DORIC Properties’ justification for the demolition of the Elms Parade shopping area, pictured, includes the assertion that it will “vastly improve competition and choice for local residents”.
However, the results of the formal survey carried out last year by the Vale of the White Horse revealed that 74 per cent of local residents were perfectly happy with the local retail offer, with just one person in six expressing dissatisfaction.
The provision of a major out-of-town style supermarket, with its massive purchasing power and economies of scale, will inevitably force many smaller retailers out of business and result in a reduction of local consumer choice. As the official council survey suggests, it is exactly that sort of smaller shop which attracts locals to the centre.
The size of the supermarket will, in itself, have a dramatic effect on the visual amenity of the area. At 50,000 square feet, it is comparable in size to the Toys’R’Us unit further down the Botley Road.
As it is, this whole area of west Oxford/north Hinksey area is becoming dominated by large retail sheds, with the consequence that the residential aspect of the area is in danger of being completely marginalised.
The destruction of Elms Parade, if it goes ahead, could well accelerate this process to a point where the surviving local character is lost altogether.
NICK THORN Hurst Rise Road Botley
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