At last some movement on the long-awaited Chorlton Precinct consultation. A 2 page executive summary has been released. The document itself is being discussed at a Council meeting next week prior to publication of the report.
The summary shows that 1003 people responded to the consultation; of the principles which were presented the following four received most support:
- Encouraging the promotion of a sustainable space
- Improving access, public transport and parking
- Encoraging more people to shop locally
- Further developing independent retail
Two thirds of the respondents said that they didn't want a new foodstore - this is emphatic given the vagueness of the question - The question posed was 'Offer a new food store' - nothing was mentioned about the size of this store. This shows real concern that any redevelopment would be dominated by a large chain supermarket, against the wishes of most of the local people.
The other important point is that a firm of consultants - Drivas Jonas - have been contracted to develop a Plan for the district centre which will include looking at the make up of the centre (the balance of different shops and services). We need to ensure that as part of this work accurate information is gathered about the independent shops in Chorlton.
Previous studies have only gathered detailed information about multiples, estimating provision from independents (because their information is not held on databases). This led to a serious under reporting of capacity. Another piece of research carried out last year for the city council (Independent retail study) has shown that prior evidence used by the City Council as part of their core evidence base (the Retail Needs Study) seriously under reported convenience (food) capacity in Chorlton.
Using data collected by the 'Keep Chorlton Interesting' (KCI) Group the new study shows 3.3 times more capacity - because accurate figures for independent shops floorspace was taken into account. What we need to make sure of is that Drivas Jonas update this work and collect it for all other shops and services in the District Centre.
Why is this important? If Councils are relying on such inaccurate data when measuring predicted impact of new shopping provision (such as the mega Tesco and the White City development) then they will under estimate any impact and cannot also properly argue that there is already sufficient capacity within an area.
Megatesco - Deadline for Objections extended!
The date for the application has still not been set, but may be the 11th March.
Consequently Trafford Council are still open to receive letters regarding the application.
Letters / emails need to be sent in by early March (Emailed objections are just as valid as postal ones). More information at the Stop MegaTesco website
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