A new leisure centre for Stone’s Westbridge Park, including a swimming pool and improved facilities, may not happen unless a supermarket is part of the development.
This was the message from council leader Mike Heenan at a special meeting of Stone Town Council’s general purposes committee at Alleyne’s High School.
The school hall was packed with residents who came to hear from Cllr Heenan, the borough council’s head of planning and regeneration, Cllr Ted Manders, and the council’s head of leisure, Adam Hill.
Borough councillors faced fierce objections from residents during the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, and made it clear they do not want a supermarket on Westbridge.
Cllr Manders stated there was no firm proposal for a supermarket and no firm offers had been received.
“The only way to build a large enough leisure centre is to go in with a food operator,” he said.
“Whether we like it or not there are supermarkets circling Stone at the moment. They want to find somewhere to put a supermarket.”
The Local Plan, which sets development guides for the area over the next 20 years, will go before the council on November 27.
The plan also discussed locations for 800 new houses to be built, some of which would be along Stone’s Eccleshall Road.
One resident disagreed: “The traffic around that part of Stone is already a nightmare for people. How will the infrastructure cope and how can our roads support the developments?”
Cllr Manders replied: “Traffic is a major factor and that will have to be a big part of the planning consideration. We are not coming forward with proposals for supermarkets, we are not. I want to make that very clear.”
A second councillor warned that paying for the sports facility would leave a “40-year millstone” around their neck.
Cllr Mike Heenan, leader of Stafford Borough Council, said: “If there was going to have to be a supermarket then wouldn’t it be better to have that supermarket as close to the town centre as possible to minimize the impact on the town centre.
“Because if we have it on the edge of town then I think that will have a disastrous impact on the high street.”
He spoke of alternative locations for leisure facilities and suggested Tilling Drive may be suitable where there is council-owned land.Development on that land would put money back into Stone’s coffers, he suggested.
Many residents voiced concerns about traffic, the environment, the fact Westbridge is a flood plain, and the impact the development would have on the town centre and independent businesses.
To hear the outrage as Cllr Stevens outlines the need for a supermarket, click below:
(Additional reporting by Tom Williams)