7:00am Tuesday 10th January 2012
I WOULD like the chance to answer John Dimbylow’s letter (Readers’ Times, December 8) about my comments on the need for additional shopping facilities for Hay.
Firstly can I point out that any supermarket coming to Hay will not be a large supermarket, as the plot available will not be large enough.
Any supermarket will have to provide its own customers’ parking area, which will no doubt be used by the visitors coming to Hay, especially if free. You, as a local person, will see the disruption to estate parking at festival times, when local people go to work, coming home to find nowhere to park because some of the visitors will pay to go to attractions, but not to park when they can park for nothing on our estates and are not interested in the disruption this causes.
The community centre was always going onto this site, as the field was left to the local people for recreation and leisure facilities. Do you remember when the ground for the surgery and houses was sold to pay for plans to be drawn up for a new community centre, three stories to house a conference centre/theatre/cinema and a little bit for local people to use? This was so that local beds/restaurants could stay full out of season. Then the locals were asked to buy a brick for £10 each to pay for the building.
How much extra traffic would that have caused?
However, we now understand that this area is going to be used not only for the school and the community centre, but also for a new, private nursing home.
It amazes me how all these things are being squashed onto that site with all the parking facilities that will have to be provided. Look at all the extra traffic that will produce.
As I understand things the supermarket could be the Co-op, Sainsbury’s or Tesco. Nothing has been decided yet.
I agree with John that Hay is everything he says – a very varied and mixed community. But Hay is not going to stay as it is. The 10 year plan intends to build hundreds of mixed housing in the area.
With regard to Egbert Smit’s letter, can I ask where his three supermarkets are in Hay? I know there is the Co-op and two grocery shops (Spar and Londis) but where are the two supermarkets? I shop as much as I can in Hay at Londis, the Co-op and the Thursday Market, but where can you shop in Hay to get everything you need?
Look at all the money being leeched out of Hay to supermarkets in Hereford, Brecon and Kington to name just a few.
It would be nice if we still had the very good food shops/others supplying local needs of a few years ago but unfortunately they were priced out of the area by cafes/bookshops and antique shops. If the bookshops are now closing due to the internet, and offices etc are now being opened in their place then that’s market forces. Many people shop on the internet now.
There are many more employers in Hay, apart from the hotels, B and Bs and restaurants. There are factories, residential homes for the elderly, carers, schools, the surgery and wholesale bookshops etc.
Because of the tight market economy I have noticed private rental houses now have “to let”
signs. Obviously local people can no longer afford to pay the high rentals.
CHRISTINE EDEN, Hay-on-Wye.
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