What price convenience? Exactly!

Part two of this week's letters round-up - this well-reasoned piece from Lynn Lawrenson was spotted in the Solihull Observer...

Squeezing too much in?

This week's Solihull News letter's page carries this inspiring limerick from someone calling themselves the Bard of Arden...

A line too far

Jul 21 2011

The village of Dorridge was pleasant,

Leafy road, dreamy close, sleepy crescent,

But then Sainsbury’s arrived,

And enriched all our lives.

With a king-sized store, piled high with global produce: 57 types of tea, cheese from many nations, loaves of every conceivable shape and size, 200 beaming staff and umpteen rumbling delivery trucks, all topped off by a picturesque rooftop car park... the excitement was truly incessant.

I wonder if the final line needs some work. Perhaps I am trying to squeeze too much in?

The Bard of Arden

Consultation: more than 'lip service'

We spotted this piece in the latest Solihull Observer. Having directly experienced Sainsbury's brand of consultation, it really struck a chord with us. Sainsbury's - take note - customer service begins before you even open your doors. Although as the majority of your customers will be drawn in from miles around Dorridge, perhaps the views of your nearest neighbours are not a priority?

Editor's comment

15 June

Waitrose and its project partner Kimberley Developments should be applauded for their revisals of plans for a new supermarket in Knowle.

Far too often the public consultation process is merely that - a process paying lip service to the people it involves but one that will ultimately make no difference to the plans originally set out.

Waitrose on the other hand has listened to the people of Knowle and gone back to the drawing board to devise a scheme based on the feedback from the people it consulted.

Hopefully others will take this lead in future public consultations.

An Open Letter to Justin King, CEO Sainsbury's

Following our recent meeting with Sainsbury's planning and PR team, to discuss the merits of our respective plans for Dorridge, it's become increasingly clear that Sainsbury's are adamant that they cannot and will not REDUCE THE SIZE of the store to something you'd typically find in a community like Dorridge.

DROVS firmly feel that despite talk of community consultation and fulfilling the local shopping need, Sainsbury's are concerned with just one thing: maximising their own commercial rates of return.

On that basis, we've written the following Open Letter to Sainsbury's CEO, Justin King...

28 June 2011

Dear Mr King,

Sainsbury’s Dorridge – an Open Letter

We recently had a meeting with a team of Sainsbury’s people led by Jaime Powell, Regional Town Planning Manager, to review the DROVS alternative plan for a smaller supermarket in Dorridge. Your team updated us on aspects of the scheme that you have changed during the consultation process.

We were told that Sainsbury’s remained adamant that the store can be no smaller than the one presently projected (about the same size as Morrisons in Solihull). The reasons were, firstly, that the size is the minimum required for a ‘weekly shopping trip’ and, secondly, that anything less would not be viable given Sainsbury’s need for a commercial rate of return on its large capital investment.

On the first point, your own research shows that many Dorridge people do their weekly shopping at Tesco’s in Knowle – which is only about one-third the size of the store you offer, and now Waitrose are proposing to set up a foodstore there with a sales area much less extensive than your proposal. We therefore cannot accept that local need demands a town-centre size shop.

The second argument, about commercial viability, is your imperative. It is why your scheme involves cramming the supermarket into every available inch of space, and why you are talking about the store having a catchment area of 24,000 people (and no doubt this is a minimum).

We agree that the store must be profitable. That would help protect its future – and of course other supermarkets have come to Dorridge and failed. But the size of your current plan is part of the problem: it involves building right up to road frontages all round and with a covered service yard and rooftop parking – all expensive construction features. We believe that if you reduced the store’s size to something nearer other local foodstores it would still be highly profitable. This is a prime site, and the store would attract a loyal and enthusiastic customer base, especially if it becomes part of a more agreeable design plan.

We therefore ask you to reconsider your position. Sainsbury’s have given ground on other aspects of the scheme: for example, you have conceded that the dual carriageway on Station Road should remain; and, following an appeal from Caroline Spelman MP, you have signalled that in Dorridge you would use a number of sustainable design features.

