A DEVELOPMENT company that wants to build a supermarket on the outskirts of a town has said it will create a cycleway and improve pedestrian routes to its proposed store.

Plans to build a new food store and petrol station at Mill Riggs, off the A172 near Stokesley, are expected to be submitted to Hambleton District Council at some point later this month.

The plans to create a 1,394 sq m food store and petrol station have met with opposition in the town, with traders and residents displaying Save Our Stokesley (SOS) signs. More than 2,300 signatures have been collected on a petition against the proposal.

Following a consultation in the town, the developers behind the proposal, Terrace Hill, have now offered to create a new crossing point and traffic island on the bypass, to connect the store to the town centre, along with two new bus stops on both sides of the carriageway close to the entrance.

The company has also said it will work with Hambleton District Council to try and accommodate a new cycleway and improved pedestrian routes to the site.

But Stewart Brennan, who is coordinating the Save Our Stokesley campaign, said the development still amounted to an out-of-town store and it was unlikely people would walk that distance to shop for food.

“It’s just too far to walk, especially if you’re carrying shopping and have to cross a 60mph road to get there,” he said.

“If traffic is reduced to 30mph there, then it’s no longer a bypass.

“There’s lot of evidence up and down the country that town centres are adversely affected by out-of-town supermarkets. Whilst it’s not far away, this is an out-of-town development.

“Our town centre consists of shops like butchers, bakers, green grocers; a lot of people come into town and use them. Their trade is threatened by one of these big five supermarkets who will beat them on price.”

Following the public consultation last month in Stokesley, Terrace Hill said about 950 response forms were completed and 52 per cent of them recognised the need for additional food store provision in Stokesley.

Duncan McEwan, head of retail and leisure, at Terrace Hill, said: “We have received wide-ranging feedback on the scheme which we are currently analysing.

“Whilst more than half of respondents recognise the need for a new food store in Stokesley, we are keen to respond to the various issues raised.

“We appreciate that some concerns have been raised in relation to the potential for the scheme to impact upon the High Street and we will address this understandable concern through the retail impact assessment we submit with the planning application.

“We are also mindful that there is a clear appetite in Stokesley for the inclusion of a cycleway and improved footpaths surrounding the site, and we will be pleased to work with Hambleton District Council to try and accommodate this within the proposals.”