 |
 Navigation |
| Choice? |
HomepageRobert and Tina Golden
Lidl unveil their plans for Bridport and Robert & Tina Golden write to the CE of WDDC
Dear ....
The Proposals for a new Supermarket in Bridport:
The people of Bridport have become aware of a new supermarket wanting to open on the edge of town. Many of us are asking what advantage this may have, how does it serve the people of the town and how does it serve our elected officials.
Supermarkets extract profit from the host community in exchange for what?
They create some low paid jobs but have a negative effect on the well being of our high street, forcing closure and loss of jobs. We will exchange our friends and neighbours as owners (and tax payers) for remote owners. Although the precise exchange can only be speculated the UK government report of 1999 suggested that with the opening of local superstores over 60% of high street trade is lost within one week.
As their profits will be counted at their corporate HQ in Germany the shop will serve to erode our tax base by extracting profits which will be payable to the remote company in a remote authority. Our rubbish collection, street cleaning, policing, hospitals and other services will suffer. Thus all or our citizens will suffer in the name of what? Increased competitiveness, increased choice? We already have three supermarkets in this small town.
How many more charity shops do we need on the high street? Is this supermarket offering something unique; for instance will they will purchase the majority of their fruits, vegetables, fish, cheese, ice cream, chocolates, meat pies and meat from local farmers and producers thus increasing the well being of the local economy, creating a local character for the shop and supporting the local culture? I doubt it. Are they offering an organic profile to improve the health of the townspeople or a shop which sells as the other supermarkets- refined grains laced with salt, sugar and a cocktail of chemicals?
They will increase pollution as this shop will presumably work like its competitors operating on the bases of last minute deliveries meaning instead of warehousing they are storing and distributing their food out of artic lorries. The lanes will suffer, the general environment will suffer (it is said that 16% of carbon dioxide pollution is from the food industry) and people will be forced to get into their cars to shop.
We can presume that they will build another warehouse box, add some inappropriate decorations and lots of lights to make certain we read its name and see well enough in the parking lot, all of which will distract from the integral architecture of the town, add light pollution and further destroy the tourist attraction of Bridport.
Do we assume that our town council is seduced by the idea that Bridport must do its part for fair trade? Disregarding the fact that the EU and the US maintains subsidies against the rules of the WTO, that they also maintain tariffs against any degree of finished goods from developing countries and that Britain as a country does not insist on only fair trade goods entering. We as the citizens of a small town can insist that companies who wish to trade within our boundaries conform to some ethical and moral standards and that they should not even be considered if they do not. I think fair trade is probably not a good enough reason to allow them access. We have also read some disturbing reports of their ill treatment of staff in their supermarkets in Germany, is this the kind of employer we wish to welcome to Bridport?
The argument for allowing them in would, to my mind, have to overcome all of these objections and provide a transparent set of offers we could not refuse before I could be convinced that yet another supermarket should open. Listening to the conversations in the local shops and reading the angry letters in the Bridport News, I suggest the council think very seriously before considering any application for any additional supermarket in the town.
We are sending this letter to Oliver Letwin MP and to the Andrew Campbell, Leader of Dorset District Council as well as the local newspapers.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Robert and Tina Golden
| Back To Top |
| PRINTABLE VIEW | - | TELL A FRIEND | - | ADD TO FAVOURITES |