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Keep Louth Special petition attracts over 5,300
signatures
Keep
Louth Special is delighted to announce that its
petition to stop a supermarket being built on
the site of the Louth cattle market attracted a
final total of over 5,300 signatures. The
petition was presented to ELDC leader Doreen
Stephenson at Tedder Hall, Manby on Thursday.
“This is
a fabulous result,” said Sue Locking of KLS.
“Most people have recognised that building a
supermarket on that site would suck the retail
life out of the town. It is too far away from
existing shops, and uphill, making it unlikely
that those who used a supermarket there would
also visit town shops.”
Finally,
after months of pressure, East Lindsey District
Council seems to have come to the same
conclusion. ELDC finance chief councillor Colin
Davie was quoted in the press as saying this
week that the arrival of Morrisons as a
replacement for Somerfield and the other retail
planning possibilities in the centre meant that
an edge of town supermarket, like that proposed
on the cattle market, was less likely.
“This is
one of three victories for common sense that KLS
has secured in just two weeks,” said Keep Louth
spokesman Nick Louth. “First, ELDC has accepted
that its flawed retail policy is in need of
overhaul, second they have agreed that with
commercial property prices at a thirty year low
now would be a crazy time to sell the cattle
market site, and third they have embraced the
Sustainable Communities Act which gives real
power to local people to make their voice
heard.”
All
these were points that Keep Louth Special has
been making since it was set up in the summer.
One major push remains, to persuade ELDC that a
livestock market belongs on the cattle market
site, and this 500-year tradition should not be
lightly discarded.
“East
Lindsey has been far too hasty in declaring the
existing livestock market uneconomic,” said Nick
Louth. “The ADAS report commissioned by ELDC
showed clearly how important the livestock
market is to the agricultural community, and how
just a little imagination could re-invigorate
it with enormous benefits to the town.
After a
sell-out fund-raising concert on Sunday February
8th, Keep Louth Special would like to
thank all those who contributed funds, helped
out, gave their time and in every other way
contributed to the success of the event.
Sue
Locking said she would like to thank those
businesses who hosted petitions. “But I’d
particularly like to thank Richard Mawer,
Rosemary and Keith Lindop and Nick Louth who
spent hours collecting them.”
Press
inquiries to Nick Louth 01507 600526 or by
e-mail.
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