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A Future for Frome

JUNE 2011
NO BIG SUPERMARKET
http://saxonvalesupermarket.blogspot.com
@saxonvale
No more big supermarkets in Frome
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How many supermarkets do we need in Frome? And how many Tescos in Somerset?
There are already three major Tesco stores and half a dozen Express outlets within a
12-mile radius.
Frome is undergoing a period of great change. !t is hnding its voice (10 of its councillors were recently elected on an
!ndependent for Frome ticket) and quickly evolving, along with a small and noble band of towns like Brighton and Totnes, into a
very 21st century community that places sustainability at its centre.
We should not damage the potential for this exciting change by passively allowing the rebuilding of Frome's core sites by
remote and aggressive developers, nor by supermarkets. The supporters of more big retail development say that Frome needs
to compete with Trowbridge. But it already is competing, in a unique way, through the growth of dozens of small independent
retailers who hourish here, that include the national award-winning Whiterow Farm Shop and the shops of Catherine Hill and
Cheap Street.
We will not create distinctive local towns that thrive economically and are a pleasure to live in if we make them all identikit places
devoid of local businesses. !f you want to see what happens when Tesco congregate big retail brands on one of their sites in a
market town, take a ride to Shepton Nallet where the life has been sucked out of the town centre.
!n the spirit of local enterprise - which seems to do so well in Frome - we should all be hghting off the likes of Tesco and other
big retail, supporting the council, writing to our NP and reminding those in power that big commercial proposals for small towns
run counter to the Government's agenda for localism and the Big Society.
The development of the Saxonvale site near the centre of Frome is a great opportunity which will not arise again in our lifetimes
and it's an opportunity which should be given to local people.
As Frome changes it is attracting more creative businesses and becoming even more sustainable, more distinctive and more
special. We must not allow anyone to damage its wonderful potential.
Kevin NcCloud
No Big Supermarket!
!n 2011, the community life of hundreds of British towns is under
severe threat. Some of our most treasured places are in danger
of becoming emptied-out dead-zones, as independent businesses
close their doors, people's shopping habits increasingly revolve
around so-called Big box" retaliers, and local civic cultures die
away.
For the past few decades, hundreds of British towns have been
moving towards being so-called Clone Towns, dominated by the
same retail chains, and increasingly in thrall to Britain's big four"
supermarkets: Asda, Sainsbury's, Norrisons - and in particular,
Tesco. !n the last ten years or so, these chains have concentrated
on building large-format stores, selling not just food, but almost
every conceivable variety of consumer goods, from toys to garden
equipment. As they have done so, independent shops have
suffered an unprecedented squeeze, recently made worse by the
hnancial crash and the downturn that has followed it.
...a tiny number of powerful players
carving up the market between them, and
trampling any independent interests that
might get in their way.
The majority of Britain's grocery supply chain is now built around
these four businesses. Tesco accounts for 30.3 per cent of the
British food market. Asda takes 1/ per cent. Sainsbury's follows
on 16.3 per cent, and Norrisons comes fourth on 12.2. The UK's
8151 supermarket outlets today account for 9/ per cent of total
grocery sales, and over /6 per cent of groceries are sold by the
four biggest retailers. !n addition, British people now buy 1+
of their non-food goods at supermarkets, a hgure up by /5
since 2003, and rising fast. 8/ of all retail hoor space given
planning permission since 2008 has been to the big four. This is
not a picture of choice, competition and consumer empowerment.
!t suggests what economists call oligopoly: a tiny number of
powerful players carving up the market between them, and
trampling any independent interests that might get in their way.
Many small shops across the UK will have
ceased trading by 2015...
!n 2006, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Small Shops
issued a report titled Small Shops: 2015, predicting that large
parts of Britain's independent retail sector would soon be facing
effective extinction. Nany small shops across the UK will have
ceased trading by 2015," they claimed, with few independent
businesses taking their place. Their loss, largely the result of a
heavily unbalanced trading environment, will damage the UK
socially, economically and environmentally." Such predictions are
now coming true. Since the recent recession, hundreds of British
High Streets have fallen victim to a national malaise whereby they
hll up with empty premises, charity shops - and, if they are lucky,
bookmakers. Even once-mighty high street chains are feeling the
pinch, but the big four supermarkets continue to prosper. Clone
Towns are bad enough; we now face the rise of Ghost Towns.
...The town already has six
supermarkets... Fromes demand for what
supermarkets can provide has long been
reached.
