Keen readers of the Glossop Advertiser will have noticed an astounding advert in this week's edition. The German supermarket giant Lidl have announced that they plan to apply for planning permission for a store on the site of the former Vauxhall Garage at Brookfield, Hadfield.
They're holding an Open Day opposite the site at Glossop Antiques Centre (who have clearly been bought!) next Thursday 15th May between 1 - 4 p.m.
What's astounding about this advert is that we usually hear about things like this in the press because a planning application has been lodged. But in the High Peak, and Glossopdale in particular, there are more and more examples of things like this taking place (as we will show in other articles to follow). As we write, there is no planning application from Lidl on HPBC's website.
Can you imagine that Lidl are taking a huge chance, being cocky, pre-emptive? We doubt it - the recent planning history of this area has shown how High Peak Borough Council's response to advances from developers is to bend over obligingly. And this looks like yet another example where permission has been 'pre-approved'.
There are may good reasons to oppose this idiotic plan. Firstly, the area does not need any more supermarkets. There are enough, and they are destroying the area. They do nothing for the area other than provide minimum wage jobs which have a high turnover rate - not needed in an area where there is full employment. Furthermore, every penny spent there goes out of the community, not into it.
Secondly, the traffic problems that will result will be hugely significant (there's no need to expand on that, surely?).
Thirdly, the way Lidl treats it's staff is appalling. Read here for details and reference points, and this excellent article from the Guardian in March of this year has extensive details. Other reasons can be found on this excellent German flier (opens PDF).
What's becoming more and more clear in this part of Glossopdale is that developers are keenly eyeing the area with the Glossop Spur in mind. First Rossington Park, then the Home farm hotel/Travelodge and now this plan (as well as activity in Glossop itself) all show that the objective that High Peak Borough Council are colluding in is to to turn the A57 in Glossopdale into a long retail strip easily accessed from the motorway network.
We'll be watching this one like a hawk, and doing our bit to oppose it. By any means necessary.
**Update 13/05/2008: Lidl themselves landed today on this blog post after searching Google for 'glossop & lidl' - everybody wave!
1 comment:
I live in Otley near Leeds opposite a car dealership that went bankrupt a couple of years back - can't really complain about that. Since then Netto have bought it and got a very slick PR machine going aimed at those who want to buy cheap food - the old, the unemployed, the unhealthy and alcoholics. Council officers recommended a refusal (one point being it is out of town and not in character), councillors (miles away in Leeds) said yes. The traffic is already quite bad without having to endure anyone pulling trying turn right, or leave the store. I've lived in Otley for nine years and during that time Leeds Council has pretty much shit (sorry for the language) on the town, but we have spineless such councillors, and hey, bright yellow sign outside my house? Can't wait. I sympathise with what's happening in your backyard. I used to cycle through the Glossop area a lot about 20 years ago, and I appreciate that supermarkets are seemingly able to ride roughshod over communities. Didn't something rather evil happen in Stockport with Tesco? Having worked in East anglia I've seen a couple of town centres well and truly screwed by the supermarkets.
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