CLAIMS have been made that a key argument used to justify the development of a supermarket on Malton’s Wentworth Street car park is fundamentally flawed.

The Fitzwilliam (Malton) Estate, which has submitted plans to redevelop the town’s livestock market, says too much reliance has been placed on a “retail shopping index” produced by consultants MHE Retail, which apparently shows Malton has slipped down the rankings of town centres.

The Estate argues that MHE’s statistics have been wrongly interpreted and that the number of towns listed in its table of town centres changed significantly with fewer than 2,000 in 2003 and more than 6,000 by 2008, the majority of which were significantly larger than Malton.

Roddy Bushell, agent for the Fitzwilliam Estate, said MHE Retail had confirmed that the 2008 index was not directly comparable with previous versions.

He said this index, which gave scores for the number and variety of shops, has been much-quoted by Ryedale District Council and GMI Holbeck Land, the developers selected by the council to progress the superstore proposal.

Mr Bushell said: “I have always been curious about the often quoted statistic that Malton is slipping in the retail rankings. Using the MHE Retail studies can only provide a very misleading picture as it does not compare like with like.

“The Estate’s planning advisers have quoted the same index. I am closely in touch with retail in Malton and I keep an eye on neighbouring towns as well. Malton is doing as well as many and better than some.

“Five minutes’ research showed me that the MHE comparison that purports to show Malton’s retail in decline and ‘justifies’ a new superstore was spurious. It would seem that several organisations have failed to understand this research.”

Mr Bushell added that perhaps the worst thing was that this data had been used to talk the town down in order to justify the need for a superstore.

“While Fitzwilliam Malton Estate and others have been working to promote Malton, the council has repeatedly misquoted these statistics in high profile media statements, effectively saying that the town is failing.

“I think that Malton is owed an apology and several thousand pounds of promotion by the council to put that right.

“Far from underpinning the superstore proposal, this MHE study actually undermines its justification. Such a Goliath is not merely unwanted. It is not needed, and this is the proof.”

However, GMI Holbeck Land, which has submitted plans to develop the car park site, says in an open letter to residents and councillors this week that £600,000 each week – and growing – is spent on supermarket shopping outside Ryedale by residents taking their custom elsewhere.

The company says Malton and Norton are haemorrhaging shoppers who go to a superstore to do their weekly shop and fill up their cars with cheap petrol.

A spokesperson said: “As the debate surrounding the various Fitzwilliam-owned and council-owned sites has escalated, there has been a great deal of misinformation circulated.

“We do not have celebrity or aristocratic spokespeople to speak for us and the many supporters of the superstore, but we still have a right to state the facts, and this is what the open letter does. It will be sent out to almost 14,000 households in the local area before Christmas.

“We have spoken to many local residents – normal working people – who are in support of the superstore scheme and yet are reluctant to speak out in such a hostile environment. This letter gives the other side of the story and a voice to the many people who want a vibrant Malton.

“It is fascinating to see the self-styled ‘great and the good’ of Yorkshire come together claiming that a new superstore in Wentworth Street would cause untold damage to the town, while being more than happy to support a new supermarket 200 metres away on land owned by the Fitzwilliam Estate.

“The truth is that without change Malton’s difficulties will escalate. There are many wonderful things about Malton, especially its independent shops, but it has few high street brands and shopping for clothes and some other essential goods offers little choice.

“While the livestock market would make a wonderful site for high quality new shops with the existing market relocated, it is simply too small for the superstore that Ryedale and Malton need and the wrong site for it.

“The local debate is not really about Malton wanting or not wanting a supermarket; it is about who gets to have the store on their land. The Wentworth Project is on the best site for Malton, where town centre shoppers already park and then walk into town. Malton won’t lose its car park, it will gain a vital resource that will breathe life into the local economy.”

Anthony Winship, Ryedale District Council solicitor, said: “The Fitzwilliam (Malton) Estate is promoting its retail planning application on the livestock market site in Malton.

“Their representations are aimed at the competing retail planning application submitted by GMI Holbeck at the Wentworth Street car park site in Malton.

“The district council is legally required to consider both applications on their merits having due regard to all material planning considerations including the relevant retail evidence.”