Swaffham Supermarket Plans Revealed
The following press release was issued by Geeen Issues, Millingate’s public consultation consultants:
Developer, Millngate, is pleased to announce that the company is moving forward with the preparation of proposals to redevelop and regenerate three acres of land on the edge of Swaffham town Centre on Castle Acre Road.
Contracts have been exchanged for the purchase of the site from Breckland Council, and a planning application for a new supermarket will be submitted by Millngate early next year.
In a recent retail study commissioned by Breckland Council, carried out by Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners, it was revelaed that 49% of those questioned in the Swaffham area were choosing to travel to other towns in the region to undertake their main shop.
Millngate has recently commissioned it’s own more detailed and comprehensive shoppers survey, which confirms that 67% of people living within a 15 minute journey time of Swaffham do not do their main food shop in Swaffham. Of those living directly in the Swaffham postcode area 42% still travel outside Swaffham for their main food shop.
The survey also shows that 34% of the total number of people surveyed said they would support proposals for a new food supermarket in Swaffham compared with 50% saying they would be neutral. Only 16% of those surveyed said they would oppose such a proposal.
To redress the balance and to keep a far higher percentage of shoppers in the town, Millngate is working with Tesco to build one of their smaller sized environmentally friendly supermarkets. Tesco’s current supermarket designs place a strong emphasis on helping the environment and contain many environmental features. The new store will create a significant number of much needed jobs.
Tony Sweeney, Managing Director of Millngate said:
“This is a fantastic opportunity to regenerate a derelict site which has been empty for some time through an attractive, environmentally friendly, sustainable building on the main approach into the town. It has taken us many years to persuade an operator to come to the town and we are particularly fortunate that Tesco has made this commitment – a perfect addition to the most prominent part of the Eco-park closest to the town square.
Tony added:
“We are committed to community consultation and will be holding a community exhibition early in the New Year to share our ideas with residents and to seek feedback. We look forward to working closely with the local community as our proposals progress.”
Louise Gosling, Regional Corporate Affairs Manager at Tesco said:
“We are delighted to be working with Millngate. A new Tesco supermarket will create an improved shopping offer for Swaffham. Tesco’s policy is to employ locally and there will be a wide range of full and part time jobs for local people. We also put much emphasis on regional produce and local suppliers. We already have a strong relationship with local suppliers in Norfolk, and we work with around 250 independent producers across East Anglia. We are keen to continue this practice in Swaffham and would look to stock as much local produce as possible.
We are confident that a Tesco supermarket in Swaffham will help encourage existing residents to shop more regularly in Swaffham and will attract additional shoppers into Swaffham.”
Note to editors:
- Millngate was established uin 1997 and has much expertise in retail development. Millngate operates throughout the UK and has a strong track record of working in East Anglia.
- Tesco is committed to being a zero carbon business by 2050, its latest supermarkets typically include features such as roof lights to utilise natural daylight, rainwater harvesting, natural ventialtion, energy efficient equipment and renewable building materials.
- The Tesco supermarket if approved, would be a food supermarket selling a limited range of ancillary non food products such as newspapers and magazines
Contact:
Kelly Edwards of Green Issues Communique, 0118 983 9459 or Ben Johnson 0118 983 9486
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