Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Protect community businesses in Forest Fields

Pat | 06.12.2008 18:21

There is an application submitted to the council to convert a garage premises in Forest Fields into a 'food retail store'. The application doesn't say so, but it is suggested that this would actually be a Pak Store, similar to others in Sneinton Dale (NG2 4HJ), Birmingham and elsewhere in the Midlands.

If this is the case the application hardly gives a fair description of the scale of the project. A Pak Store is more on the scale of an Aldi or Lidl store - ie not the kind of community based corner shop of which Forests Fields is so blessed. The application states the worthy aim of 'providing daily provisions for the people of Forest Fields, reducing their need to travel to shops further away'. However, when a store the size of that proposed moves into a neighbourhood others inevitably close - resulting in less choice, not more, and the migration of funds out of the local community. On their own website they say that 'PAK stores tend to be larger than those of other retailers in the area.'

Twenty years ago there was a concerted 'homes not hypermarkets' campaign. Despite being forced to include some community housing in the plans, Asda came anyway, with it's acres of car park and (yet again) reduced green space. Picture the amount of traffic generated by Asda, or the car parking associated with Aldi at Radford Boulevard or Lidl on Mansfield Road. Now picture a long and winding road through a residential neighbourhood with ever restricted street parking and no off-street car park. Not the kind of area to bring in a plan a business that will need to bring in car-bound customers from out of the area to support it's scale of operation. See the Site Location Plan, part of the planning application below, to imagine the potential traffic impact.

For an idea of the scale of Pak's operation see  http://www.paksupermarkets.co.uk/, where they say that "Pak supermarket strives to be the premier quality foodretailer in the United Kingdon". Again fine sounding words, but look where the 'competition' between the other 'premier' supermarkets has got us - loss of high street community and every town centre devoid of any individuality. We are really lucky in Forest Fields to have a number of genuinely local community-based food businesses. Lets strive to keep it that way.

If you are concerned and wish to see the planning application, click here:
 http://plan4.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/WAM/pas/findCaseFile.do?appNumber=08/03357/PFUL3
But get any comments in quick, the deadline is only a few days away.

See 'What's Wrong with Supermarkets?' by Corporate Watch at  http://archive.corporatewatch.org/pages/whats_wrong_suprmkts.htm

Here's some info on other 'deep discount' supermarkets:
 http://www.redpepper.org.uk/Every-Lidl-hurts

Pat

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

campaign

07.12.2008 13:51

i should like to see a campaign against this and would happily be part of it. for example, to start it off if someone were to put together a flier or leaflet informing local residents and businesses of the planning application, I would happily deliver it door to door.

I myself don't have the facilities to print off something like this, but could pick it up from the Sumac centre for example. You could use the text from Pat's already well written article.

Posters for the windows of local shops and houses would be good as well.

Perhaps a slogan along the lines of "not another supermarket, (we'd rather there wasn't an Asda as well whilst we're on the topic)", but catchier!

on any publicity we could advertise a meeting at the Sumac centre.

Pete
mail e-mail: pete@v3power.co.uk


Not Another Supermarket Campaign

07.12.2008 18:21

Save, print & distribute the above flier - quickly!
Save, print & distribute the above flier - quickly!

Berridge Road , Forest Fields location
Berridge Road , Forest Fields location

Similar site in Sneinton
Similar site in Sneinton

No sooner said...

Hardly much time left time for a campaign, as objections have to be in by Wednesday 10th, but above is a printable version of this info (sorry quality is not better, but hey, Indymedia is open publishing, anyone can do it without having to have state of the art resources).

Here's my comment.
You, dear reader, could submit something addressing your concern to the planning application, online at  http://tinyurl.com/6f7vq2

"Having lived in the area of this proposal for 25 years, I feel that there would be no benefit to the community from a food retail store of this size. We are very well served by many other food stores in Forest Fields, with many bigger stores in nearby Hyson Green and Sherwood Rise. An additional store of this type will have a negative impact on existing businesses, many of whom have given reliable service to the local community for decades.

