Tuesday 21 September 2010

New website nearly ready..

Were are still recovering from the excitement of last week, but some very dilligent people have made a great start on a new website -  link here..

www.wix.com/ransomwebdesign/A-Better-Crosby

In time we will sort out all the glitches and hopefully provide a useful and easy to use source of information about all things good in Crosby.

Monday 20 September 2010

We are houseproud



Here is a photo of a shop on St Johns Road. I bought some wood, grout and other bits last weekend. Friendly service, and as i had my baby with me the shop keeper carried my stuff to my car.

Maybe it was a bit less cheap than a bigger store, but I saved the time and petrol of driving to Aintree - where the competing store looks a bit like this....

 image from internet, where you realise all B&Qs, everywhere look like this.

Why pay more?.... well it's obvious isn't it?

Sainsbury's planning application was rejected last week, and we are working towards securing a new better proposal with Sainsbury's.  Yes we desperately need investment in Crosby, but not at any price, and the damage their proposals did to the rest of the village was not acceptable.

http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/reimagining-the-high-street

Long live Crosby

Friday 10 September 2010

ABetterCrosby has the support of Liverpool Friends of the Earth

ABetterCrosby received the following statement and  thanks Liverpool Friends of the Earth for their support and for highlighting the following issues;
 "Liverpool Friends of the Earth hopes that the residents and community groups of Crosby are able to have a full say in the development of the village and its amenities - and not merely to respond to 'top-down' proposals. In particular, disproportionate power and profits should not be handed over to Sainsbury's or any other outside corporation.




"While supermarkets have a role to play in serving the needs and wishes of local communities, all too often they come in on their own terms to exploit 'market opportunity' by bringing in more traffic and shoppers from other areas and making life more stressful, not less, for local people. Time and again, unnecessarily large stores lead to net job losses as local shops go under. A major part of the problem is that big outside companies have more financial and legal clout than the local council, which cannot or dare not stand up to them in the name of its electors and taxpayers.



"Over-sized supermarkets are also huge contributors to climate change, not only through adding to car journeys but through the carbon footprint of the goods they bring in. They may employ some local people on the tills, but they are not geared up to sell local farm produce or give trade to local businesses.



"It is incumbent on Sefton and all local authorities - in conjunction with their business and community partners - to ensure all new developments help to reduce carbon emissions from those caused by current practice. This is to protect both present and future generations. We want to see this done in Crosby and throughout Merseyside."

Sainsbury’s Colne- a case study in supermarket "design "
This store is on the edge of town and smaller than the proposed Crosby store
Wikipedia-
The core 'Main Mission' store format, which is a typical Sainsbury's supermarket, is between 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) and 48,000 sq ft (4,500 m2). The average size of a Sainsbury's supermarket is 34,000 sq ft (3,200 m2), 

Unlikely source of information but some VERY interesting comments on the store here!

Sainsbury's opens new store in Colne

8th July 2010
SAINSBURY'S opened a new 46,000 sq ft store in the Lancashire town of Colne yesterday.
The supermarket chain has created 240 jobs at the shop which has been built on the site of the derelict former Coach House Antiques flanked by Windsor Street, Windy Bank and Norfolk Street.
Planning permission was granted in June 2008 the same year planners rejected proposals from Tesco for a different site.
Store manager Ian Collins said: "It is uplifting to know that this store has helped so many back into employment, morale is high and the team is ready to provide high service to all customers."
The store will sell clothes, homewares, and entertainment products as well as food. Critics have warned it will pull trade away from smaller retailers in the town.
From the Burnley Citizen 7/07/10
THE new Sainsbury’s supermarket has opened its doors in Colne today.Mayor of Pendle Coun Tony Beckett cut the ribbon at the 46,000 sq ft Norfolk Street store.
The store includes a 7,718 sq ft home department and a 8,256 sq ft clothing department.It boasts a cookshop and entertainment section, an under-store car park with 21 dedicated disabled spaces and 14 parent and child spaces, a café and a selection of self-scan tills along with main tills.
The supermarket also includes eco-friendly measures including a rainwater harvesting system to flush every one of its toilets.
Bosses at Sainsbury’s said they had worked hard to build strong links with the local community.
18 per cent of its 240 workforce were previously seeking Job Seekers Allowance and a further five per cent being out of work for more than six months.
The store’s manager, Ian Collins, has worked for Sainsbury’s for 20 years and is the former manager of the Lancaster branch.
He said: “We’ve been really looking forward to opening in Colne and welcoming residents to our new store.
“It is uplifting to know that this store has helped so many back into employment.
“Morale is high and the team is ready to provide high service to all customers.”
In the build-up to the official opening, the store had been working with schoolchildren in the borough, them about how it is working to reduce its carbon footprint.
Pupils from Blacko Primary School also took part in a poster competition and the winning design will be turned into a permanent sign in the recycling area of the car park.
Local charities can apply for a Sainsbury’s Local Heroes grant.
People in Colne can also get involved by selecting their favourite local charity to become the store’s new Local Charity Of The Year partner.
Once the charity is selected, the store will take part in fundraising activities over one year to support their chosen charity.
Opening hours are 7am to 11pm from Monday to Saturday and 11am to 5pm on Sunday.
The Burnley Express 18/06/10


Colne Sainsbury's controversial 'Hollywood' sign to be taken down

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published Date: 18 June 2010
SUPERMARKET giant Sainsbury's has been ordered to bring down its controversial signs from the roof of its new Colne store after angry residents compared them to the huge Hollywood Hill's landmark.
People living opposite the Windsor Street store told Pendle councillors the large orange lettering "completely destroys" the "iconic" view they used to have of Pendle Hill.