This is the kind of grim scenario that Frome may end up facing. As
things stand, our town is a showcase for independent businesses,
who play a crucial role in maintaining Frome's creative, vibrant
atmosphere. On Cheap Street and Catherine Hill in particular,
the range of shops offers an example of the kind of diversity
that has all but died out elsewhere. !n 2005, the think tank the
New Economics Foundation developed a new tool that would
measure towns on an axis running between Clone Towns, and
more independent Home Towns, whereby the more a town's score
neared 100, the closer to a Home Town it was. Frome scored a
healthy /6.
The town already has six supermarkets, split between
Sainsbury's, Asda, the Co-operative, Lidl, !celand and Narks and
Spencer. Supermarket hoorspace in Frome has increased by two
thirds in the last hfteen years. Another Co-operative foodstore will
soon arrive in the town's Westway Shopping Centre, and there
are strong rumours of another Co-op opening in the Badcox area.
Not surprisingly, there is substantial evidence that the limits of
Frome's demand for what supermarkets can provide has long
been reached.
Put simply, our town does not need a +0,000 square-foot
supermarket, selling a vast range of goods, and thereby
threatening Frome's independent retailers. !n keeping with what
makes Frome such a great place, we believe in a more creative,
imaginative, and environmentally sustainable future for the town
where we live. We want a dynamic local economy, and good jobs
for Frome, and we do not believe that a huge new supermarket
will take us in that direction.
!n 2002, The British writer Terence Blacker wrote a column in
The !ndependent bemoaning what supermarkets had done to his
adopted home town in East Anglia. He said this:
Ny nearest town, Diss, has two supermarkets, squatting each
side of the thoroughfare that passes near the town centre. As a
result of their presence, the main shopping street of a market
town of 6,000 people consists almost entirely of charity shops,
estate agents, and, mysteriously, a number of greetings cards
emporia. As they go out of business, small retailers complain that
the life of the town is draining away, but the planning authorities
remain unimpressed. !t has just been announced that Tesco has
been given permission to build another vast superstore beside the
main road."
It is not a warning about the decline of
Olde EnglandBut it is a wake-up call to
remind us about the real value of what is
being lost.
This is exactly the kind of future hundreds of people in Frome now
fear, and with good reason. Local shops beneht local economies:
the unprecedented rise of big-box retailing does not. A passage
from Tescopoly, by the economist and environmentalist Andrew
Simms, makes the essential point:
To point out what has gone wrong is not a sentimental
plea for the preservation of a hxed idea about Britain's
cultural identity. It is not a warning about the decline
of 'Olde England'.But it is a wake-up call to remind us
about the real value of what is being lost. When a locally
owned shop goes out of business there is a domino
effect.Window cleaners, carpenters, accountants,
solicitors, decorators and plumbers all lose a client.
Because supermarkets tend to procure most products and
services centrally and not from small-scale local traders
and professionals, the business doesn't simply switch;
local people lose out."
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Saxonvale is a large plot of semi-derelict space on the Eastern
edge of Frome's town centre. As things stand, the ownership
of its land is split between the pension fund of the small
manufacturing business Notts !ndustries, the now-defunct South
West Regional Development Agency (which is passing it to the
Homes and Communities Agency), Nendip District Council (who
own the car park and abattoir sites), and the Bristol-based
developer Terramond, whose outline planning application on the
site is currently stalled. Nuch of the site now seems to be in the
process of changing hands, but one thing remains certain: if a
comprehensive redevelopment of Saxonvale is to happen, the
consent of all the landowners will be necessary.
Though it sits outside the perimeter of the development site,
the Silk Nill - a popular gallery, artist workshops and community
space, which is locally owned - is adjacent to it. !ts future is
critically dependent on the site's development, and the resolution
of access problems.
a mixed use, high density scheme,
including housing, retail accommodation,
employment and open spaces, where the
car does not dominate.
The redevelopment of Saxonvale has been on the local agenda
for many years. !n 2005, after a huge amount of research and
local consultation involving many local people's time, Nendip
District Council published its Development Brief for Saxonvale,
setting out a convincing vision of the site's future that did not
include a supermarket, because analysis of Frome suggested
only limited demand for any new foodstore in the town (this
was, it should be noted, prior to the opening of !celand and the
expansion of Sainsbury's). !t offered the hope of a seamless
extension to Frome town centre" which would allow the centre to
grow, diversify and compete with out of town shopping and other
centres."
