Readers Letter

Dear Editor, Mrs W Norman's letter should not remain completely unchallenged.  She accuses "a handful of local business people" of a "scam", i.e. a swindle (according to my dictionary). She says they lead an organisation for "keeping competition out of the town".  This is untrue. The group founded years ago to oppose major retail overdevelopment has never had business people among its leaders. Its membership has come almost entirely from residents.

The last unsupervised opinion "poll" cited by supermarket supporters themselves shows nearly half the local population against Tesco, the overwhelming number obviously residents not shopkeepers.  Sheringham's Chamber of Trade, a different organisation from Scamrod, apparently contains a majority of members likewise against Tesco's Cromer Road application, though hardly a "handful".   Government planning guidance does not recognise small shops opposing a new supermarket because they face "competition" or even closure.

It does encourage councils to consider the total impact of supermarkets on -the vitality of an entire "centre", since this has wider implications for town planning.  There are many other legitimate planning objections to supermarket development, however minor; e.g. the proximity of Tesco's entrance/exit to a fire-station relocated across the road and a busy church (which also happens to be a rare national achievement by an outstanding architect).  One final example of Mrs Norman's detachment from facts is her assertion that all 19 anti-Tesco councillors think Sheringham is "populated by families who don't eat", when the meat, fish, bread and vegetables available in town are better in quality than much supermarket produce and sometimes cheaper.  As Michael Winner would say, "Calm down dear!"    Jason Robertson