Carterton is hoping for a trade lift with Morrisons

2:10pm Wednesday 8th August 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Tom Jennings, covering Witney and West Oxfordshire. Call me on 01865 425403

An artist's impression of the store An artist's impression of the store

BUSINESS leaders hope a new Morrisons which could open in Carterton next year will spur more investment.

The retail giant has submitted an application to build the 40,000 sq ft store in the old market site off Black Bourton Road.

If planning permission is granted, work will start in the New Year with new store opening nine months later.

Morrisons said the development would create 200 new jobs.

Carterton Chamber of Trade chairman Phil Scott said he hoped the move would encourage more traders to set up in the town.

He said: “Carterton needs more retailers and this is another step in the right direction. It shows a lot of faith in the town.

“Now the big boys have started getting interested, I think others will follow.”

Mr Scott said he thought the expansion of RAF Brize Norton after the closure of RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire last September may have influenced the plan.

He added: “Carterton is a growing and vibrant place and the expansion of RAF Brize Norton has brought a lot of people here.

“Morrisons obviously looked at the demographic of Carterton and realised it was growing and wanted to be part of it.”

Carterton mayor Adrian Coomber said: “I am sure there will be points of detail that we will wish to discuss with Morrisons but the submission of the planning application is a very welcome step towards the regeneration of the town centre.”

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Morrisons has had a “long-standing interest” in Carterton and conducted a public exhibition to discuss the plans in December.

Following the discussions, the retailer altered its plans so that it now includes creating 11 homes with parking to the north of Butlers Drive.

It also added a second storey to the Black Bourton Road frontage to establish a “landmark feature” and increase the car park from 200 spaces to 219.

The retailer also “extensively” upgraded the store’s design, incl-uding the materials used, to help it better complement the town.

West Oxfordshire District Council will decide on the planning application.

Comments(22)

rabbitrr says...
9:00pm Wed 8 Aug 12

"Carterton Chamber of Trade chairman Phil Scott said he hoped the move would encourage more traders to set up in the town"

That's a laugh, a trader recently moved into the town centre (Hacketts to Go) and set up a nice, airy cafe that really was a pleasent change to the current crop. What happend? Carterton Chip Shop had the entrance to the carpark adjacent to the cafe blocked with metal railings to prevent access to the cafe to/from the carpark before they even had a chance to open the doors, and when it was spotted that the fence had a gap and people were getting through they blocked that as well.

Hackets have now closed their doors and left town and Carterton is stuck with traders like the chippy who are soooo against competition they try and block anything and everything so they can to keep the status-quo and is one of the main reasons why Carterton is so far behind Witney in development. So please don't give us the party line... If they (the Carterton trader cartel) can block it, they will. I will only believe Morrisons are coming when they open the doors and a knackered morrisons trolley is abandoned on the rec!

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Lady Penelopee says...
8:54am Thu 9 Aug 12

I wonder where Hackets to Go will move to now, since they've now rejected both Carterton AND Witney!?

Why didn't people boycott the chip shop for not allowing fair competition?

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ritetumi says...
10:38am Thu 9 Aug 12

I wonder if local people want another supermarket? Which might make the sustainablity of small shops harder.
I live a few miles from the town but still had a consultation letter regards Sainsbury's when they wanted to build a small store on the ring road. However, I've had nothing regards Morrisons....presuma
bly because it's in town so Carterton Council/Chamber of Trade does not to consult the public???

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Angharad12 says...
1:03pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Talking of sustainability, I can't really see why a small town needs 3 supermarkets so close together. Aldis is giving the Co-op much needed competition, but a giant Morrisons will surely lead to its closure, which is rather wasteful. I also wonder where all these other new stores the town hope for will go, as the only space is on the Morrisons site. A smaller Sainsburys on the industrial site with space around for more retail seemed
more viable.

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Jehova says...
1:52pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Angharad12 wrote:
Talking of sustainability, I can't really see why a small town needs 3 supermarkets so close together. Aldis is giving the Co-op much needed competition, but a giant Morrisons will surely lead to its closure, which is rather wasteful. I also wonder where all these other new stores the town hope for will go, as the only space is on the Morrisons site. A smaller Sainsburys on the industrial site with space around for more retail seemed
more viable.
The Sainsbury's option would have made good use of the redundant land opposite Brize and being on the outer roads of Carterton, would have had only a small impact on local traffic levels. It would have appealed to those shoppers who come from some of the surrounding villages, and again would not have gone head to head with Aldi and the Co-Op.

