LET us be clear, the prevailing opinion in Ledbury is that no new superstore should be built – either for Tesco, Sainsbury or any other supermarket chain. The benefits that such a superstore would bring should be acknowledged e.g. jobs, petrol station, greater product choice, etc but these are more than outweighed by the long term negative impact.

Whilst I do not share the entirety of the views of LOTS, the general thrust of their argument is sound.

There are examples of small and medium towns decimated by large superstores on their fringes (e.g. Welshpool and Newtown) and Ledbury could, in say 10-15 years, be like that.

These real life scenarios carry far more weight than any ‘pre-build investment strategy report’ can. Sure, if a superstore opened tomorrow you would not get an immediate run of closing down sales, but slowly over a period of about a decade this is what would happen.

Thankfully, the new Localism Act will allow townsfolk and the council to have more power in the decision making process than has been the case for other towns.

It is therefore the responsibility of Herefordshire Council to make the stand and say ‘no’ to Tesco and/or Sainsbury’s.

EDWARD HOGAN
Ledbury