Conservation Area versus Waitrose

September 29 is the decision day for the Waitrose Food Store planning application for a supermarket on the cricket ground in Wimborne.   The meeting will be held in the Allendale Centre, Wimborne at 10.30am.

A high turnout is expected.

East Dorset District Council's planners have been recommended not to support the proposals.  Head of Planning at East Dorset District Council, Mike Hirsh, said: “There is merit in principle in a new food store in Wimborne. However, the importance of the quality of the cricket pitch to the local distinctiveness of the Town and its Conservation Area will be unacceptably damaged by the proposal.”

Philip Atlay, Chairman of Keep Wimborne Town Green responded by saying, “We are clearly, delighted that the EDDC Planning Department, having studied all aspects of the Waitrose Application, has concluded that the benefits of a supermarket on the cricket ground site do not justify the very significant damage to the town's Conservation Area that would result.  And we hope that this emphasis on the importance of the Conservation Area will finally silence those who have constantly asserted that if a supermarket is not built then houses will be built or that the site will become a rubbish tip.”

Wimborne is split in two over the application.  Over nine hundred letters have been received by East Dorset District Council and there is a fairly even divide for and against the proposals.