Hitch in scheme for Morrisons store

12:10pm Saturday 16th February 2013 in News

Hitch in scheme for Morrisons store Hitch in scheme for Morrisons store

PLANS for a new Morrisons superstore in Wallingford have been delayed due to concerns about town centre trade and the environment.

A planning application has been submitted for the store on the Hithercroft estate, which will bring £25m of investment, and £6.7m a year for the local economy, according to the chain.

The planning application for the store was due to be considered by South Oxfordshire district councillors this week.

But now the plans are expected to be considered on March 13, after the Environment Agency objected because of concerns about the petrol filling station that is part of the proposal.

Michael Moore, head of major applications at SODC, said: “If the EA comments are not resolved, that is a reason for refusing planning permission.”

The new store would bring about 300 new full and part-time jobs.

Comments(19)

cornflake girl says...
8:18am Mon 18 Feb 13

I think Morrissons would be a great move forward for the town and i pesonaly am in great favor, anything that creates employment we need more to draw people into the town I agree as so many empty shops, but maybe we need to get some good chains in shops people want to use, At the moment having lived in Wallingford 20 or more years to shop I wouild go to Didcot for food and everything else, its sad.

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nickd2 says...
10:36am Mon 18 Feb 13

It won't bring a single new job. It will just take jobs from somewhere else, mainly small businesses.

People won't eat any more food than they already do because there is another food shop. If they are going there, they are not going somewhere else. That somewhere else won't get the trade and will have to close or at best lay staff off. There is no slack in the economy to 'create' jobs from yet more retail.

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Slimster says...
5:36pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Hopefully they sort out the issues. I sometimes shop at Tesco in Didcot. Having a Morrisons in Wallingford will mean my money stays in the town (well you know what I mean). I do use Waitrose too btw.

The petrol station will be welcome too. There are not enough outlets in Wallingford.

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livid99 says...
9:10am Tue 19 Feb 13

Slimster wrote:
Hopefully they sort out the issues. I sometimes shop at Tesco in Didcot. Having a Morrisons in Wallingford will mean my money stays in the town (well you know what I mean). I do use Waitrose too btw.

The petrol station will be welcome too. There are not enough outlets in Wallingford.
And I would make the journey from Didcot to Wallingford to shop in Morrisons. Every Morrisons I have been in is good value and their fresh food is excellent. The trip to Wallingford would be preferable to going to Tesco which is....well, Tesco, or Sainsbury where you have to queue for hours because of the management's inability to understand that opening more checkouts would be a big help. Their bread and bakery products are often out of date too.
If Morrisons opens, it will be good news for Didcot too.

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The Dr Bob says...
11:12am Tue 19 Feb 13

"It won't bring a single new job. It will just take jobs from somewhere else, mainly small businesses."

Like the Butchers (gone), Greengrocers (gone), Bakers (gone and I really miss that bread and those cakes), Fishmonger (gone even longer).

It would be greener for Wallingford as people living in Wallingford will not have so far to travel.

It might actually attract more trade to the town for the other shops.

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nickd2 says...
11:15am Tue 19 Feb 13

The Dr Bob wrote:
"It won't bring a single new job. It will just take jobs from somewhere else, mainly small businesses."

Like the Butchers (gone), Greengrocers (gone), Bakers (gone and I really miss that bread and those cakes), Fishmonger (gone even longer).

It would be greener for Wallingford as people living in Wallingford will not have so far to travel.

It might actually attract more trade to the town for the other shops.
"It might actually attract more trade to the town for the other shops."

From somewhere else. Someone else's job.

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cornflake girl says...
12:37pm Wed 20 Feb 13

I fail to see how it would take away local job opportunities, there are none ?
We have lots of hairdressers too many florists and enough charity shops all of wich other no job perspectives as small buisnesses. And expensive. Not everyone can afford waitrose and i have friends / family outside wallingford who also would travel here for Morrissons as at the moment travel out to Reading just because its great value for money and great fresh food. Wallingford offers nothing to come in for at the moment, so its great that people will want to visit our town
.

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nickd2 says...
12:44pm Wed 20 Feb 13

Let's try putting it another way. You've only got a fixed amount of money. If you spend it in a new Morrison's you are not spending it somewhere else. You are paying part of someone's wages in Morrison's and stopping paying part of someone's wages where you went before. There is no increase in employment, it's simply robbing Peter to pay Paul.

That's not to say that these things should happen if that's what people want, but to claim that new supermarkets create jobs as a justification is disingenuous.

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belgarion says...
11:42pm Wed 20 Feb 13

The claim by nickd2 that Morrisons opening ‘will not bring a single new job’ is utterly ridiculous. As is many of the other claims made by this poster.