A picture was painted of a mixed use, high density scheme,
including housing, retail accommodation, employment and open
spaces", where the car does not dominate." There would be
focal streets" and new urban squares". The activities happening
within a new development would include retail, restaurant,
craft, ofhce and gallery uses." Supporting sketches, maps and
plans suggested the possibility of a development that would be
in harmony with Frome's existing atmosphere and culture, with
a creditable emphasis on the public space of which Frome is
noticeably short. This Development Brief still stands, and many
of those who are campaigning against the arrival of another big
supermarket in Frome believe that it offers a convincing basis for
Saxonvale's future. Likewise, over 3,000 people consulted on the
preparation of Frome's 2008-2028 Community plan by vision for
Frome did not ask for a big supermarket but for growth based on
supporting Frome's entrepreneurial spirit and independent sector.
The Bristol-based developers Terramond have long had an
interest in the Saxonvale site. Terramond's main experience is
in developing industrial units. !n mid-2010 they submitted an
outline planning application to Nendip District Council, which
gained preliminary support. Though their plans did not feature
anything resembling a large supermarket, their proposals are
generally viewed as falling short of the quality foreseen by the
Development Brief, favouring instead a large amount of housing,
with limited space given to retail businesses. This planning
application has been stalled for sometime and faces substantial
obstacles to its progress. Then in late 2010, it became clear that
a company called St James' !nvestments, with substantial links to
Tesco, had plans for the site, based around a +0,000 square foot
supermarket, and an additional +0,000 square feet of retail space.
...Webster...apparently claiming that
only people like him could direct Tescos
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communities. He has since left St Jamess
Investments.
!n response, a public meeting was staged at the Cheese and Grain
in central Frome, in December 2010. Nore than +00 people came
to voice their views and listen to John Harris (a Frome resident
and a Guardian journalist), Elizabeth Winkler (a Bristol-based food
writer and campaigner against Tesco in the Stokes Croft area of
that city), Graeme Burgess from Frome Civic Society, and Ouentin
Webster, a development manager from St James's !nvestments.
The overwhelming response of the audience was a no" to
a supermarket of the kind Webster and his colleagues were
proposing. Perhaps trying to pre-empt an argument, Webster
claimed to hate Tesco", expressing the view that it had let local
communities down, and apparently claiming that only people like
him could direct Tesco's energies in such a way as to beneht local
communities. He has since left St James's !nvestments.
!n January 2011, a second meeting was organised - again
with a large attendance - at which planning ofhcials from
Nendip District Council were invited to give a presentation of
the current Development Brief, and the ownership situation at
the Saxonvale site. This meeting included a substantial public
discussion, the outcome of which is summarised below. A third
meeting in Narch provided feedback on further investigations
into the ownership of the site, and discussed how the current
government's Localism Bill would affect the kind of local issues
that the Saxonvale controversy highlights. !n addition to these
public meetings, there has been a vibrant online discussion taking
place about Saxonvale on the No big supermarket" campaign
blog, via a Facebook group, and on Twitter - all involving upwards
of 1,000 people.
We know from all this activity that many people in Frome are
opposed to a big supermarket at Saxonvale. They regard it
as inconsistent with Frome's culture and identity, dangerous
for Frome's independent shops, and based on an increasingly
outdated model of development. They understand that all too
often, Tesco and its peers rip the heart out of towns like Frome,
creating clone towns and leaving inhabitants dependent on big
corporate chains.
What do the people of Frome want?
So, if people don't want a big supermarket, what do they want?
On the whole, people variously tolerate, accept, or actively
welcome the idea that some new retailers will be a central part
of Saxonvale's redevelopment. But the public discussion we held
at our second meeting identihed that people would support a
development that also:
- Attracted visitors and tourists to Frome, partly drawn in by the
town's independent retailers.
- Supported local business and social enterprise, and brought
good-quality employment, as opposed to the part-time, low-wage,
low-prospects work synonymous with the supermarket industry.
- Placed an emphasis on shared public space, something Frome
noticeably lacks, as evidenced by the reliance for public events on
the large Car Park next to the Cheese and Grain.
- !ntegrated with the rest of the town centre, aiding its self-
sufhciency and resilience as a community.
- Enhanced the town-centre riverside and access to it.
- Had a night-time economy, so as not to become deserted in the
evening.
- Exhibited good design and sustainability.
- Encouraged walking, cycling and public transport, rather than
car use.
!f Saxonvale is to be redeveloped, the meeting suggested that
people would like to see any development include:
- A covered market and town square.
- Leisure facilities, especially for young people , such as a bowling
alley or swimming pool. The lack of activities for Frome's young
people has long been an issue, and anyone with sharp business
instincts would do well to look into this area.
- Light, high-tech and/or eco-friendly industry. Frome's job market
has been imbalanced for many, many years, and the town fails to
stop hundreds of its young people working and moving elsewhere.
