Ward councillors will push for help from the leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council to progress the development of a disused site in Driffield.
As the Times & Post went to press, Driffield and Rural Ward councillors Symon Fraser, Barbara Hall and Felicity Temple were set to ask Council leader Stephen Parnaby, at a full council meeting on Wednesday 12 June, to join them in their call for landowners at the cattle market site to redevelop the town eyesore.
“There is a fundamental lack of cooperation - we have waited and we have pressed and we have encouraged all the different landowners to bring it forward as it is their responsibility,” said Coun Fraser.
“The time has come to look at what the Council can do.”
The derelict cattle market site, which is a source of angst for many people, received planning permission from East Riding Council for a supermarket, housing and community centre in 2010. However the landowners at the site have yet to develop the piece of land.
Coun Fraser, who in the past voiced support of a supermarket being built at the site, said: “We are unsure of what the Council can legally do but the time has come to begin to put pressure on the various private landowners who are failing to deliver for Driffield and we are starting talks with council officers to press for action.
“We are hoping we can get the existing landowners who are at loggerheads, who are unwilling, unable or simply unprepared to come to agreement to bring forward long needed development for Driffield.
“We as councillors faced opposition from people who claimed a supermarket would ruin Driffield. It is painfully obvious to anyone that these people were wrong, and what Driffield needs and has needed for a number of years is the supermarket that we as ward councillors have fought for in the past.”
Prior to Wednesday’s meeting a spokesperson for the Council said: “The council granted planning permission for this site in May 2010 and it is now for the landowners to develop the site in accordance with that permission.
“We monitor the site’s condition regularly and take action as necessary to ensure its safety.”
Since planning permission was granted for the cattle market, protest from local residents and businesses against a supermarket at the site - part of which is owned by Tesco, has been widespread.
Andy Rafter, who owns the greengrocer Rafters in Middle Street South, has been vehement in his opposition of a supermarket. “Somebody like Symon Fraser, they need to be putting pressure on these people saying you have got two options: either develop it or investigate the possibility of compulsory purchase,” said Mr Rafter.
“There is nobody in this town that wants to see that site developed as much as me, I desperately want to see it developed, but not as a supermarket.”
He said: “It is a prime site and Driffield is a great location. It isn’t about my business it is about being part of Driffield.”
A spokesperson from Tesco said: “Tesco owns some land in Driffield on the plot known as the ‘Cattle Market’ site which we were previously considering for a store development.
“We are keen to sell the land and will consider all reasonable offers.”
See next week’s Times & Post out on Thursday 20 June for an update on the meeting’s outcome.