IT IS no secret that the Business Improvement District (BID) company objected to the Marchfield planning application. This followed a poll of our members, all town centre businesses, in which the majority agreed that this development would damage the economic viability of the town.

The BID is not against supermarkets, it was the location being the prime concern. The 17% leakage out of town also includes visits to Asda, Sainsbury, Waitrose etc so the number of people travelling to Tesco is not that many.

The change of use necessary for Tesco to move in was allowed by a majority of 6-4. This meant that the West Devon Borough Council's planning officer's argument for recommending refusal, which was that this development would significantly impact on town centre vitality and trade, was largely ignored.

My attempt to explain the fragile state of many town centre businesses (in the 90 seconds allowed) was also ignored without any committee member asking questions about this afterwards.

Commenting on the number of letters in favour exceeding those against, one member sensibly pointed out that this shouldn't be a popularity contest and urged his colleagues to seriously consider the consequences of a concentration of supermarkets some two kilometres from the centre of town; another said it would almost certainly lead to closures of the surrounding village shops as well — but it seemed that weeds growing shoulder high on the site's frontage, making the place look untidy, could no longer be tolerated.

However, it is comforting to be told that the traffic congestion, which will almost certainly occur on Plymouth Road, doesn't seem to be a problem.

I did wonder if any of the planning committee members understood how the economy of a market town works. Footfall is vital. You can't sell to no people and if the shops don't sell they close.

There is stark evidence of this caused by the increase in internet shopping impacting on high streets around the country. Any reduction in numbers of shoppers in town has an adverse effect on all businesses.

The BID will continue the battle to maintain vitality and increase footfall in spite of this misguided decision, done and dusted in just over an hour before the all important tea break.

Black Tuesday, January 7, 2014, was a sad day for Tavistock, a sad day for the proprietors of independent businesses who have invested their capital to maintain one of the finest town centres of any market town in the country and a sad day for the people of Tavistock who sooner or later will have to 'leak' even further afield to find goods no longer obtainable in the town.

Tony Whitehead

Chairman,

Tavistock BID

HAVING spent an enormous amount of time and energy  trying to prevent Tavistock from becoming like so many other towns, I am dismayed that permission has been given for yet another supermarket, away from the town centre.

As a practising town planner for most of my working life, I have always tried to defend the planning system, but any system is only as good as the decision-makers allow it to be.

Perhaps the council can explain to those of us who invested so much time in helping to develop the 'Core Strategy', what the point of that was, when, at the first major challenge, the strategy has been set aside, in such an appalling manner.

And who benefits?  Well, obviously Tesco.  And of course those neighbouring businesses whose land values have now rocketed.  I wonder how long it will be before we see other retailers clamouring for position next to the great god Tesco.

And does anyone really believe that thousands of shoppers will now flock to Tavistock because it has a Tesco, especially when in most cases, they will have to drive past a Tesco to get here?

A very sad day for Tavistock.

Graham Skedgell

Lamerton

Tavistock

I AM really pleased to see that the forward thinking West Devon Borough Council planners have approved the planning application for Tesco to trade from the old Focus building on Plymouth Road.

Tesco, a willing retailer coming to Tavistock, will breathe life back into the trading estate, providing much needed employment and will improve the tired and untidy approach to Tavistock.

The new Tesco store will help keep shoppers local and with the lines they are allowed stock will not adversely affect the town's traders, but will benefit the town centre by keeping shoppers local and bring more people to the town.

I congratulate Gary Spicer on his letter last week.

I totally agree the BID and chamber of commerce are living in the past.

They need to realise that the face of the high street is changing and it won't be a supermarket which kills it off, it will be the backward thinking chamber of commerce, giving its members the wrong advice and preventing progressive change.

I believe forward thinking and moving with the times is the best recipe for the success of our high street.

Peter Palmer

Oak Road

Tavistock

WELL done Tavistock. The news that the council has now at last approved a nominal Tesco store is welcome, albeit it was a shame and mainly due to the chamber of commerce, that Sainsbury had not been initially been approved.

The useful proposed store will, as has been proved elsewhere, bring improved property values for Tavistock and home owners and it will also similarly bring greater turnover to the Tavistock retailers, as proved by the town's growth in business and commerce following Safeway/Morrisons.  

The current plan should now be to seek for Tavistock a more creative and commercially bright future.  However some, as evidenced by consistent negative comments from the chamber of commerce, prefer to turn the clock back.  

The proposal resulting from lottery funds to create pedestrian areas in parts of Tavistock and to adorn with feature flower beds and planting etc and to include the organising of regular markets within some pedestrian areas to allow local sales of arts, food and crafts would be a welcome, helpful feature.  

This same forward moving and creative approach, especially where it would promote and encourage more areas of leisure and food etc, needs to continue in respect of other areas and aspects of Tavistock.  

It is in the development and promotion of leisure and tourism that local town centres will need to concentrate in the future and not to inundating the main street with faceless charity shops.

 I suggest therefore that as a shop owner myself in Tavistock, either that the current executive of the chamber resign or alternatively and perhaps better, that a new alternative chamber is set up to offer both its forward thinking services to the planners and council etc and so as to better represent the majority of commercial interests in Tavistock.

Frank Phillips

Tavistock