We are writing to the Gazette & Herald to publicise our Notice of Motion to Ryedale District Council on March 6.

Our Notice of Motion is as follows: That the council recognises that: the whole council has a vested financial interest in the outcome of application number 11/00927/FUL and related applications in regard to the proposed superstore on Wentworth Street car park; these applications represent the most critical decisions for the community of Malton and Norton for a generation; council members for Malton and Norton are underrepresented on the planning committee, and therefore debate on the matter may not clearly reflect community opinion.

The council therefore resolves to consider these applications in full council and to suspend all standing orders or requirements of the Constitution which might prevent this.

Councillors Paul Andrews, Lindsay Burr, Elizabeth Shields and Brian Maud.

 

I refer to your article,‘Campaign Group Set-up to Oppose Plans for Wentworth Street Car Park ( Gazette & Herald February 19, 2014).

Opponents have never explained why our mid-sized family supermarket – similar in size to Morrisons - would be a “disaster”

for Malton, while the proposals for a food-only store on the livestock market site will not be. Your article names two possible “high end”

operators for the livestock market site. Anyone who has visited one of these stores will know that they offer the kind of specialist products sold by Malton’s excellent independent retailers.

I’d like to reassure the Chamber of Trade that long-stay parking at Wentworth Street will be available both in the long term and during construction. The car park is currently not well used, running at under 20 per cent capacity on weekdays and the majority of visits are short stay. After development, the number of spaces will increase to 460, all free for three hours, and afterwards at a charge in line with the district council’s policy across the district.

Our store addresses an identified need for a new mid-sized family supermarket for the district. It will provide another option for the many people across Ryedale who would like to do their weekly shop at a convenient location, but currently travel to York or Scarborough instead. By providing a further option, with a petrol station, our store will help to boost the number of people visiting the town for the benefit of all retailers and create 200 permanent jobs.

Ian Barraclough, GMI Holbeck Land Ltd