Not for the first time, Spurtle raised the vexed issue of the effects supermarkets have on our town and city centres earlier this month (Issue 197). It prompted a thoughtful response in our Letters column, and a question on the topic was asked at last week's by-election hustings. Now Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for the Lothians – who has campaigned on the issue in her role as a City councillor for Ward 10 – picks up the baton.
Local shops are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the big supermarkets yet, despite the well-documented loss of retail diversity in our high streets, the City of Edinburgh Council’s planning department very rarely declines to grant planning permission for yet another supermarket.
At a local level, supermarket growth directly leads to the loss of specialist food retailers in our local shopping parades. The tale is a familiar one. My local shopping ‘parade’ used to boast a butcher and a delicatessen. This parade is now sandwiched between a large Tesco on Colinton Road and a smaller Tesco Express a mile or so along the same road. It’s no surprise to learn that the butcher and deli are now a tailor and dentist. This transformation of retail space to service space can be seen in neighbourhoods across the country. [img_assist|nid=2040|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=193|height=200]
We should be concerned about this. Those without cars, and many elderly and vulnerable people, rely on there being local food shops within reasonable walking distance. When we lose these shops we are left with no option but to travel further to larger superstores.
But the consequences are far more far-reaching than planners seem to understand. As time for this kind of shopping is a luxury many don’t enjoy, we are left with the option of one big weekly shop. This kind of shopping is in turn the root cause of over-buying, bulk buying and far greater waste – thanks to the frequently illusory savings of the ‘bogofs’ (buy one get one free) – as produce goes off. Losing the shops we use on an almost daily basis means that these high streets are quieter and sometimes less safe. Without local shops many people even lose out on daily exercise, an important issue in Scotland, second in the obesity stakes only to the USA.
As an example, Morningside Road is about to see Sainsbury open a branch developed by knocking three small shops together, joining Tesco, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer all within a mile of each other. [img_assist|nid=2041|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=200|height=132]
The Council’s Planning Committee also recently granted Sainsbury permission to take over an extremely large ex-B&Q ‘hangar’ at Longstone. This Sainsbury is about half a mile away from a massive 24/7 Asda store. I bet they’re delighted. And how long will the small convenience store at Longstone survive? Has anyone thought about those who depend on this small store? Council officials advised the committee that approval would be contrary to Council planning policies and noted the potential negative impacts on local shops, but most of the Committee decided this was less important than letting yet another superstore go ahead. Traffic around this area is already congested and air quality isn’t going to improve in light of this decision. [img_assist|nid=2042|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=194|height=200]
Opposition to the growth of supermarkets has recently resulted in rioting in Bristol and high-profile challenges to big stores in Cambridge. Meanwhile vacant shop numbers increase.
- Local councils should have a duty to help small shops survive.
- Firm plans to secure the diversity of our retail sector must be brought forward.
- We really do need statutory safeguarding of our local shopping areas. How many supermarkets can a city bear before all independents are wiped out?
- We need an independent watchdog, and one with sharp teeth, set up explicitly to protect the interests of consumers, small retailers and farmers.
- And in the meantime, we need to ensure that local decisionmakers understand the serious consequences for small shops and local communities that the drive for a supermarket on far too many corners is having.
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David Hill contacted us on 15.8.11 via Facebook to say: 'Quite agree, but unfortunately, the vast majority of locals are utterly passive to this problem (indeed, don't see it as a problem). As long as this remains the case, it's unlikely that the council will pay more than perfunctory attention to this issue.'