This should be a major part of any regeneration plan.
- Workspaces for arts and crafts specialists, whose activities make
a vital contribution to Frome's atmosphere and local culture.
- Eco-friendly, low cost homes. As with so much of Britain, Frome
has a pronounced shortage of affordable housing, put at around
2,000 homes.
- A hotel: exactly the kind of business that Frome currently lacks.
- Lastly, people accept that the closure of Somerheld in the
Westway Shopping Centre left a gap in Frome's food retailing,
and created problems for some people who shop on foot. On the
whole, they would have no problem with a foodstore of a similar
size, although subsequent news about imminent arrival of a new
Co-operative outlet in the Westway Shopping Centre suggests that
need may soon be at least partly met. What they were agreed on
was that a +0,000 square foot supermarket of the kind proposed
by St James !nvestments would be a manifestly inappropriate
answer to the town's needs, threatening Frome's precious
character.
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When a big supermarket chain wants to build a new store,
particularly close to a town centre, one of the most commonly-
heard claims is that its arrival will boost the performance of all
local retailers, by bringing in footfall". !n Frome's case, this
argument has been voiced on an almost weekly basis, by a small
handful of people who energetically write letters to the local
press.
!n fact, the model of modern business whereby what we now call
supermarkets usually turn out to be omnivorous hypermarkets
means that they are threat to local business, aiming at pulling
demand away from existing retailers, so as to maximize their
share of local markets. Put simply, if there is a local baker's,
they would much rather people stop going there, and discover
the joys of the bakery" in the supermarket. The same goes for
butchers, greengrocers - and, though the point is often missed,
bookshops, newsagents, horists, pharmacists, clothes outlets, and
increasingly, cafes and local restaurants.
A few examples prove the point. !n Stalham in Norfolk, a new
Tesco opened in 2002, covering a relatively modest 15,000 square
feet, and within walking distance of the town centre. !t reportedly
cut footfall on the high street by 55, and hit local businesses so
hard that they fought for, and won, a cut in their business rates.
!n 2010, Nigel Dowdney, the owner of a local grocery business
called The Stalham Shopper, commented on plans to extend the
Stalham Tesco as follows: The size is far too big for the town
already. !nstead of complementing the high street, they have
dwarfed it. They just go for the biggest size they possibly can,
and if they get turned down in their planning applications they go
for the next biggest. They're not bothered about the high street,
all they are interested in is prohts."
!n the Scottish Town of Dumfries, Tesco opened a new store in
200+, and among the local traders affected was Rab Smith, the
owner of a local record shop. He said this: The new Tesco' now
sells chart music cheaper than me, so people now only come to
me for the rare stuff and the staple 35 of my income from chart
music has disappeared." !n Easton, near Portland in Dorset, a
new Tesco began trading in 2011: the owner of a nearby business
called Sam's Gifts and Household Store claimed his sales instantly
dropped /0, and soon closed his business. Other traders
reported a similarly steep decline. Tesco is killing Easton," said
one. !f the other shops close down it will be like a ghost town."
!n Ystrad Nynach in South Wales, Tesco has been trading at
a site +00 yards from the town centre - comparable to the
distance separating Saxonvale from the existing heart of Frome
- for several years. Last year, they served notice of plans for an
expansion, so they could rebrand their store as a Tesco Extra.
Gerard Lewis owns a local window blinds and dry cleaning
business. !n late 2010, he gave evidence to a local planning
inquiry, and said this:
Tesco have muscled in and destroyed our community as we
know it. Every venture we have tried in the town centre has
been shanghaied by this organisation. Footfall in the town centre
has fallen and nobody can truthfully say Tesco has brought
shoppers into the town centre. !t has taken 100 years to build our
community, it doesn't take long to throw that all away."
Wherever Tesco - or, for that matter, any of the big four
supermarkets - threaten to open a new store, the resulting
headlines are almost comically similar, as a few examples prove:
- Ghost Town fear over Tesco store" (Blackpool Gazette,
September 13th 2010)
- Traders say Coundon Tesco will destroy other shops" (Coventry
Telegraph, September 28th 2010)
- Tesco plan `will push out other traders'" (Oxford Nail, 2nd
November 2010)
- Traders' worries over Tesco store plan for Bingham"
(Nottingham Evening Post, December 2/th 2010)
- Traders fear threat from new Tesco" (Derby Telegraph, 1/th
February 2010)
...Many residents now complain that their
town has been fundamentally changed, for
the worse....
Closer to Frome, there is the case of Shepton Nallet, where
Tesco opened a new store in 2008. Nany residents now complain
that their town has been fundamentally changed, for the worse.
