Plans need ‘sensitive touch’

10:01am Thursday 27th March 2008

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SENSITIVE development of a prominent site at the entrance to Pershore's historic High Street is more important then the grandiose plans as envisaged by the former owner of Croome Court, Laurence Bilton, in last week's Journal.

Already the scheme for the Abbey Garage site appears to have grown in scale taking in the ATS Autocentre site, which was certainly not in the original plans.

Bringing in bigger retailers or national chains to the site could well draw trade away from the town's traditional shopping centre and create extra traffic and parking hazards at an already busy road junction.

A pizza restaurant or similar as suggested - no doubt with takeaway facilities - would add to these problems and the town already has an excellent variety of coffee and tea shops.

Few would deny the desperate need for more low-cost affordable housing in the town but whether the scale of this mock Georgian three-storey development with larger retail outlets at the entrance to the town centre is the answer is extremely questionable.

JULIAN PALFREY, Mill Lane Close, Pershore.