MADAM, I write to clarify the Town Council Planning Committee's position on Tesco. Cllr Caroline Utting was representing the Town Council at the recent Herefordshire council meeting which refused permission. In your letters' page last week Mr Meek made the incorrect statement that she supported the Tesco application when speaking at the meeting. I can reassure Andrew Meek that the Town Council position was formed after consideration of the responses it received and the broader scope of public opinion embodied in the Ross Town Plan. It was formulated by our Planning Committee and sent to full Town Council for endorsement. Having reviewed these the Council objected to the original proposals and the siting of the proposed petrol station. It stated that it had no objection in principle to a large supermarket on the site but that there should be restrictions on the type of goods that could be traded and in-store concessions to limit the impact on other businesses in the town. We also made recommendations on traffic control and asked that three hours free parking without having to shop in Tesco should be a planning condition. When the application was presented on a second occasion, without the petrol station, the Planning Committee re-visited the proposal. Taking into account new information about the potential impact on the Town Centre we re-submitted our original comments with recommendations for further restrictions on the range of goods that could be sold, as well as comments on safeguarding pedestrian access to the Town Centre from the site. None of this means that the Town Council supports the application. As we said in the document that was endorsed by full Council: We recognise the arguments for and against the development, in terms of economic growth and the health of the town centre. On jobs we recognise that the net number of jobs created will be fewer than those offered at the new site, as there will be job losses elsewhere. We also recognise that many of the jobs created will be low skilled and part-time. However, one significant factor which influenced the committee in its approach to the principle of a superstore on this site was that such a development on the edge of the town centre is much preferable to, and will reduce the possibility of, an out of town development on the A40 or A449. In our opinion the latter would be much more damaging to the existing town centre. On this latter point, and speaking now personally rather than as the Planning Committee Chair, I think those who oppose Tesco outright should be careful what they wish for. Planning controls have been significantly eroded under the current government. After the next election they may become even weaker. With only one large supermarket Ross is vulnerable to speculative applications of this nature and a Tesco next to Morrisons, with restrictions of the type described above, might well be a less bad option than future alternatives.

Cllr Dr Jane Roberts