Wallingford has a number of young unemployed people. Note the term UNEMPLOYED. So if they move from being unemployed to being employed by Morrisons then they have a NEW job created by – guess what? Morrisons opening. I can’t make it any simpler!

In fact, Morrisons opening will bring much needed consumer choice to the town. The only other retailer it will affect to any significant degree is Waitrose. No bad thing as a little research will reveal the profit margins for the Wallingford Waitrose are some 1.5 times the national average for the chain, simply because Waitrose has the local monopoly.

Of course, the likes of nickd2 would deny the local population this choice because of some personal ill-founded concepts which bear no relation to the well-established principles of microeconomic analysis that can be applied to local economies such as exist in Wallingford and its environs.

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The Dr Bob says...
9:25am Fri 22 Feb 13

Lets put it another way. You've only got a fixed amount of money. If some of that money is used in transport to get somewhere to obtain your food then getting it closer to home will save money plus perhaps also save money on the food itself as well as being greener.

This money saved is then available to spend eslewhere perhaps either creating or retaining existing jobs.

You really need to look beyond limited horizons.

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nickd2 says...
9:34am Fri 22 Feb 13

You are just spending the same money in a different way. You aren't spending new money. To create jobs you either need new money or to cut the wages of those in existing jobs.

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belgarion says...
9:57am Fri 22 Feb 13

nickd2 wrote:
You are just spending the same money in a different way. You aren't spending new money. To create jobs you either need new money or to cut the wages of those in existing jobs.
nickd2 you still don’t seem to grasp the basic principle that it is Morrisons’ INVESTMENT in the area that will create new jobs. It has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with limited money supply or taking jobs from elsewhere. This is just very basic economics.

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nickd2 says...
10:11am Fri 22 Feb 13

I grasp perfectly the basic principle that it will increase employment *in Wallingford*, though probably not by the amount suggested.

What it won't do is increase employment overall.

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belgarion says...
11:50am Fri 22 Feb 13

nickd2 wrote:
I grasp perfectly the basic principle that it will increase employment *in Wallingford*, though probably not by the amount suggested.

What it won't do is increase employment overall.
If some of the jobs created by Morrisons are filled by people in the Wallingford area who are currently unemployed, or even by school leavers then ‘employment has increased not only in Wallingford but by definition OVERALL’ To argue otherwise is simply illogical.

The fact is, Morrisons would be good for the people of Wallingford. The vast majority understand this and that’s why they want it built!

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nickd2 says...
12:03pm Fri 22 Feb 13

I wish you'd stop being parochial or assuming that I am. Increasing retail space does not reduce unemployment when there's no concurrent growth in the economy - people with more money - to spend in it It just moves jobs from one place to another.

I've never heard anyone advocating a big shop building program to improve the nation's employment statistics.

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belgarion says...
12:12pm Fri 22 Feb 13

nickd2 wrote:
I wish you'd stop being parochial or assuming that I am. Increasing retail space does not reduce unemployment when there's no concurrent growth in the economy - people with more money - to spend in it It just moves jobs from one place to another.

I've never heard anyone advocating a big shop building program to improve the nation's employment statistics.
Sorry, I have made it as simple as I can. I guess the majority of people understand the basis underlying economics.
However, if you wish to persist with illogical dogma then it’s your prerogative. Nothing more to be said

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nickd2 says...
12:24pm Fri 22 Feb 13

"£6.7m a year for the local economy" Note the word 'local'.

Is the £6.7m new money or money that would otherwise be spent elsewhere?

Once we've got that straight we can decide whether there's a net increase in employment or not. If my reluctance to believe that you can create something from nothing is illogical dogma then so be it.

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chocolatechip says...
6:26pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Has anyone thought to send a questionairre to all households in Wallingford we would then find out just how many of us locals woulkd like Morrissons to come to Wallingford, those of us who go to Didcot do so because we cannot afford or do not wish to shop at Waitrose who have the monopoly. We go to Didcot to use the variety of shops which Wallingford lacks. Maybe, just maybe people from surrounding areas will shop in Morrissons and then go into Wallingford town for a browse and coffee or visit one of the may charity shops as that is all we have. With all the new houses that are proposed built we need a supermarket at the Hithercroft side of town.

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cornflake girl says...
12:44pm Tue 26 Feb 13

Chocolate chip what a brilliant idea, i know the majority i speak with are all for the new Morrissons we need to update and accomodate this sleepy old town with shops we want to actually use and stop us all from going to Didcot/ Oxford because lets face it they have more to offer, we have more empty shops appearing and a few shops that people WANT to use and can afford taking over these spaces is what we need :)

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