Councillor leaves committee to fight supermarket proposals

Ian Cooper said his conscience meant he could not "in all sincerity'' remain on the committee after he came to a "preconceived'' decision to oppose the plans for a 20,500 sq ft store on Halifax Road which he claims would be "suicidal'' for the town's traders.

He said he had never been approached by so many people over a single issue and it was a matter of integrity that he stood down immediately, given his antipathy to the scheme.

Supermarkets have become an emotive issue in the market town with Netto proposing to demolish the Abraham Ormerod centre to build a supermarket car park in its place.

Residents fear that if both schemes got the go-ahead the town would become the supermarket capital of Calderdale with traders losing their livelihoods overnight.

Coun Cooper, (Con, Todmorden), said: "Planning is vital work and work which I had enjoyed – planning decisions have an impact on many aspects of people's lives – but I had broken the golden rule of having preconceived opinions so it was a simple matter of integrity in the end. I couldn't sit back any longer.

"My decision to quit has been accepted and gone through. Stephen Baines, (the former Conservative council leader), will replace me.

"My reasoning was based on my concern for the health and well-being of the market town I represent.

"Having just returned from holiday I found myself almost overwhelmed by phone calls, correspondence and personal approaches on this subject – a reaction which has exceeded any other issue that I have had to deal with.

"Quite frankly with Sainsbury's it is a supermarket too far – I know they say they will create 150 jobs but I can't accept the suggestion that these will be additional jobs. I can't see the town sustaining that level of business.

"To attempt to introduce yet another supermarket on top of the Netto proposal would be suicidal for a market town. The heart of Todmorden is its market and this Sainsbury's proposal would effectively destroy it as a market town and with it any hopes of developing a future for tourism.

"That site on Halifax Road Stannard site is one of the last pieces of land that could make a substantial contribution and I think it would be immoral to lose that site for tourism."

The level of opposition towards plans for more supermarkets was evident at the weekend when protesters claimed more than 200 people turned out to sign letters of objection to Netto's well-developed plans for a new supermarket.

Concerned resident Emma Cranidge said: "We had a fantastic turnout. A lot of people are worried about the threat to the town of two multi-nationals coming here."

Regarding Coun Cooper's decision to quit she added: "I was very surprised but it is a matter of integrity and it is good to have the support."

On Friday Sainsbury's will be staging an exhibition of its plans at Todmorden town hall between 11am and 7pm and on Saturday between 10am and 2pm.

Sainsbury's regional development executive, Kevin Macmillan, said: "Many people currently travel out of Todmorden to do their food shopping and a new Sainsbury's store will provide shoppers with more choice, keeping people shopping locally.

"I would encourage people to come along to the exhibition to view the proposals and discuss their thoughts with the team."