Wimborne Waitrose aims to open 5 months ahead of schedule!!

Waitrose were notified of the Town Green Application by Dorset County Council on 2 October 2009 BEFORE any construction started on the site. They are therefore proceeding with construction at their own risk, and with the knowledge that they may be required by law to reinstate the land to its former state. They are attempting to complete the actual construction before the Town Green Application is decided, clearly in order to predjudice the Application. The cost implications or this possibility, not to mention the 200 new employees who will be out of a job, are a risk that is borne entirely by Waitrose.

Speaking of jobs, in the case of the Wimborne store, Waitrose are boasting that they received over 850 applications for 200 positions. But are they local employees, are they 'new' jobs and what about the jobs that they are destroying?

A report from the Institute of Labour Research at the University of Essex showed that new superstores boosted employment in the food retailing sector by 12% between 1983 and 1994. But what about the jobs that were destroyed? A more recent report by the National Retail Planning Forum revealed that new food superstores have a net negative impact on retail employment. It showed that each new superstore accounts for a loss of 276 full-time employees. The net impact of 93 superstore openings would lead to a decline of 3% in the number of full time jobs - or a loss of 25,000 jobs within three years. The immediate increase in superstore employment is offset by the more gradual decrease in specialist food retailer employment in the 15km zone around the stores.

Lets just go one step more, and declare a full Boycott of this unwanted Waitrose store.

We should compare the effects of Waitrose upon Wimborne as being similar to the BP Oil Spill on the US Gulf Coast.