Think of effects SAINSBURY’S has moved the goalposts and changed the layout completely from that shown during their consultation day.

The newly submitted plan now provides a much larger store area, to be built on the north-eastern edge of the site, so residents of Bronte Drive might be surprised to see just how close the proposed building will be to their homes.

With the planned biomass boiler and its chimney, plus the delivery area to be constructed in the northern corner of the site, Sainsbury’s themselves admit that homes in Prince Rupert Road will be subjected to the worst of any noise – especially beeping reversing delivery lorries from 6am until 1lpm.

In order to minimise this noise, Sainsbury’s propose to build a 3m.

fence (9.75 feet in old money) around the service area – a visual delight for drivers in New Mills Way.

Because of the enlarged store area, parking spaces will be reduced to 272.

That sounds a lot of spaces, but wait until pre-Christmas or bank holiday shoppers hit the store from surrounding areas and there is potential for traffic jams reaching back to the ring road.

Sainsbury’s also intend to base a fleet of six ‘on line’ delivery vans at the store, to service this whole region.

So this proposed superstore will also be a warehouse for goods in and out, with each van potentially delivering to around 20 addresses per day. We just get the noise and added pollution.

For security reasons, overnight lighting will be reduced to 40 per cent but that is still enough to cause massive light pollution and affect wildlife.

The cafeteria is now proposed to be on the ground floor, which many will welcome, so let’s hope they don’t do the same as Tesco and close it within a few years to create more space for additional sales areas.

Then there is the longed-for petrol filling station which everyone hopes will provide cheaper petrol.

If they do, then Ledbury’s two other filling stations will disappear within a short time and Sainsbury’s will have no incentive to provide us with cheaper petrol. We would all queue down the road to access the only petrol pumps in town.

Residents of Ledbury, I ask you to think what the implications of this monster store will be, and the direct effect it could have on existing small businesses struggling to survive in our historic town centre.

Don’t let Sainsbury’s do this to us.

DIANA BEETLESTONE
Ledbury