Enough is Enough..... We have a Costa and a Cafe Nero. No more, please. 

We need retail premises to bring people to our quiet, independent market town. We do not need yet another chain coffee shop to absorb more of our independent, established, historic cafes. These venues are run by families and are part of our community. The 6 full time positions created by the new Coffee#1, will pail into insignificance in comparison to the many full / part time jobs lost. 

The filling of one site, will create many further empty ones. 

The alteration of the planning from A1 (retail) to A3 (cafe) will never be reversed. We shall permanently lose a prime retail space, a market that requires support, to be replaced with a market already beyond saturation point, resulting in many current cafe owners with their sites on the market. 

We ask the council to re-consider their decision, look to the future and invest in diversity that our town requires. There are many examples of similar towns in similar positions. Those that rejected have flourished. Those that have bowed down to corporate pressure have seen their local cafes fall foul, and communities suffer.