I am pleased that the East Riding Council's Planning Committee supported the approval for a new Morrisons store on the old Timms site, Boothferry Road, Goole.As a member of the Planning Committee, I felt it important we dealt with the application without delay in order to bring the derelict site back to life as soon as possible, but at the same time ensuring the historic windmill was included in the design, plus an element of free parking, and we were not put off by objections from another developer wanting to construct a supermarket at the north end of the town.
I would have preferred to have seen 4 hours free parking at the supermarket to allow shoppers not only the time to shop at the supermarket, but also walk up Boothferry and Pasture Road to use the existing shops and the market, but had to settle for the 3 hours.
If the 3 hours free parking is considered along with the two hours free parking at the nearby Tesco, then free short stay parking in Goole should be pretty well catered for.
This is a positive decision for the town and it will give residents of not only Goole, but also surrounding villages, more choice as to where to shop, and hopefully with choice comes competition and lower prices.
The development will also create about 200 new jobs, in addition to those badly needed jobs in the construction industry during the construction of the store.
5 comments:
We must keep in mind the planning approval is only the first link in a chain of events. However, I wholeheartedly support the concept of another major supermarket to challenge the dominance of Tesco in Goole.
It will be interesting to see if Morrisons will operate a petrol/derv outlet on the site as Fuel outlets locally seem to only offer higher prices than I see elsewhere in the country - possibly due to lack of serious competition, since transport costs from the North East Lincolnshire refineries must be lower than to other areas
'Anonymous' makes a good point re competition as regards to fuel. Although I feel that the site is not likely to be having a fuel station nor is the actual building of the new Morrisons as clear cut as it would seem.
There are objections to be heard from the owners of the North Street retail Park in Goole, (Oakgate Yorkshire Ltd) Who seem to feel their takings will be affected should the new supermarket be built...Of course they quote some excuse about people not straying any further into town than Morrisons to the detriment of shops further on in Boothferry Road...rubbish! If the prices are right people will shop there...simples!
Did they complain when Tescos annexed what was the old Catalogue bargain shop? No they didn't, yet that acquisition almost doubled the floor area of the store.
Tesco has had the Lions' share for too long now and they have become far to complacent. The prices on the shelves will need to be reduced if they are to command anything like the market share they have now in the town. Likewise the so called 'North Street Retail Park' will also have to look to its laurels and ensure their pricing structure is competitive.
I must admit I tend to do the 'big shop' outside of Goole, as there are better prices to be had in such places as near as Anlaby, Beverley or even Scunthorpe (fuel included).
Should this objection be allowed I can't see my own or anyone else's shopping habits changing.
Goole will remain the overpriced shopping backwoods it is now.
"If the 3 hours free parking is considered along with the two hours free parking at the nearby Tesco, then free short stay parking in Goole should be pretty well catered for."
Paul, I hope that isn't a hint that the proposed parking charges 'initiative' is about to be implemented against public will?
The best thing for parking in Goole is to leave it free. OK a time limit to stop the available spaces being blocked by all day parkers my be required but this is entirely feasible without charging. It was possible years ago when local bobbies were on duty in Goole in realistic numbers and without the "benefit" of electronic systems. Their costs were met by the taxes levied from a much smaller number of taxpayers in smaller communities. Somehow with more people paying for services, the actual services have almost vanished. We call this progress?
You make a couple of very interesting points - free parking for a limited time is something that could be appealing to many.
Don't want to go into the waste of our tax £'s here particularly at the national level - it would take at least a dozen pages!
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