To go one step further and change the scheme to provide for a smaller store would not only allow a better design, with more light and air and more in keeping with a village environment, but it would meet the objections of many hundreds of Dorridge people.

You may say: we have spent six months in consultation on our plan and we don’t want to change it now. However, you should recognise that in that time strong support has emerged for our view that the proposal is too big and will swamp the village not only in its physical presence but also in its traffic and environmental impact. If you signal that you are prepared to consider a smaller scheme, we will work with you to find a prompt solution, using the feedback which has been built up over the last six months. This can then be put to the planning committee.

Sainsbury’s is a fine company, and we would welcome your presence in Dorridge. You have a good reputation. Please do not spoil it by forcing an overlarge store on the village against the wishes of so many of its residents.

This is an ‘open letter’, so we are making it available to the press and other interested people.

Yours sincerely,

The DROVS Committee

Mr Justin King,

Group Chief Executive,

Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd,

33 Holborn, London EC1N 2HT.

cc. Ms Jaime Powell

Ms Amy Kershaw

Rt. Hon. Caroline Spelman, MP

Councillor I. Courts

Councillor A. Mackiewicz,

Councillor K. Meeson,

Mr Paul Watson, Strategic Director – Regeneration and Development, Solihull MBC.

Justin King's Job Creation Claims

Here we go again! Sainsbury's big cheese Justin King claims today that one of the benefits of Sainsbury’s large expansion plans would be to provide employment. But of the 3,000 – 4,000 new jobs expected in the West Midlands only 200 would be created in Dorridge, according to Sainsbury’s own estimates, put out in January. Is he scraping the barrel for something good to say about the Dorridge plan?

We hoped that Sainsbury’s would have had time to reflect on this report by the Association of Convenience Stores which claims that, too often, the ‘hundreds of jobs’ notion is based on inconsistent forecast criteria and takes no account of the likely loss of jobs from closures in other retail areas.

DROVS, too, has a plan for Dorridge which would create a good many jobs (we have provided for additional retail outlets in Forest Court, and our store would still be twice the size of Tesco’s in Knowle – plenty of jobs there!) without causing permanent harm to traders in other places – and in Dorridge itself.

To watch the Midlands Today report click here (4m10s).

Couldn't have put it better ourselves...

This marvellous letter is from Claire in the 12/5/11 edition of the Solihull Observer.

Weight of words

DROVS has produced and prinited a booklet compiling residents' comments on the Sainsbury's proposal. Entitled "Residents Respond", the brochure contains hundreds of heartflet comments we've received concerning the size of Sainsbury's latest plans as well as the traffic, noise and parking problems the planned development threatens to bring to Dorridge, at its current size.

DDRA Newsletter - Correction!

If, like DROVS, you've received your DDRA Newsletter, you'll note a mistake in the Sainsbury's article - accidental we are assured but nonetheless vital.

‘The revised proposals reduce the store size from 29,000 square feet to 19,000 square feet…’

Not so! The net sales area of the proposed store has been reduced from 26,500 sq ft in the first plan to 19,504 sq ft in the latest plan.

That's a reduction of 26.4% to the sales area (basically, the bit where you can do your shopping), although as Sainsbury's have recently been forced to admit, they've only reduced the overall size of the store (including the back-up space) by 14.7%.

DROVS say that's still too big!

There’s a good discussion of all this on The Silhillian news ‘blog’ here

Supportive letters in Solihull News

Two sensible letters from the the Solihull News, April 28 2011. Please, if you’d like to see a smaller Sainsbury’s , do email your comments in solihull_news@mrn.co.uk or editor@solihullobserver.co.uk

Sense, please

Over the last few weeks I have read with interest the letters coming in concerning the opening of two potential supermarkets in Knowle and Dorridge.

I have to say my biggest concern is about the local council - how and why has it got to this stage? Surely common sense would say that the roads surrounding these two villages are insufficient to cater for two large supermarkets.

Someone from the local council should have spent some time in the surrounding area on a Saturday to witness the traffic without these two large retailers, and then I doubt very much if the debate would have gone on for this long! Please could common sense prevail?

