Letter: ‘Let’s keep Newmarket unique’
I OBJECT to the proposed Sainsbury’s and associated retail outlets on planning applications F/2011/0562/FUL and F/2011/0541/HYB.
Newmarket is a small market town, like it or not, made ‘great’ by the racing industry. Why do people want to turn it into anything other than that? Why does it matter if we have to travel to larger towns for the things we don’t have here - where would it end if we tried to cram it all into Newmarket? What next?... John Lewis, Harvey Nichols (yes! I hear some of you cry). But seriously those who want to and can afford to will always travel further afield for the things we don’t have here. What’s the point in having all singing all dancing out-of-town retail parks when the town centre is not thriving - stop sidestepping problems by creating more? With all the recent talk of the demise of our High Street - is this not where money should be spent and not compound this problem by enticing shoppers away with yet more out-of-town centre alternatives.
The original idea for George Lambton Playing Field was “to give the townspeople, living in the nearby estates, an open green space between their homes and the shops, offices and light industrial units that were planned and are now in place”. This was reiterated recently by Mr Lambton in a conversation I had with him last year as we reminisced about the Phantom and Moreton Stud, once owned by his grandfather and sold to build St Felix Middle School and the surrounding housing in Noel Murless and George Lambton Estates. Why has this sensible and thoughtful idea now become null and void? Should we not continue to consider the impact of expansion on those who live nearby and the affect this may have on their well being or does this now take second place to retail and basically, profit?
A person may visit Sainsbury’s once a week or the cinema once a month but the effect of this will be felt by the local residents on a daily, possibly 24 hour basis, as even if the cinema closes at 11pm I expect Sainsbury’s will be open 24 hours, to be in direct competition with neighbouring Tesco. Just think of the bigger picture for anyone living nearby, the pollution from increased traffic, light pollution and constant noise pollution, will be awful.
The playing field is not only used for football, for many years it has been home to the skate park, the circus, the funfair and whippet racing, I can’t see any of these going on to the college field or on to The Severals as it would cause a greater disturbance to nearby stables than the carboots and cricket matches. The playing field has been in regular use by many locals for years, you can see the well trod path across the middle, and I expect some of them could rightly put in an application for it to be given village green status and secure it as a community space for the foreseeable future?
The new facilities promised to Newmarket College sound like a good addition to the excellent facilities already on offer. However it’s a shame they can only be offered as a ‘sweetener’ to get Sainbury’s into the town. Newmarket College was promised a fenced off level playing field once before, when the new swimming pool and leisure centre was built. The college sacrificed its car park and a large open space in front of the school (now the lucrative all-weather pitch) but the money ran out before the final phase was even started.
These are my own thoughts and opinions and I’m sure the arguments for and against will continue to be discussed. We all want what is best for the town and yes sometimes changes are necessary but not always. This development would spoil this approach to Newmarket and make it look just like any other large town. Let’s keep Newmarket unique and let’s keep the open spaces.
Dinah Bugg
St Albans
Newmarket
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Friday 25 May 2012
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