HOPES that traders in Ludlow had ‘seen off’ plans to build a new supermarket on the outskirts of the town look to have been premature.

A meeting of Shropshire planners in the autumn looked set to reject a proposal to build a new supermarket on a site at Rocks Green.

Councillors had made it known that they were minded to reject the application and were set to consult with officers.

It has been anticipated that the rejection would some at a meeting in early December or in January.

But now everything is back in melting pot after the developer submitted new plans that they say will reduce both the size of the proposed store and also the impact that it would have on independent shops in Ludlow.

Blackfriars, the developer behind the proposals for a superstore and petrol filling station at Rocks Green has produced new plans.

The supermarket has been reduced in size and turned through 90 degrees. The service yard has been moved away from Rocks Green Crescent and the number of car parking spaces has been reduced. Plans for the petrol filling station are unchanged.

There are just a few days before responses to a new consultation have to be in with a deadline of Thursday, January 12.

Under the revised proposal, the size of the store would be reduced by about 15 per cent from 24,000 square feet to 21,000.

Blackfriars say that a store of this size would still be of interest to supermarkets that would like to come to Ludlow.

It is claimed that the reduction in size would reduce the potential impact on Ludlow’s independent shops in the Town Centre by £3.7 million a year.

Figures submitted to Shropshire Council claim that the biggest hit would be Tesco with the independent stores losing between 1.2 and 1.6 per cent of trade.

The new proposal effectively turns the orientation of the new supermarket through 90 degrees making the service yard adjacent to the A49 instead of Rocks Green Crescent.

Under the new plans there would also be a reduction in the number of parking spaces from 227 to 188.

The developer is hoping that Shropshire planners would look more favourably upon the smaller supermarket.

There would also be a block on deliveries during the school day, a crossing warden would be employed and measures to slow traffic put on the A4117 adjacent to the site.

Andy Boddington who sits on the planning committee and represents Ludlow North on Shropshire Council says that he had been expecting the new plans.

“A new application was expected after the South Planning Committee said it wanted to reject the original application but was blocked by council officers from doing so,” he said.

“Promoter Blackfriars wrote to me in November saying that new plans are on the way and now we have them.”

As ‘the Advertiser’ was going to press a public meeting was taking place in Ludlow to enable people to express their views for and against the proposed supermarket at Rocks Green.