Do we need a supermarket in Cofferidge Close 2.5 times bigger than Budgens?
The retail floor space in Budgens is 650 m2. To better serve the growing population of the town, it would be good to increase this to around the size of the Waitrose store in Buckingham (at 920 m2). But the owners of the Cofferidge Close site, to attract out-of-town shoppers and their cars, want to demolish most of the existing buildings, and replace Budgens with a big 'shed' two and a half times its size. This is not a viable business proposition, given the competition from bigger and more accessible supermarkets (existing and planned) with easy parking, only a few miles away. We could end up with a 'white elephant' in the town centre, and lose the flexibility of the current mixed-use site, with buildings which can be adapted to changing shopping and community needs over the decades to come. At the moment Cofferidge Close is a 'future-proof' site, and we should not let it be demolished....
>> Click here to download our Report on Economic Sustainability (pdf, 5 MB)
>> Click here to download our Report on Economic Sustainability (pdf, 5 MB)
What effect would a big new supermarket have on the vibrancy of the High Street?
Developers claim that a much larger store would increase 'footfall' in the High Street, be good for local businesses, and create more jobs. But they also want to restrict parking in the Close to 2 hours, 7 days a week: this is likely to discourage people from lingering in High Street shops, pubs, and restaurants (and in church). The jobs created in-store have to be set against the loss of all jobs in Budgens and in the HIgh Street shops likely to be put out of business (butchers, baker, delicatessen, florists, card shops...). In a survey of 38 retailers conducted in April 2011, only 4 felt that a supermarket of the size proposed would attract more customers, and and many felt it would harm their business.
How much more traffic can the centre of Stony accommodate without gridlock?
The existing road network around Cofferidge Close is almost at saturation point. The developer's traffic assessment shows that the number of trips into the Close will more than double; and the store will require 8 daily HGV deliveries – a fourfold increase over the two daily deliveries to Budgens, each one of which causes backing up of other traffic in Silver Street during negotiation of the arch into the Close. No night time deliveries will be permitted because of neighbouring houses - all 8 deliveries will have to occur during day-time hours when the road network is already busy. Imagine the traffic chaos this would cause in Horsefair Green, Silver Street, and Church Street.
>> Click here to download our Transport Assessment Report (pdf, 1.2 MB)
>> Click here to download our Transport Assessment Report (pdf, 1.2 MB)
Do we really want to lose the greenery and long stay parking in Cofferidge Close?
The development would destroy much of the charm and amenity of the Close: 46 mature trees will go, and almost 75% of the existing lawn area. 62 free long stay parking places will go - a serious blow to regular users, tradesmen working nearby, people visiting the pubs and restaurants, members of the Baptist and Methodist congregations, and visitors to popular events such as Folk on the Green, the Classic Car Festival, the Xmas Lights Switch-On. The Close is a tranquil place: in the unlikely event the proposed store is a commercial success, the busy turnover of short-stay car traffic and the fourfold increase in daily HGV deliveries, would make it much noisier, and more polluted..
>> Click here to download our Loss of Amenity Report on Cofferidge Close (pdf, 4.8 MB)
>> Click here to download our Loss of Amenity Report on Cofferidge Close (pdf, 4.8 MB)
Stony Stratford is faced with a Catch 22 situation and will lose out, either way, if the developers manage to get the DCC decision overturned on appeal:
- if the proposed 'foodstore' is a commercial success – which seems very unlikely – there is a serious risk of several High Street shops going out of business, and the resulting traffic congestion and parking overspill in neighbouring streets will cause chaos in the local road network
- if, as is very probable, it is economically unsustainable, we are left with a 'white elephant', having closed off options for a mixed use development, lost free long-term parking, and ruined the pleasantest green space in the town centre; even worse, the only way a store this size could recover would be to branch out into a wide range of non-food items (kitchenware, ironmongery, cards, flowers, pharmaceuticals...) = the death of the High Street.
The solution : ask the developers to go back to the drawing board and, in collaboration with the Town Council, and in the spirit of the Localism Act 2011, to come up with an alternative proposal – a 'Plan B' – an improved and slightly bigger food store, in a mixed use development, with minimal demolition, and keeping the mature trees, green spaces, and long stay parking.
By the way, no proposal has been made for alternative food shopping in Stony during the estimated 18 months of demolition and re-development works in Cofferidge Close....
- if, as is very probable, it is economically unsustainable, we are left with a 'white elephant', having closed off options for a mixed use development, lost free long-term parking, and ruined the pleasantest green space in the town centre; even worse, the only way a store this size could recover would be to branch out into a wide range of non-food items (kitchenware, ironmongery, cards, flowers, pharmaceuticals...) = the death of the High Street.
The solution : ask the developers to go back to the drawing board and, in collaboration with the Town Council, and in the spirit of the Localism Act 2011, to come up with an alternative proposal – a 'Plan B' – an improved and slightly bigger food store, in a mixed use development, with minimal demolition, and keeping the mature trees, green spaces, and long stay parking.
By the way, no proposal has been made for alternative food shopping in Stony during the estimated 18 months of demolition and re-development works in Cofferidge Close....
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This site has been created and is administered by a group of independent residents of Stony Stratford
This site has been created and is administered by a group of independent residents of Stony Stratford