With all the recently announced impending closures of retail premises in Chesterfield, should we not be expecting the town to respond accordingly.

The Northern Gateway (which is of course not a gateway at all - who, other than locals, would come into Chesterfield that way) proposes a 75,000 ft2 supermarket (just 1 mile from Tesco, Sainsbury's and soon Asda? and on the same side of town), a new hotel (we've just had 3 newish ones and I don't believe demand is exponential), another cineplex (Chesterfield can't possibly need 2?). It takes away 800 parking spaces during its development but promises 800 new (but almost certainly higher cost) underground ones (and that adds a lot of cost to the build in itself). Creating 1000 new jobs - where will they park (don't tell me - they will all use the bus)? A £50 million scheme privately funded - will it happen? And who actually pays for that - ultimately the shoppers of course.

Then there's the closures - co-op, eyres, post office, hmv, etc etc - all in what was the heart of the town centre. 96% occupancy rate - not for long - now let's get that statistic by square feet! These places should be redeveloped before considering expensive new builds.

My Mum went to town to pick up a bit of ribbon recently - the parking cost more than three times the ribbon. I pointed out she could have got it much cheaper online, delivered the next day without all the hassle. She wants to support local shops and there are certain purchases you don't want to make online. I do think current parking costs are not helping the town centre and things seem to be poised to get worse, not better.

We live in a competitive world and the town centre has to compete (to a greater extent) with online shopping, out of town shops and of course neighbouring towns.

I think the strategy needs reviewing in these austere times.

Parking = 750 spaces (same as current) all below the development - if you shop at the supermarket you will get limited free parking - otherwise you pay (as current).
Where does the £50m come from (don't say the 40,000 square foot supermarket!), can we really afford it and do we really need it?

For the planners' vision for Chesterfield you need to read the Draft Core Strategy just published on the CBC website:
http://www.chesterfield.gov.uk/default.aspx?CATID=557&CID=6042
Then, when you've ploughed through the 147 pages, you need to look at the linked Sustainability Appraisal which is only half as long, before then reviewing the Statement of Consultation which tops the doorstop charts at 157 pages!
Once you've digested that lot you can then fill in the Representation Form to make your comments .... but, whilst its only a DRAFT, you can't actually comment on the proposals - just their legal soundness!
Well that's my weekend reading sorted!