Sir - I am a great lover of irony, and your edition of January 14th was spectacular. On page 2 you have the continuation of your cover story regarding the plans for the shopping park on the outskirts of Worcester.

On the same page you have the story of the Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills citing the success of shops within the City.

Surely the impact of the former on the latter has to be appreciated. A shopping park including the names mentioned would be a valuable asset to Worcester, but placing it where it is being considered would be hugely to the detriment of the City Centre.

There are areas within the City which could be developed to accommodate the majority of retailers mentioned – this would allow retail expansion and job creation but not be at the expense of traders currently fighting to survive.

The damage an out of town shopping park will cause is clearly demonstrated by Cribbs Causeway and the appalling effects its creation has had on Bristol, which has taken years to recover. Compare this to the success in Solihull where retail development was incorporated within the town enabling it to absorb the large retailers which attract major footfall with little detriment to the smaller businesses.

Worcester as a whole would lose should the shopping park, even with 33% reduction in cafes and restaurants, go ahead. The loss of parking revenue to the Council would be considerable – 1,044 parking spaces equates to almost 6.5 Cattlemarkets or Copenhagen Streets – and the loss of footfall would damage all City Businesses and attractions.

Yes, please to the shopping park

No, please, to the currently planned location.

Judi Brazkiewicz

Federation of Small Businesses

Chairman, Worcestershire Branch