the soap box.
I would like to add something :-) :
(1) Letter 2 'Full range of foodstuffs': Although the author has attempted to pre-empt an argument of 'full-range' and the Shuttle has added the 'full range of foodstuffs' title, I would like to reiterate the argument. Large supermarkets do offer a wide range of different products under one location, however, large supermarkets do not offer a full range of a particular type of product. For instance they only stock the best selling range of crisps, whereas local retailers sell a wider variety of crisps, but if the local retailer goes the consumer will not be able to buy their favourite (unusual brand) crisps and become weaned on to the 'run-of-the-mill' crisps until they forget about them. Sorry usual brand crisp manufacturer you will have to make your employees redundant! Now replace 'crisp' with any other product (flowers are a good example) and you'll understand the argument.
(2) Still on letter #2 'Full range of foodstuffs': The author implies that houses built on the site would result in more traffic. That's simply not true, residential zones create a rush of traffic outbound in the morning and a rush of traffic inbound in the evening, with a bit more traffic on Saturdays (but spread thinly) and hardly anything on Sundays (Christmas time being the exception). Large Supermarkets create consumer traffic spread throughout the day and then concentrated at night, with a full weekend concentration and consistent traffic of deliver trucks and Internet Shopping vans.
(3) The third letter 'People can't afford to travel': The traffic flow differences between the old vinegar & carpet works was highlighted at the first application. Tut _ don’t objectors read all the details and history of an application?
(4) What about the 'Fed up of travelling' letter? "...people will come into town and shop". Yes at Tesco! Who deserves more money Sir Terry Leahy or local businesses?
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