Abbey Mill is located in the town of Bishop's Waltham in South East England. It was constructed in an area important to the British wheat industry following the industrial revolution and was an important factor in the growth of the town in the 18th and 19th centuries. The building fell into disuse when technology moved the production of wheat along and the site has been the subject of a long battle between local residents and Sainsbury's who have lodged an application to build a supermarket on the site. The following is a letter of objection from a local resident.
I am writing to object to the planning application by Sainsbury's for the above site.
My objections as a local resident who has been shopping in Bishops Waltham for the last 8 years are as follows.
1. The superstore will destroy the vitality and viability of the town centre as well as our village stores and post offices.
2. The ambiance of the town and its medieval heritage in the Palace Ruins and the South Pond will be diminished forever.
3. The huge increase in traffic will cause severe problems on not just the towns narrow B roads but those through all the surrounding communities. I understand that Sainsbury's own traffic consultant has admitted there would be approximately 32,000 extra traffic movements a week at the Abbey Mill roundabout. This is total unacceptable.
4. There are already 8 Sainsbury's in a 10 mile radius of BW plus numerous other supermarkets (over 115) we do not need another one.
5. The evidence that new superstores actually cause job losses is well known-an average of 270 jobs within a 10 miles radius of each new store.
Toby Blackmore
Text curtosy of World Abandoned.
