Supermarket objectors launch group to guide regeneration

Plans have been submitted for the construction of a new supermarket and associated parking in Station Road, which opponents claim would cause “havoc” with traffic in the East Riding village.

A petition of about 500 names of people objecting to the scheme was submitted to East Riding Council at County Hall yesterday, and the campaigners have now formed a new group to represent the village after holding a second meeting about the issue.

The Cottingham Futures Action Group said they hoped to harness the opposition against the supermarket into a positive force for change.

They say they are not against a new supermarket in principle, but believe the current proposal is in the wrong place.

Cottingham South ward councillor Lena Slater said: “We are trying to put across the fact that this supermarket is in the wrong place. It would cause havoc for traffic.

“But what we want to do is make this the catalyst and look at the whole future of Cottingham, trying to retain its best parts but regenerating places like the station because that is going to be our future.”

The petitioners claim the supermarket would also threaten other businesses in Cottingham.

They said the development would “irreversibly change the character of the village with consequential loss of current small businesses and jobs”.

They also fear Hallgate, “which is quoted in ancient documents as the ‘spine of Cottingham’,” would be “rendered redundant” as the main shopping area.

A number of residents have written separately to the planning department outlining their concerns.