Thurso Asda Public Enquiry

[Humerous Vegetable]

I had a letter today from the Scottish Exec Development dept re the Asda enquiry. Apparently there is what they are calling a Pre-Inquiry Procedure meeting on 19th February at 6pm at the Pentland Hotel to decide, amongst other things, the likely start date of the inquiry, it's anticipated length and venue, and who will be called to give evidence. Members of the public can attend this meeting if they want, but have to notify the organisers at least 7 days before the meeting.

[concerned resident]

How long is this process going to take ?, and I should think the Decision will probably not be in ASDA’s favour. ASDA should have applied for a site well out of Thurso, even maybe Castletown, as it is obverse that no mater what is said, Thurso does not want the competition.

[Naefearjustbeer]

It will be interesting to see what they decide. It is not long since the report about these shops on the outskirts of the town causing a downturn in business for town centres.

[emb123]

It will be interesting to see what they decide. It is not long since the report about these shops on the outskirts of the town causing a downturn in business for town centres.
Exactly - that's what happens. Eventually (like I've watched happen where I currently am) all the shops decentralise and you end up with 'retail parks' full of superstores where you can buy almost everything and the town centre itself becomes full of charity shops, 'to let' notices, shops selling nick-nacks and the odd cafe.

I would think it would be better to keep all the stores, including a big superstore pretty close to one another, leads to healthy competition for trade and non-retail businesses and keeps the town centre alive.

[Naefearjustbeer]

I personally hate shopping and like the fact that with tescos in wick we can go once a week or even fortnightly and fill a couple of trollies up and not have to go near another shop for ages is great. In my ideal world I would just fire a shopping list on the net and have it all magically appear in my fridge. But on the other side of the coin I do like to see local businesses doing well and I try to support as many of them as I can I just hate going into all the different shops.

[emb123]

me too - that's why I'm a huge fan of internet shopping. I stock up with car fulls of stuff to last me weeks just to avoid having to go shopping again anytime soon. Handy that I don't use milk and bread I make myself (breadmakers a are wonderful invention :) ) so I don't have any reason to go on a regular basis. Saves loads of money too as I don't buy all the things that look nice on the shelf but I didn't really need.

It's a shame that these big stores (Tesco, Asda etc) don't adjust their internet shopping delivery policy to suit the region. They use a 'one size fits all' policy when it comes to delivery distance throughout the whole UK, which is a bit unrealistic for places like Caithness and Sutherland, which are *precisely* the kind of regions that would really benefit from internet groceries, unlike the inner cities where it's down to too lazy, too posh, or too hectic a lifestyle to squeeze in the trips to the supermarket.

[Humerous Vegetable]

Roll on the day when we can buy unleaded on the internet then. Tesco's fuel prices are much lower in areas where they have real competition from other supermarkets. Have Thurso prices come down to the same level as Wick? I don't think so.