The Morrisons option just makes no sense. Clearly with a store this size they intend to fight for full control of the grocery market at the centre of Carterton. I can see in a couple of years time either the Co-Op or Morrisons pulling the plug, putting the town back to square one.

There is also the real possibility of pushing more traffic into Carterton, which on market day can be a right pain to drive through.

The only positive thing about this story is the recognition of the benefits the RAF bring to the town. Some residents may be annoyed by the noise impact, but the Lyneham move has really boosted the local economy.

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GarbyCasLad says...
4:21pm Thu 9 Aug 12

RAF Lyneham has been here for some time now. There doesn’t seem to be a huge spike in Carterton’s population and when the VC10s are decommissioned, the RAF say around 1,000 servicemen are going, reducing numbers significantly. Therefore the focus on providing a large number of additional houses and more supermarkets seems mis-placed. Attracting supermarkets is about population for sure, but other shops that the town council seeks to attract, like M&S, look at the market. Size isn’t the only factor. Chipping Norton is less than half the size of Carterton and has better shops, pubs and cafes. The style and feel of an area is a factor and replacing the pre-fab houses will do more to fix that than simply adding more new houses or more supermarkets.’

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ritetumi says...
4:25pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Jehova wrote:
Angharad12 wrote:
Talking of sustainability, I can't really see why a small town needs 3 supermarkets so close together. Aldis is giving the Co-op much needed competition, but a giant Morrisons will surely lead to its closure, which is rather wasteful. I also wonder where all these other new stores the town hope for will go, as the only space is on the Morrisons site. A smaller Sainsburys on the industrial site with space around for more retail seemed
more viable.
The Sainsbury's option would have made good use of the redundant land opposite Brize and being on the outer roads of Carterton, would have had only a small impact on local traffic levels. It would have appealed to those shoppers who come from some of the surrounding villages, and again would not have gone head to head with Aldi and the Co-Op.

The Morrisons option just makes no sense. Clearly with a store this size they intend to fight for full control of the grocery market at the centre of Carterton. I can see in a couple of years time either the Co-Op or Morrisons pulling the plug, putting the town back to square one.

There is also the real possibility of pushing more traffic into Carterton, which on market day can be a right pain to drive through.

The only positive thing about this story is the recognition of the benefits the RAF bring to the town. Some residents may be annoyed by the noise impact, but the Lyneham move has really boosted the local economy.
I agree, Morrisons makes no sense-so what shall we do about about it? Perhaps it's time to get organised and say we don't want it....?

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the wizard says...
4:58pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Oh dear, Morrisons does make sense as the building of Carterton is not yet finished. Aldi is not a large super market, as such, and many people from Carterton still shop at Sainsburys and Waitrose in Witney as they see Aldi as "not their style" and the Co-Op as too expensive as it probably is.

When the VC 10's leave, yes we may loose numbers but these will be off set by more moving in when the further development of Carterton takes place. Instead of fragmenting super stores around the area, the idea is to keep the shopping and industry apart, therefore promoting the town centre and encouraging industry, instead of trying to mix the two which is undesirable, and it doesn't work anyway. A sustainable town centre such as the one in Witney is far better or the town centre has no identity such as the case with Abingdon.

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ritetumi says...
5:22pm Thu 9 Aug 12

So what's wrong in shopping in Witney as well as Caterton? I use all the supermarkets in the area to benefit from all the special offers. I would like to see something offering something different....my question is what will Morrisons give us that we can't get from the Co-op, Aldi or the market?

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Angharad12 says...
7:18pm Thu 9 Aug 12

