Sir,
This is a follow-up to my letter of February 24. Little did I know, then, the even more imminent and burning problems with which the poor shopkeepers of Narberth are being subjected.
I have now carried out a survey of the small business owners in and around the High Street, and it is obvious that, in advance of any possible looming take-over of the town by Tesco, there are three subjects being anticipated with dread and dismay:
1. The extant planning application by yet another mammoth supermarket chain, the Co-op.
2. The unprecedented (and I use the word in its exact, literal sense; find me a precedent) three-fold increase in business rates.
3. Forthcoming charges to be imposed on the large car park next to the old school.
Taken separately, any one of these will be sufficient to ring the death knell on the comparatively tiny enterprises which, as already stated, have made Narberth what it is today. Together, these things will completely destroy the very atmosphere and character which brings people to the town from far and wide. It is a unique place. Do the planning authority and the Welsh Assembly understand that?
It is said that a Co-op would provide new jobs. Yes, but as that would be at the expense of lost jobs in failed businesses as a result of its presence, where is the net gain? As for stating they would have a free car park, and simultaneously imposing charges on the existing public one, well, surely you can see how that looks? Is it true the present car park is on common land? Having taken up the cudgel in defence of Narberth as it is today I will of course be consulting my own lawyers on this point. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to hear people's views on it, and the possible questions arising there at.
You can rest assured that I am also in touch with the Assembly over the outrageous rise, no, the disgraceful tsunami of a rate rise about to hit those businesses.
I believe all those tiddlers in Narberth are thinking, 'You really do want to blow us apart, don't you? The Co-op, the car park, the rates. Why not invite Bin Laden over to make a real job of it?'.
I do hope a rare thing happens this time; a mixture of clear thinking, perceptiveness and a profound understanding of the real issues at stake here.
J. H. Palmer,
Milford Haven.