"The site proposed for this store is inappropriate from a traffic safety point of view. Berridge Road rarely has space for free flow of existing traffic without oncoming vehicles having to pull over to make passing space. Leslie Road is fully residential and certainly not capable of accommodating additional traffic. Neither road is suited to delivery vehicles required by a food store that is likely to be larger than other retailers in the area. These issues would be exacerbated by the location right at a bend and near a school."

The attached views are of the Forest Field location and the similar store in Sneinton Dale. Compare the residential layout in Forest Fields with the much wider and straighter Sneinton Dale. Note the trucks in the second picture - imagine them negotiating, let alone parking amongst the homes and schools in the Berridge Road area.


In considering a planning application, the Council has a statutory duty to have regard to any “material considerations”. The most common “material considerations” include the following, although the list is not exhaustive.

* Local, strategic, regional and national planning policies, including proposals in the development plan.
* Government circulars, orders and statutory instruments
* Previous appeal decisions
* Loss of daylight or sunlight
* Overshadowing/loss of outlook (but not loss of view)
* Overlooking / loss of privacy
* Highway issues: Traffic generation, vehicular access, highway safety
* Noise and disturbance resulting from use
* Smells
* Light pollution
* Hazardous materials/ground contamination
* Loss of trees
* Nature conservation
* Effect on listed buildings and Conservation Area
* Layout and density of buildings
* Design, visual appearance and materials
* Archaeology
* Risk of flooding
* Landscaping
* Disabled persons’ access

Over to you ....

Pat
mail e-mail: pat@veggies.org.uk


unfair to judge

08.12.2008 00:28

leave nature to take its route, people need necesities even if they are hours away or next door. i dont see a reason why it shuldnt go ahead..forest fields is one of the largest muslim communities in nottingham, aswell as sneinton. provisions not normally sold in the likes of asda an lidl are in the pak foods store as it is transported from countries sumtimes not even known of to them. i like pak foods an have a good selection of delicious sweets also found in the store on alfreton road. we fussed over the trams in forestfields and then it carlmed down,,till no one was bothered,, no one is bothered, untill u mess with food,, let food get to people,, doesnt matter where it is,, maybe ull get a skip u can raid wen its open..... good comes from bad an bad comes from good.....new store,, closer skip for u to raid...

advocate


Local households need a chance to comment

29.12.2008 14:33

Forest Fields Improvement Association will have the planning application as an agenda item at their meeting, Monday. 12th January at 7.30pm at Forest Fields Community Centre on Sturton Street.
Having talked to a number of residents we are concerned for the parking and traffic impact on and around Berridge Road, as well as the likely damage to local family run businesses, particularly local greengrocers and corner shops.
The planning application claims that residents will walk to the store, and claims other stores are too far to walk. People find no difficulty walking to Tastees and Medina supermarkets in Hyson Green, which supply a great range of Asian specialist foods, as well as the smaller shops along Berridge Road. Alternatively, for more general cheap food, Lidl, Asda and Aldi are all near the area, all on major roads, and with big off road parking. There is no wide road to this site, nor any off road parking.
Berridge Road, Gladstone Street and our narrow terraced streets already have traffic calming speed-bumps and road narrowing to slow traffic. In addition another section of Berridge Road East has a new 20 mph restriction. All this is aimed to ensure the safety of pedistrian shoppers, and the many children who still enjoy that rare activity of walking to and from school.
If you live locally, want to get involved in local activities to build up local community spirit instead of damaging it, why not come to our meeting? You may even get to meet your neighbours - we are planning more hanging basket making in the Spring.
best wishes
Moby Farrands
Secretary, Forest Fields Improvement Association
 moby@partnershipcouncil.co.uk

Moby
mail e-mail: moby@partnershipcouncil.co.uk
- Homepage: http://partnershipcouncil.co.uk


Outcome of Forest Fields Improvement Association Meeting

13.01.2009 12:36

A single response covering the objections of everybody who attended last night's meeting is being written to Phil Shaw at planning.

It was agreed that some people from the meeting would draft another petition outlining all of the points raised at the meeting in opposition to the large food store opening on Berridge Road and this would be distributed to everybody who attended the meeting.

A demonstration is planned for 11am on Saturday 17th January outside project Rahnama, 199 Berridge Road when the local Councillors are having a drop-in surgery.

A press release is being written to inform the local press about this.



Resident


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech