Morpeth supermarket battle to end in New Year

Dec 26 2009 by David Black, The Journal

A SUPERMARKET war being waged by four potential developers is set to come to a head soon.

Two retail giants, a development company and a local businessman are involved in separate bids to build new supermarkets in Morpeth – posing a major headache for council planners charged with making a decision.

The four rival schemes are being put forward in a town which already has existing foodstores operated by Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Iceland and Lidl – and has seen trade boosted recently by the opening of a flagship new shopping arcade. The contenders are:

A 200-job Tesco store of 2,564sq metres, together with 176 parking spaces on the Coopies Lane industrial estate on the outskirts of the town.

A proposed 300-job, 6,000sq metre store for Sainsbury’s, together with 410 parking spaces and a petrol filling station, on farmland at Stobhill on the south-eastern edge of the town.

A 5,351sq metres superstore and 271 parking spaces proposed by Dransfield Properties on land at Dark Lane in the Low Stanners area, near the town centre.

A new town centre supermarket and multi-storey car park in New Market, on the site of the current Szoda and Suburban bar and nightclub.

The proposals are currently being assessed and discussed by county council planning officials, and have provoked a difference of opinion between those who favour even more shopping choice in the town and others who fear serious damage to its revamped retail heart.