MADAM - It is important that the planners and councillors of Stroud District Council think carefully about the 'change of use' issue on both sites designated for the development of two large supermarkets.
Chris Harmer (letters, July 31) made it very clear that one of the sites (Daniels) has been and remains an industrial site.
General Industrial sites can change to business settings and/or a mix with Storage and Distribution sites but apparently not to retail settings.
The site is currently occupied by a variety of firms.
It is also quite an interesting site with some landscape and important older buildings.
The proposal to clear a very large space adjacent to Dudbridge Road and Bath Road is likely to be a momentous transformation.
The loss in potential for mixed use of small and medium sized enterprises will be very significant economically.
At a wider and deeper level Stroud has to become extremely wary of losing its rich historical identity as well as its current progressive and inventive sense of place.
Over the last two decades the New Economics Foundation has warned about the 'tescopoly' effect, 'ghost towns' and 'clone towns.
Walmart and Asda are not in the slightest concerned about helping Stroud regenerate itself.
We need to look carefully for legal and planning reasons to reject these two supermarket proposals.
Nick James Cainscross
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