the wizard wrote:
Oh dear, Morrisons does make sense as the building of Carterton is not yet finished. Aldi is not a large super market, as such, and many people from Carterton still shop at Sainsburys and Waitrose in Witney as they see Aldi as "not their style" and the Co-Op as too expensive as it probably is. When the VC 10's leave, yes we may loose numbers but these will be off set by more moving in when the further development of Carterton takes place. Instead of fragmenting super stores around the area, the idea is to keep the shopping and industry apart, therefore promoting the town centre and encouraging industry, instead of trying to mix the two which is undesirable, and it doesn't work anyway. A sustainable town centre such as the one in Witney is far better or the town centre has no identity such as the case with Abingdon.
This seems to be a circular argument- we need a supermarket and houses because we are growing, followed by we'll grow when we get the supermarket and houses!
I can get pretty much everything from the Co-op and Aldi and don't find the Co-op any more expensive than Sainsburys or Waitrose in Witney. I don't see why Carterton expects to be the same as Witney. It doesn't have the space for houses or shops to do so. Witney's town centre development was achieved by combining housing with high street retailers, not by building a megastore right in the centre. In fact, Sainsburys is a distance away from the centre, close to the industrial area.
I was in Abingdon the other week, it had quite a few of the top brands and pubs and cafes too.
By the way, just because someone has a different view point, there isn't any need to start your comment with 'oh dear'..In fact, it seems quite a few people have douts about the strategy and are concerned for the future of their town.

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the wizard says...
8:05pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Angharad12,

I started with "oh dear" because I witnessed at first hand the way Abingdon fell from grace as a vibrant town centre when Tesco opened out of town on the Marcham Road.

Having originally been an Abingdonian I saw how people voted with their feet and the town centre slowly but surely lost its businesses and idnentity and became a haven for estate agents and charity shops.

The idea of a comprehensive retailer such as Morrisons in the heart of Carterton is to bring shoppers into the heart of the community and sped their money there and not elsewhere. I would have thought that the fact that such a store there and the Co-Op would feature with other retailers and make the town centre inviting to them so more stores follow catering for other sections of retail.

Having seen how Witney has prospered and how Abingdon still remains a shadow of its former self, the concentrating of stores in the heart of the community seems a far better prospect to me. What do I know, well I've seen what diversification does at first hand, and I'm sorry it may ring your bells, but certainly not mine, no heart in a community, no heart, no soul and it becomes too late when you are painted into a corner by other developments taking place in between times, better to settle for a heart now than a soul less occupation for ever.


In answer to ritetumi, many people don't have the time, chance or mobility to do both, and the whole point of having a town centre is so that you use it as opposed to spending time and money going elsewhere, as has become the habit of many people who live in Carterton, it is so the whole community gets something from it, jobs, prosperity, security etc.
Carterton is trying hard to become something else than just a barracks town, and its high time the surrounding area and its people realised just that. Witney and along with Abingdon, Didcot, Wallingford , Wantage/Grove and Bicester have all seen massive growth, now its turn of Carterton. It had to happen at some time, that time has been the last few years, time now to put things in place, besides houses.

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Angharad12 says...
8:29pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Everyone wants Carterton to thrive- however many don't think a vast supermarket in the town centre or satellite estates are the solution. Witney used to be considered little 'down market' until the relatively recent development, but that development was sophisticated, creating a 'cafe culture' and a stylish town centre living space/ hub. It represented the best in town planning, although Witney suffers badly with traffic now and that needs a solution.
Sometimes small changes kick start regeneration. The deli/ cafe was a good start and I am disappointed it has gone. We need a few 'up market' shops and I think that replacing the pre-fabs will create an 'up and coming' feel that is more likely to draw in the type of shops we need to make the town centre more inviting. We need to work with the MoD on that, but they are already releasing land.
I can't see building a supermarket attracting shops- I never combine essential food shopping with leisure shopping, although maybe others do.
Abingdon was really busy on the Saturday I visited recently and we had a really nice outdoor pub lunch and watched a festival- a very pleasant afternoon. Would building a megastore in the centre have been the right choice there? People prefer large retail stores to be a little away from the town centre, to avoid traffic and parking issues and that is the norm pretty much everywhere.

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Phian says...
10:40am Fri 10 Aug 12

Lady Penelopee wrote:
I wonder where Hackets to Go will move to now, since they've now rejected both Carterton AND Witney!?

Why didn't people boycott the chip shop for not allowing fair competition?
If the Carterton branch was anything like the Witney one, its demise might have been of its own making.
I tried the Marriot's Walk one several times but the staff did not appear to be happy and it was not a pleasant place to go. As a contrast, the Church Green Cafe is a joy to visit so I like to go there.

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Angharad12 says...
11:09am Fri 10 Aug 12

But we have no cafe at all in Carterton at present, so it would have been a significant improvement. Staff can vary in attitude from branch to branch. The entrance was definitely blocked by railings. Money must have been wasted setting it up and now we are back to no cafe.