The problem is quite simple," a local councillor named Garheld
Kennedy recently said. Shepton is reeling from the over-balanced
dominance of a gigantic store sucking the town's business
away." Tesco has now announced plans to expand into adjacent
premises, and open a caf. When she signed a petition against
this latest proposal, Tessa Nunt, the town's Liberal Democrat NP,
said this: ! came here two years ago and there were dozens
of empty shops and it is such a shame. ! do think we have to
think very, very carefully before we actually do things like letting
companies like Tesco and the big multiples just run riot."
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!n expressing so much concern about what another big
supermarket would do to the place where we live, we are hardly
alone. All over Britain - and across the world - people are hghting
against the relentless expansion of big-box retailing. !n our part
of England alone, there is campaigning on these issues in several
places: Bath, Bristol, Nidsomer Norton, Glastonbury, Bridgwater,
Wells.
!n the case of Frome, there are ominous signs of progress in St
James's !nvestments plans for Saxonvale. The changing ownership
of important parts of the site needs to be watched carefully. !n
the case of the Notts !ndustries Pension Fund, we recognise its
responsibility to get a good price for its land and to ensure its
pensions are protected - but at the same time, we implore them
to think about the consequences of their actions for the town. The
pensioners they serve live in Frome; they and their family and
friends will experience the damage caused by a big supermarket
as much as anyone else.
As and when a planning application for a big supermarket
at Saxonvale is issued, we will contest it using several of the
available criteria. The fact that any such plan contradicts the
vision laid out in Nendip District Council's development brief will
be a crucial part of any argument. So will be the government's
national planning policy, and in particular, the fact that any
assessment of the impact of a big development has to take
account of changes to the range of services provided by centres
that could be affected," the likely impact on the number of vacant
properties," any potential changes to the quality, attractiveness,
physical condition and character of the centre or centres and to
its role in the economic and social life of the community," and
the likely impact of the proposed development on trade, turnover
and on the vitality and viability of existing centres... and, where
applicable, on the rural economy."
We will also be raising the likely impacts of a big supermarket in
terms of noise, pollution, trafhc congestion, carbon emissions, and
more. But contesting plans for a big supermarket via the formal
planning process will only be one very important part of our
campaign. We will also carry on maximising the attention paid to
this issue locally, via meetings, events, online campaigning, and
petitions. Of late, local politics in Frome has taken an interesting
turn with the takeover of the town council by the !ndependents
For Frome (ifF) group, whose broad vision of the town's future
emphasises sustainability, and a meaningful voice for local people.
Their mandate arose out of concerns about local democracy
typihed by recent debates about the Cheese And Grain, and the
Saxonvale site. Some of their representatives have a radical view
of how local democracy can be improved, and people's say about
big local developments can be increased. As far as the campaign
against another big supermarket is concerned, we believe this
represents a potentially very positive turn of events.
Some ifF councillors are particularly excited by the possibilities
suggested in the current government's Localism Billl, particularly
when it comes to the new idea of Neighbourhood Development
We believe Frome is a very special town,
with a unique culture and atmosphere. We
think it can use the qualities that make it
such a creative and imaginative place to
plot a sustainable and diverse future that
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but future generations...
Plans. To quote from the government's own literature, these will
allow people to come together through a local parish council or
neighbourhood forum and say where they think new houses,
businesses and shops should go - and what they should look like.
These neighbourhood development plans could be very simple, or
go into considerable detail where people want." As ever, the devil
is in the detail, but this suggests that with enough pressure, an
issue such as Saxonvale could end up exactly where it belongs: at
the heart of local democracy.
Overall, our vision is simple enough. We believe Frome is a very
special town, with a unique culture and atmosphere. We think it
can use the qualities that make it such a creative and imaginative
place to plot a sustainable and diverse future that will beneht not
just its current residents, but future generations.
Finally and most importantly
We want to see Saxonvale developed, but we don't want a
big supermarket.
We believe that to ignore the existing Development Brief
would be ride roughshod over the efforts of scores of
people in the local community.
And we believe that a vision of Frome's sustainability,
its future economy and the well-being of its community
should be the basis of any development, rather than the
short-term goals of an outside corporate interest.
As a community, we stand prepared to work with
developers to achieve that.
Here, though, is the most important point...
What legacy do we want to leave the people who will live
in Frome in 2050?
Will Frome be somewhere that surrendered its strengths
and became hrst a Clone Town and then a Ghost Town?
Or a thriving, diverse, vibrant place with its own unique
identity?