What will happen to the Postmen/Postwomen?

[Barbara]

Sounds like the young lady who got off the train at Marple and asked me how to get to the George at Crumpsall! 

[Lily]

Stockport is the 'coastal town'. I was once asked where the beach is - by the driver of a passing car!!!

Mmmmmm. Stockport, Southport - easily mixed up.

[simonesaffron]

Indeed. I have always thought marple was a coastal town

Then for you it is.

[wheels]

Indeed. I have always thought marple was a coastal town

[Dave]

Mmmm - that's very profound! 

[simonesaffron]

Wherever you think that you live - then you do.

[Lily]

I like to think that I live in a small, friendly, town rather than a suburb of Stockport.

[wheels]

I go along with much of what Simone writes, but I'm not sure about this bit:

If my understanding of the "Marple Supermarket" issue is correct then it is highly unlikely we will get two, one on Hibbert Lane and one on Chadwick street,

Why is it highly unlikely?   As you say, Simone, the two sites are very different, and the two supermarkets would also be very different - e.g. Asda at Hibbert lane, Sainsbury's Local at Chadwick Street.  Marple certainly has a big enough population to support both - about 23,000, which is more than Buxton, with a Morrison's, a Waitrose, a  Co-op and an Aldi.

The final point is - if Asda do scarper defeated, then what happens to the College whom will be10/12 million  ££.'s down ?

As discussed at length on other threads over the past year, the likelihood is that the college would just abandon its development plans for the time being and soldier on in the present buildings, which are not efficient and will become increasingly expensive to maintain as they get older.   

Correct Dave the population of Buxton is about 3000 less than Marple perhaps that will help knock on the head the idea that some people have that they live in a village rather than a suburb of Stockport.

[Dave]

If the college lost the money from the Asda deal then of course it would have to carry on but for how long could it do this? 

It's an interesting question.  A few years, certainly.  The danger after that is that if they still can't raise the money for modernisation through land disposal, and there is still no government capital for sixth form colleges, they could get caught in a kind of 'pincer action': high and ever increasing running costs as a result of operating in a poor-quality and outdated converted secondary modern school, while income drops as student numbers fall because students prefer to go elsewhere where the facilities are better.   

The only way I can see camsfc actually closing its Marple sites would be if Marple Hall managed to get capital funding for a new sixth form centre - which could happen if it ever becomes an academy.   

[simonesaffron]

The population of Marple could support three supermarkets I agree Dave, but the Council's accepted plan does not allow for this and also it has specified different usage for each site. There are also other consequential effects, vehicular traffic perhaps. There is no doubt each supermarkets' case would be greatly weakened by the advent of the other and in the end it may come down to Council preference.  In addition the advent of one would make the market more restricted for the other - however I do concede that it is not impossible. 

If the college lost the money from the Asda deal then of course it would have to carry on but for how long could it do this?       

[Dave]

I go along with much of what Simone writes, but I'm not sure about this bit:

If my understanding of the "Marple Supermarket" issue is correct then it is highly unlikely we will get two, one on Hibbert Lane and one on Chadwick street,

Why is it highly unlikely?   As you say, Simone, the two sites are very different, and the two supermarkets would also be very different - e.g. Asda at Hibbert lane, Sainsbury's Local at Chadwick Street.  Marple certainly has a big enough population to support both - about 23,000, which is more than Buxton, with a Morrison's, a Waitrose, a  Co-op and an Aldi.

The final point is - if Asda do scarper defeated, then what happens to the College whom will be10/12 million  ££.'s down ?

As discussed at length on other threads over the past year, the likelihood is that the college would just abandon its development plans for the time being and soldier on in the present buildings, which are not efficient and will become increasingly expensive to maintain as they get older.   

[simonesaffron]

If my understanding of the "Marple Supermarket" issue is correct then it is highly unlikely we will get two, one on Hibbert Lane and one on Chadwick street, but we are definitely going to get one. The Council seems to be against Hibbert Lane and will be using Chadwick street  against  Asda's case. Conversely, Asda will be determined, they are not fools and have been in this position many times before and won at the end. They will be aware of the Council's stance and they will have a plan and they also have loadsamoney which the Council does not.

 Forget the pressure groups, they'll just huff and puff and scream and shout and march and hand out leaflets that people will throw in the bin and gather petitions that will be accepted graciously but ignored.The real battle will be between the Council and Asda and Asda and whosoever on Chadwick St, unless of course Asda buy Chadwick St. Then the game is up before it has started.

We know that the Hibbert lane supermarket is an Asda, probably a large one.

We don't know who is interested in Chadwick Street but the site is much smaller so the  supermarket probably will be much smaller.

One is smack in the middle of town and one is just outside it - but not by much.
 
So which one do we actually want and why?

We can't say that we don't want any, that is not really the choice that we are being given. The lid is off the box.

The final point is - if Asda do scarper defeated, then what happens to the College whom will be10/12 million  ££.'s down ?

If the unthinkable happens and the college closes the students take all spending money with them and again what happens to the Hibbert Lane site....Vandals, Travellers, Car park ?

   

[Dave]

I think rsh makes a lot of good points there.  As I have been arguing for a long time now, the potential impact of a new supermarket on Marple is not at all easy to predict, and the experience elsewhere has been very variable, as we have seen.

In my view, people do seem to forget that the Co-op is already quite a large supermarket competing with the local shops. As "expensive" as it can be compared to other supermarkets, it must surely still already undercut most of its local competitors in Marple - butchers, grocers, bakers, etc.

Well, yes and no!

Butchers - yes, the co-op is generally cheaper (but you get what you pay for!)
Grocers - what grocers?!
Bakers - yes, and Co-op bread is now much better than it used to be a few years ago.
Greengrocers - no contest!  Neal's and Wilson's are generally both cheaper and better.   

[rsh]

....which unavoidably highlights the huge social and demographic gulf between the population of Cheadle Hulme and the good folk of Hyde.  Maybe the arrival of a supermarket in a relatively affluent commuter suburb can benefit the local independent shops (as seems to have occurred in Cheadle Hulme), whilst in a place like Hyde, devastated by the collapse of manufacturing over the past three decades and the resulting unemployment, everyone has to count every penny so carefully that local traders are wiped out by Asda and Morrisons.

If that theory holds, what are the implications for Marple?

In my view, people do seem to forget that the Co-op is already quite a large supermarket competing with the local shops. As "expensive" as it can be compared to other supermarkets, it must surely still already undercut most of its local competitors in Marple - butchers, grocers, bakers, etc. I fail to see that anyone who already goes out of their way to shop in those locally-owned shops, avoiding the Co-op, will suddenly be wooed by an Asda of all things. A Waitrose, well perhaps... The gamble there would be that Waitrose could give Marple more the perception of a "quality" shopping precinct, somewhere that more people might travel to visit, and allow the local traders access to more affluent shoppers in general.

Both could actually benefit the town. Asda by keeping more residents locally for their big shop who currently drive elsewhere, Waitrose by drawing more people in from outside Marple.

[amazon]

Amazon, I will try to keep this simple. I-DID-NOT-SAY-THAT-INDIVIDUAL-ITEMS-WERE-CHEAPER-I-SAID-THAT-I-SPEND-LESS-MONEY.

What don't you understand about that?

It is rude to shout ,