Nick Davies, via e-mail

----

Alternatives

IT goes without saying that all Dorridge residents would agree Forest Court is an eyesore and a disgrace, and that there is a need for the site to be redeveloped.

The new proposals by Sainsbury’s is for a store far bigger than will be sustainable by the patronage oif the residents of Dorridge alone.

This size of store will need to attract customers from a far wider area.

As a residential community, do we want an unnecessary large increase in traffic, noise and pollution, which this will lead to.

I can see the only benefit to our community will be a large doctors surgery, which may well be needed to treat the health problems, that arise.

Where are the discussions about alternatives, say using the site for affordable housing, swimming baths, a gym, parking for the station and others.

It does not have to be all about supermarkets.

Simon Johnson, Dorridge

Dear John...

John Taverner is getting frothed up about Sainsbury's again in this weeks Solihull Observer (letter shown left) - but he clearly hasn't read his DROVS leaflet.

We too think that Forest Court is a disgrace and needs to be replaced

We too are in favour of compromise to get the right sized store for the village (and no, we never mentioned 'artisan shops' John.)

We can't agree that Sainsbury's will create 200 jobs. Those jobs have to come from other areas of the local economy so the net figure is much, much less.

If you agree with John that life is about compromise, you agree with DROVS too - please sign our Wall of Support and help us reach the right-sized compromise for Dorridge

Knowle Society's "grave concern" on Sainsbury's plans

The Knowle Society's March newsletter contains the following update for residents on Sainsbury's plans. Naturally, we share their concerns...

"As you will have heard, Sainsbury’s has designed a somewhat different scheme for its proposed store in Dorridge, which is an improvement on the previous one, but is still much bigger than it need be to serve Dorridge. It is clear that they intend to attract trade from some distance round, which will of course attract traffic, both shoppers and deliveries. It is the traffic issue that concerns us most as much of it (and all the lorries) will pass through the High Street and along Station Road. We have declared our grave concern to Sainsbury’s over the potential impact of the traffic on Knowle and on the length of Station Road and have asked them to revise their plans."

Leighton Jones. Knowle Society Newsletter, March 2011

Two letters of support from The Solihull Observer

Sainsbury's store will help us all save petrol. Really?

David & Anne Carey have written a cheery letter in response to Larry Sayer in this week's Solihull Observer (10.3.11). They back Sainbsury's plans - and DROVS agree with much of what they have to say.

We are not conducting a negative campaign. We too want to see a "modern, clean, attractive centre". We welcome Sainsbury's involvement. We support the redevelopment of the surgery. We'd love a Post Office.

But we raise two points in response to the letter. First, we question the use of the phrase "independent shops". Sainsbury's will be the landlord for any shops included in their plan. The future prosperity of these stores will largely be in Sainsbury's hands.

Secondly, as far as the Carey's point about saving petrol is concerned - a store of the current proposed size won't do that. 

True: Dorridge people won't need to drive to Monkspath, but we anticipate substantial traffic (including large delivery trucks) rumbling into the village to use and service a store of this size. 

That's why DROVS favours a village-sized supermarket for a village location.

Sainsbury's: No plan to end Mell Square presence

DROVS had heard rumours that Solihull MBC and Sainsbury's saw the propopsed Dorridge store as a direct replacement for their Solihull (Mell Square) branch: they are roughly the same size.

In a letter to this week's Solihull Observer, Michael Adenmosun clarifies Sainsbury's position.

FT profile of Sainsbury's MD, Justin King

The FT has a fascinating profile on Justin King, MD of Sainsbury's who, of course, grew up here in Dorridge.

"Justin King is known for his sunny ebullience. It matches his company’s orange logo. The chief executive of UK supermarket group J Sainsbury even looks sunny with a ready smile crammed with bright white teeth and a permanent tan."

Read the full article »

Letter from NJW Roe

Dear Sir,

Re: Sainsbury’s Dorridge

Sainsbury’s must be congratulated on their recent consultative leaflet for the proposed development on the Forest Court site. The idea of placing the store at ground level with the car park on the roof is inspirational and provides an acceptably low profile. A big improvement.

However the size of the suggested store is still way too large,