Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2009-01-11 07:37:42 - Graham Ellis
On Thursday evening, Lisa and I attended the Planning Committee Meeting of West Wiltshire District Council. Sounds boring, doesn't it? Well - it wasn't; a big decision to be made with regard to a new Asda supermarket to share a site on the edge of the town with Countrywide Farmers.
There were two other decisions to be made first - in both cases, the council's officers recommended accepting but the committee rejected. I don't know enough about the individual cases to make authoritative comment. Then we came to Asda. The Council's officers had looked at the proposal, and had come up with five reasons why they recommended it should be rejected. "There may be a smell from the sewage works", and "there could be traffic problems" and "it's not in line with government policy to develop this area for business" and my - laymen - paraphrasing of them. So, frankly, it didn't look too promising.
But the Mayor of Melksham spoke in favour. Of the chance of redeveloping an eyesore at the gateway to the town. Of an investment of around 25 million, and with hundreds of jobs coming in. Of a bus link to connect and help revitalise the town. And of shoppers staying in Melksham to shop rather than going to Trowbridge or Chippenham, and passing trade shopping in the Melksham area. Speaker after speaker followed - there must have been at least a dozen. A bus driver pointed out that there wasn't / wouldn't be a traffic jam problem with George Ward moving, and traffic light cycles upgraded since the initial proposals which the County Council had evaluated (so weren't actually valid any more). A speaker from the village of Holt pointed out that people from there would largely switch to shopping in Melksham ...
There was one (just one) high profile speaker against. Councillor Sarah Cardy raised the issue that the town's traders were worried about Asda pulling business away from the centre, and questioned whether the town could support a further supermarket. I confess that - as I listened to her - I was seriously worried that the committee would turn round and say "we haven't seen unanimous support from the town" and reject the proposal ... uneasy echos of the public consultation over the train service, where the DfT used just a single individual's representation (who said the train should serve HIS town instead) as a justification that public views were split. So my heart was in my mouth.
I had a brief chance to speak, and spoke of Melksham as a growing town where new businesses (such as our hotel and training centre) had brought new business to the area, at the expense of neighbouring towns if anywhere. And I pointed out that the town is growing and set to grow further - lots of housing, so the shop's needed. I probably amazed people who know me by NOT talking about travel and transport.
Further talk, and it came to the deputy Mayor then the committee members, and we held our breath. A Melksham representative spoke in favour, then another. A councillor from out of the area said that the proposal looks like a good one to bring real investment in, and that all too often planning folks look for reasons to turn plans down when they shouldn't. And councillors from Trowbridge (who had been accused - in jest - of looking far too much just to their town) spoke in support too. And pointed out that none - NOT ONE - of the traders who Sarah Cardy alleged were worried - had taken the trouble to come along and be heard. So very thought provoking support, with excellent and searching questions.
Wiltshire County Council had sent Allan Creedy (the guy who had been very quiet and appeared embarrassed at their lack of progress on the TransWilts train service at the November WWRUG meeting), and he was questioned by the committee. He explained how many assumptions had to be made in a transport model and that he couldn't be sure what would happen with regards to delays; in summary, he conceded that their models were out of date (it seems that - with officers saying REJECT - they may not have analysed the improved proposals fully enough), and that if there was any slowing of the traffic, it would probably be just a minute or two's delay at peak times only.
I love what Councillor Philips (NOT a Melksham councillor) came up with. "Let's see - we have to choose between a major investment of 25 millions pounds and lots of jobs, or the fact that it might lead to a couple of minutes delay". And his argument set the scene for a vote at which the committee (by about 12 to 2) came down in favour of progressing the proposal / making every effort to bring in the store.
So why just ONE cheer, not three?
We loose one cheer, because Central Government thinks it knows better, and it's not actually within the remit of the committee to approve ... a couple of the 'reason to rejects technically go against government policy (e.g. the site is technically not in town, even though it's closer than the new doctor's surgeries and school) ... and so they won't actually ALLOW the decision to be made locally - it has to go to the secretary of state - that's Hazel Blears, MP for Salford, Manchester - though may be delegated to government staff in Bristol.
And we loose a second cheer because West Wilts District Council ceases to exist on 1st April - with its powers taken over by Wiltshire Council, its officers joining them, and the elected representatives who made the decision on Thursday bein out of District Office. Wiltshire haven't show themselves to have taken the Asda proposal seriously, with Allan's outdated information - and he was far better than four other sections who - comment was made - "Amazingly, haven't even replied to out request for their inputs ..."
The officer's report for forwarding to central government comes back to the commitee in February (a very fast turn around) so that it can be put through before there's a change at the helm with the delays that could cause, but as the committee said "we want and approve this - but we'll be dead and buried before it comes to fruition".
So - one cheer for local democracy. I hope that seed that's been planted will grow into a mighty tree - I know that there's near-unanimous support for it to do so, with the benefits far outweighing the issues. Forward, to a vibrant Melksham.