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ritetumi says...
11:28am Fri 10 Aug 12

I think many good points have been raised but I'm not convinced a large supermarket will encourage small businesses to the town or provide the climate for existing small ones to survive.
Chipping Norton fought off plans for a large supermarket chain building another supermarket in the town there must have been good reasons for it.
I agree Carterton needs a boost but is Morrisons the answer?
When I shop in Witney, I do so because that's where my bank/building society and health store etc is...so a visit is usually for a host of reasons not just groceries!

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GarbyCasLad says...
11:36am Fri 10 Aug 12

wizard you say - “When the VC 10's leave, yes we may loose numbers but these will be off set by more moving in when the further development of Carterton takes place”.

When the VC10’s are de-commissioned RAF Brize Norton will decrease their numbers – that has been confirmed by the RAF. The quote “will be off set by more moving in” is inaccurate – again the RAF have confirmed they have enough housing for the next fifteen years, and hence the release of MoD land for potential private development. Therefore where do you see this influx of people coming from to buy the new houses you allude to in your “further development”?

Your logic appears flawed. First there is a requirement for the delivery of suitable infrastructure, which in turns attracts industry and jobs. Housing can then be built to provide for the workforce, who in turn spend their earnings in the local economy which stimulates growth in the town’s retail sector. This is a sustainable way to grow a town – simply jumping straight to “lets build lots of houses” only encourages “in migration” where in this case, people buy houses in Carterton and work (and shop!) in Witney and Oxford. The recent survey of Shilton Park and the traffic on the A40 confirms this. Shilton Park didn’t result in any positive changes to the town centre. Also, there has to be a saturation point- just how many people will want to move to Carterton, when so many houses are being built in Swindon, Didcot and elsewhere in Oxfordshire.

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Angharad12 says...
1:14pm Fri 10 Aug 12

What we need is decisions for the town made on hard fact and clear evicence and not on hearsay, with crossed fingers. Plans for the town should reflect the views of the majority of residents and should be clearly shown to be best for the town overall. At present, the strategy seems a little simplistic. It is clear that quite a few residents have strong views based on good local knowledge and the council should take those views and all the evidence base into account.

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maysie says...
10:34am Sat 11 Aug 12

mmmmmmmmmmm Morrisons Tiger bread its the best out of all the supermarkets! leftovers also make very good garlic bread. We used to go to banbury once a month to aldi and then morrisons now we can just pop to carterton for both.

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Transformer says...
1:15pm Sat 11 Aug 12

Planning decisions certainly must be made on planning grounds, and with access to clear evidence. Plans for the development of the town should of course reflect the views of the majority of residents and should be clearly demonstrated to be for the benefit of the town overall. If residents have strong views based on good local knowledge; the developers, town council and district council need to be aware of them and should indeed subsequently take those views and all the evidence base into account.

Morrisons carried out extensive public consultation which was launched with an exhibition at the Town Hall. To look at details, go to www.morrisonscartert
on.co.uk.

You can still call them on 020 7323 3544 (Monday to Friday, 9.00am–5.30pm)

...email: info@morrisonscarter
ton.co.uk

...or write to:
Morrisons Carterton
c/o 7 Bayley Street,
London
WC1B 3HB

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ritetumi says...
3:31pm Sat 11 Aug 12

ritetumi wrote:
I think many good points have been raised but I'm not convinced a large supermarket will encourage small businesses to the town or provide the climate for existing small ones to survive.
Chipping Norton fought off plans for a large supermarket chain building another supermarket in the town there must have been good reasons for it.
I agree Carterton needs a boost but is Morrisons the answer?
When I shop in Witney, I do so because that's where my bank/building society and health store etc is...so a visit is usually for a host of reasons not just groceries!
Oops! omitted the word "not" should have read "will not encourage" sorry about that..

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ritetumi says...
3:36pm Sat 11 Aug 12

Thanks! Transformer for the contact details-I did try to find out what was happening a few months ago when I Googled "Morrisons Carterton" but cam up with nothing...

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WitneyGreen says...
4:10pm Mon 13 Aug 12

Hackett's is now occupying the former Copper Kettle in Burford. It's 'OK' but the staff are a bit uninterested and the food is bland. Suspect the tourists will eat enough cream teas to keep them open though.

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