I AM surprised by the response of John Cotton in your article about Morrisons not coming to Wallingford (June 18). I attended the South Oxfordshire District Council planning committee meeting in July 2013 and am well aware of what ensued.

It was evident from the outset that the wishes of the town council and the vast majority of local inhabitants who wanted a new supermarket were going to be ignored by Mr Cotton and other committee members, none of whom live in the Wallingford area.

In an attempt to thwart the proposal, he tabled an amendment which would force Morrisons to retrospectively meet a building standard that was not extant when planning permission was originally granted by SODC.

The advice from the planners at the meeting went totally unheeded. The intention to me was obvious – to cause a significant and belated increase in Morrisons’ building costs.

So, instead of lecturing Cllr Lynda Atkins on her perceived ‘limited planning knowledge’ Mr Cotton, who voted against the proposal despite his amendment being narrowly carried by his supporters, should reflect on his own actions.

I also note that in trying to diminish his obvious role as the chief architect of this ‘wrecking amendment’ Mr Cotton has the audacity to now suggest that ‘Morrisons never had any real intention of building the store.’ So by this rationale are we to believe that Morrisons as a company spends large sums of money planning supermarkets which ultimately it doesn’t really intend to build?

Sorry Mr Cotton, past actions speak far louder than the weasel words now being used to try to justify the part you and others played in wilfully depriving people in and around Wallingford of a choice in their supermarket shopping.

MIKE ROSE
Norries Drive, Wallingford