New
Oxford Street resident Maria Yewdall said: "If this sign is allowed to remain, it would consign our views of Pendle to history."

Elsie Holmes, of
Windsor Street, added: "Why does a building - the biggest in Colne - require two huge signs like something from Hollywood?"

Sainsbury's planning agent Nicole Thompson said the signs were needed to compete against rival stores such as Asda in Colne and Morrison's, Nelson.

She said: "Signs such as this are
a part of supermarkets whether we like them or not. The size of them is necessary so we can see them from far away and we rely on stores being visible."

Ms Thompson also denied the banner was two metres tall, claiming this was only the height from the roof line to the top of the structure, and offered to reduce the height of the fixings to lower the signs.

But Colne and District councillors were already unhappy supermarket bosses had given the go-ahead for the two-metre high sign to be erected on the east and west elevations of the building, before hearing the outcome of their planning application.

Coun. Tony Greaves said: "Although this is completely legal,
it is not the way for a new supermarket to make friends in Colne."

He added: "It is ludicrous to say people going past won't know there is a Sainsbury's there."

Councillors agreed to refuse permission for the two signs in line with the planning officer's recommendation and ordered talks between Sainsbury's, residents and planning officials over the remaining directional signs. 

Case officer Kathryn Hughes said in a report to the committee the signs would be detrimental to the visual amenity of the area, creating
"inappropriate" and "unduly obtrusive" features.

Speaking after the meeting, she said it was not yet known whether Sainsbury's would appeal the decision. She added: "We don't know if there will be an appeal at this stage, but we will be having a meeting with Sainsbury's next week to discuss the other signs. 

"If the signs are not removed, we would have to consider enforcement action. But with the store opening in three weeks' time, I would expect to see Sainsbury's resubmit new plans and an appeal at the same time."

Lancashire Telegraph May 2009

Work on site of Colne Sainsbury's begins

·                                 By Kate Turner »Reporter

DEMOLITION work has started on the site where the new Sainsbury’s store will be built.
The former Coach House Antiques site in North Valley Road, Colne, was bulldozed earlier this week in preparation for work to begin constructing the new store.
The supermarket, which is set to create 320 new jobs, will begin to take shape in the coming months and it is expected that it will take a year to complete. Jo Try, regional development executive for Sainsbury’s said: “Demolition work on the existing site is progressing, and construction work is expected to start in the next few months. Construction is expected to take around a year, and the recruitment process will begin as the store nears completion.
“The new store will create up to 320 new full and part-time jobs. Sainsbury’s will work hard to ensure that as many of these jobs as possible go to the local community.”
It is estimated that 100 jobs created will be full time.
Planning permission for the venture was given the green light by council officials back in June 2008 after a store war broke out between Sainsbury and Tesco over the development of the site that is bounded by Windsor Street, Windy Bank and Norfolk Street.
The regular sized Sainsbury’s store, which is to take up 45,000 sq ft, has divided the community, with fears that it could decimate town centre trade and lead to further traffic on the already congested North Valley Road.
But bosses from the store believe that it will bring in trade worth an estimated £7 to £10 million.
Coun Howard Thomas, deputy chair of Pendle’s Colne and District Committee, said: “I think there was a little bit of concern when the recession started to bite that Sainsbury’s might hesitate, but they assured us that the plans would still go ahead.
"At least now we can see they are doing it.”

It's official - the majority oppose the current plans

With the proposal deferred at the last planning meeting, it was important to re group and look at what had been achieved and what was left to do. Obviously, there will always be more to do, but we can certainly be happy with some recent events.

Firstly, Liverpool FC vice captain and Blundellsands resident Jamie Carragher backed Jamie to speak at the planning meeting which goes to show it doesn't matter who you are, everyone will be affected by this monstrous build.

Secondly, Frank Cottrell Boyce has added his voice to the opposition of Sainsburys. It's good to have two stalwarts of their profession within our ranks!

On top of this, and further proof that we are speaking for the majority is the support we receive from both Labour and Conservative local councillors - as well as our local MP. The flip side of this is of course the Liberal Demorcrat councillors who have vocally supported the proposed development stating "they are supporting the silent majority".

Though we always knew this statement was rubbish we were glad to see that the display and comment book in the Library (set up by the council itself) returned a verdict of 5 residents to 1 AGAINST the proposed development. But remember, this is against the current proposal, not Sainsbury's itself. This result surely means that the Lib Dems, who has stated they wish to support the 'majority' of resident, have now changed their opinion and have joined with Labour, Conservative and pretty much the whole community to oppose this proposal!

Further meetings have taken place between residents and Sainsbury's senior management, and to be honest it appears Mr Sainsburys DOESN'T actually care what the community thinks and said pretty much this in face to face meetings.

It has also been acknowledged that the proposed community centre (proposed for the roundabout of Moor Lane, Richmond Road and the Bypass) is actually just to conceal the ugly elevation that will be seen from the Moor Lane side - it just so happens they needed  a use for the building so thought they'd call it a community centre (only for the first 10 years though - who knows what it will be after that!) - further evidence that being a valued member of the community isn't really high on their priorities.

So well done everyone, and for those still undecided, please remember, we're not against a new Sainsbury's being built - we're just against this particular proposal.

Finally, the planning meeting to decide the fate of this proposal will now take place at 6.30 pm this Wednesday (15th Septemeber 2010) at Crosby Civic Hall - please come along and stand up and be counted!!