THE plot thickens apropos the Tesco plan for expansion. Home owners in the locality should be made aware of the following because, environmental issues aside, the value of property in the vicinity will be put at risk.
A company of surveyors, regular clients of Tesco it appears, have been surveying the area adjacent to the Tesco car park, at the junction at Penn Street, Brooke Road and Cricket Lawns. Inquiries disclosed that they were working to establish the route
of a traffic outlet from the car park to Penn Street, across Brooke Road and, via Cricket Lawns, to the bypass.
Those who viewed the presentation of the project in the Tesco forecourt will know that no such scenario was included in the plans. One might reasonably presume that Tesco is anticipating an increase in the volume of traffic that currently clogs up its car park
Property blighting aside, readers might ponder, too, upon the effect this will have on the pleasant ambience the town now enjoys. The bypass has proved a blessing but less than two years after its opening the benefits are threatened by this monstrous proposal that carries all the marks of a potential rat run.
Just imagine, shopper traffic aside, delivery trucks rumbling through Cricket Lawns and across Brooke Road, already frequently congested because of the level crossing gates and virtually one way because, like Penn Street, the only parking available to most residents is on the road in front of their homes.
It's all a prospect that doesn't bear contemplation and in this age of climate controversy it surely would be beyond the pail for the council and its planners to even consider.
Our lovely town is already well served by supermarkets. It doesn't need an addition, certainly not one which will encourage traffic and the resultant levels of pollution this would generate, to say nothing of its effect on real estate and the local economy.
BARRY WARD
Penn Street,
Oakham
