Village cautious over supermarket
TRAFFIC congestion was the main concern of residents who studied the plans for a new Sainsbury’s supermarket in Staplehurst. The public exhibition, which was held in
the Village Centre, earmarked land south of the train station, bounded by Station Ap- proach and Lodge Road, for a 19,000 sq ft supermarket (theMaidstone store is 25,000 sq ft). The supermarket, which would provide
161 parking spaces, would be built on land owned by diamondmanufacturer DK Hold- ings,who would gain a new 28,000 sq ft fac- tory to operate from. The supermarket would create 150 full and part-time jobs. Sainsbury’s says there is
a demand for a supermarket in the village, citing a household survey in May claiming that 97.6% of Sta- plehurst residents do their food shopping elsewhere – mainly in Maidstone or Cranbrook. Another study in March 2010 re- vealed that 83% of respondents wanted more shopping facilities in Staplehurst. But residents feel that traffic congestion could scupper the scheme before it has even begun. Tesco has previously shown inter- est in building a supermarket at a similar location, but its planswere withdrawn. Villager Ron Hegarty said: “I don’t think
it will happen as they will have trouble with getting planning permission. The main road will be a problem because there is too much traffic. This could only happen if we have a bypass.” Diane Harrison-Jarrett (pictured above
The proposed new Sainsbury’s would see the expansion of DK Holdings
SAINSBURY’s has proposed a mini- roundabout on the main A229 to allevi- ate fears of congestion. It has also proposed a new pedestrian crossing over Station Road, and says de- liveries will be accessed from Station Approach, north of the site. Depending on the feedback from the public and Maidstone Council, Sains- bury’s could submit a planning applica- tion by late October.
with son Toby and David Smart of DK Hold- ings) lives on the A229 near the junction with Pinnock Lane at the south end of the village and last year set up a petition call- ing for traffic calming measures. She said: “I have mixed views. Staplehurst needs something bet- ter than Spar, but the infrastruc- ture can’t cope with the amount of traffic even at the moment. If you then add delivery lorries, traffic in and out of the station and resi- dents from nearby roads, you are going to create a bottleneck. “If they can find a way around it ,I am for it. If they can’t, I’m not.”
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Diane feels it is ironic that a roundabout
[see separate box] is proposed in the plans. “We have been trying to get speed calming measures along the A229 for seven years. We have been told by Maidstone Council and Kent Highway Services that we are not allowed these measures because it would slow up the HGVs on one of their main routes. “But Sainsbury’s is proposing exactly that
with the roundabout. If it goes ahead then it will go totally against what local people have been told in the past.”
Newsagent fears for his shop THE owner of Station Newsagents fears for his business if Sainsbury’s moves in nearby. Rajendra Pavekh said: “I have been here for
four years and paid a lot of money to buy this business. My business is going to be very much af- fected. It is going to be a nightmare. “People don’t want a supermarket here because
we are a village, not a town.We can’t cope with the influx of traffic from other villages.”
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