The Co-op asks us how they can improve their store - let's tell them!

[Dave]

The 'traffic conundrum' to which Simone refers is, I believe, the issue of congestion on Church Lane and lower Hibbert Lane, and at the Hibbert Lane/Stockport Road junction.   Surely making the car park at Trinity Street bigger will exacerbate that problem, rather than solve it? 

[Belly]

Is there any way that the traffic conundrum can be solved if there was a supermarket on Chadwick Street?

Build a bigger car park. I suspect that the traffic might not be quite as awful as some fear. But parking has the potential to be a disaster and one that will directly influence existing local businesses.

[Dave]

Yes - by demolishing at least two shops on the corner of the Stockport Road/Trinity Street junction, thereby opening up direct two-way road access, plus ample pavement access on both sides, from Stockport Road through to the supermarket car park. 

This is, of course, entirely hypothetical, because obviously there is not now going to be a major supermarket on that site. 

[simonesaffron]

Is there any way that the traffic conundrum can be solved if there was a supermarket on Chadwick Street?

[simonesaffron]

Lived in Marple for 40 years. Some people will say I'm new to the area. Since we are not getting a new supermarket, we do all our shopping in Poynton.
Drive to New Mills to for a news paper and then back to the Office in Marple. Councillors stand for self interest and expense's. Just short of a million pounds in the last financial year.

Why don't you buy your newspaper in Marple and support the local newsagent?

You seem to make a lot of assertions without any substantiation. How do you know this about Councillors? There are 63 of them in Stockport and 6 in Marple. How many of them do you know. Have you ever met any of them?

Where is the self interest in being a Councillor - explain yourself.

The last time I looked Councillors got paid less than £10,000 per year by my calculations that's probably not even enough to run your office.

[wheels]

Lived in Marple for 40 years. Some people will say I'm new to the area. Since we are not getting a new supermarket, we do all our shopping in Poynton.
Drive to New Mills to for a news paper and then back to the Office in Marple. Councillors stand for self interest and expense's. Just short of a million pounds in the last financial year.

That sounds a very small amount to me to be running a multi million pound business

[Mr Marple]

Did the survey and was frank.

[Belly]

True - but not for ever! As I'm sure Belly knows, government planning guidelines state that planning consent for edge-of-town supermarkets should be refused where a town centre site is 'available, suitable, and viable'.  If a couple of years go by without any retailer taking the Chadwick Site, it will be pointed out that although the site may be available and, arguably, suitable, self-evidently no retailer regards it as viable.  At that point, an edge-of-centre application could succeed. 

Hence the 3 - 5 years point Dave.

[TINSLEY]

Lived in Marple for 40 years. Some people will say I'm new to the area. Since we are not getting a new supermarket, we do all our shopping in Poynton.
Drive to New Mills to for a news paper and then back to the Office in Marple. Councillors stand for self interest and expense's. Just short of a million pounds in the last financial year.

[simonesaffron]

Come on who got the councillors involved. The pressure group MIA speaking for everybody in Marple. I certainly didn't want Mr Hoyle speaking on my behalf.

Tinsley are you new to the area?

Marple Councillors were involved with a potential supermarket issue on Hibbert Lane long before MIA had even been invented.

There had been rumours about a Supermarket on that site as far back as 2007 and the Council was involved then. They've had somebody on The College governing body for years they've even got somebody on it now although its not a MARPLE Councillor.

I suspect that there were as many people that were pro supermarket as there were anti, its just that the anti weren't very vociferous. Even if they had been it wouldn't have made any difference to the Council. The decision would have still been the same.

Marple Councillors just DONT WANT A SUPERMARKET ON HIBBERT LANE.

So whether you are pro or anti it's Councillors that stopped it  - not MIA or anybody else. 

[Dave]

now that Chadwick St has planning consent, an alternative site has little or no chance of success in planning terms.

True - but not for ever! As I'm sure Belly knows, government planning guidelines state that planning consent for edge-of-town supermarkets should be refused where a town centre site is 'available, suitable, and viable'.  If a couple of years go by without any retailer taking the Chadwick Site, it will be pointed out that although the site may be available and, arguably, suitable, self-evidently no retailer regards it as viable.  At that point, an edge-of-centre application could succeed. 

[Belly]

For a town this size (and it is a town, not a village) we really do need another supermarket - but NOT on Chadwick Street.  The traffic chaos that would cause doesn't bear thinking about.  However, bleating on about it isn't going to get us anywhere, and unless somebody comes up with an alternative site, people will still go out of Marple to shop, or buy online.

Unfortunately Barbara, now that Chadwick St has planning consent, an alternative site has little or no chance of success in planning terms. The Councillors have managed to preserve the status quo for 3-5 years - unless they manage to tempt someone into spending some significant cash on developing the CS site.

I'm torn between wanting something to happen (I agree Marple does need a decent supermarket), but like yourself I'm not a fan of the CS site.

[Barbara]

For a town this size (and it is a town, not a village) we really do need another supermarket - but NOT on Chadwick Street.  The traffic chaos that would cause doesn't bear thinking about.  However, bleating on about it isn't going to get us anywhere, and unless somebody comes up with an alternative site, people will still go out of Marple to shop, or buy online.

[TINSLEY]

Come on who got the councillors involved. The pressure group MIA speaking for everybody in Marple. I certainly didn't want Mr Hoyle speaking on my behalf.

[simonesaffron]

I was undecided at the time but having reflected I now think a large supermarket on Hibbert Lane would not have been a good thing for Marple.

I don't really understand the comment about 'egos' or 'unelected mouths.' It was the Councillors that stopped the Hibbert Lane Asda. In the end they were the only ones who had the power to do that. The rest of us were on the side-lines. As far as ego is concerned I don't think that ego came into it and we certainly can't call them 'unelected.'

I don't actually think that we have heard the last of the supermarket issue in Marple so all these comments that support that theory I believe are very premature.