CAMPAIGNERS are furious that information showing a new supermarket could cause traffic congestion and siphon of customers from local businesses was not made public.
In late 2011 a traffic survey was carried out on the viability of the four options for the redevelopment of a seven acre site in St John’s Road in the heart of Epping.
Following a request made under the Freedom of Information Act, the result of the consultation has been made public, and states that “it is generally accepted that a new food store generates very little new trade in its own right and that the majority of its trade would be from existing competing stores.
It also claims that increased traffic from customers to the store on Fridays and Saturdays could result in congestion in the town centre, while it is estimated that new leisure facilities would not cause a significant increase in traffic.
Trevor Krueger, 52, who runs the Little Sew and Sews shop in Epping High Street with his family, said: “I think the council has shown a bias in the information they have released to the public.
“They describe the plans for a new supermarket as viable and but do not mention these difficulties.
“They describe plans for new community facilities, which is a very popular option, as unviable but don’t look at all the funding options.”
St John’s Road resident Kerry Gilroy, 40, said: “This just confirmed things I have always suspected.
“Councillors I have spoken to have spoken about how much new business a new supermarket would bring into Epping, but this study directly contradicts that.
“It strikes me that they just want an easy life and are looking to make easy profit from the site.”
Steven Harding, 37, lives in St John’s Road.
He said: “I was surprised when I saw the content of this document.
“Councillors have told us there was no specific information on the scale of a supermarket development or any of the other options, but these documents show that a supermarket option would be 4,800 square metres.”
Epping Forest District Council has been asked to comment.
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