Last updated 18:40, Friday, 31 October 2008

Wigton is a small market town with a distinctive old-world character struggling to maintain the vibrancy of its existing shopping centre.

Over the last 10 years several long-standing businesses offering white goods, good quality shoes, and furnishings have disappeared as owners retired or leases came to an end. These much-needed businesses have not been replaced by comparable outlets and in some cases shops are still empty months or even years later.

What Wigton does have is a good selection of quality food retail outlets offering competitive prices: several bread and cake shops, a greengrocers, a range of excellent butchers who also provide eggs and quality fish – as well as the existing supermarket. The last thing the town needs is another food retailer.

As for the arguments that the new superstore will provide 270 new jobs, will meet the needs of 50 per cent of local people who shop for their food out-of-town, and will source local produce, these only muddy the waters.

Perhaps it is inconvenient to mention jobs will be lost in other sectors as businesses collapse elsewhere, that 50 per cent of us already do all our food shopping in Wigton, and the ‘local’ produce referred to seems to be limited to seven suppliers, none of them apparently Wigton-based.

And other inconvenient questions remain.

1. Where and how is the traditional Wigton Friday market currently on this site to be accommodated?

2. How does the provision of 321 car parking spaces in this out-of-the-way location increase footflow through the centre of the town?

3. How can the provision of yet another food retailer increase the sales of existing food retailers?

Let’s not pretend this proposal has anything to do with regenerating Wigton: this is simply to provide Hopes with the means of funding a move to an out-of-town auction mart and Tesco with the opportunity to expand their empire.

It is bad news for Wigton.

JUDITH M JOHNSTONE
Westward
Wigton