Asda Phone Polling & Our Own Survey
ASDA and Goodwood Property Partnership have made a lot of noise about the polling they have conducted which indicates a majority of people in favour of an ASDA in Ware.
What they have failed to mention is that:
1) they haven't described the size of the store and the impact it would have on traffic for instance. Once you tell people it will be at least 80% bigger than Tesco's in Ware and 50% bigger than Tesco's in Hertford they suddenly don't want the store.
2) that it appears the polling they have been conducting is not solely from people in Ware town itself. The telephone polling has extended to a commute area 15 minutes from the store (as stated by Alastair Close from GPP on the 2nd September after the Ware Town Council EGM), this takes you almost to the M25/A10 roundabout!!
3) That they have selected respondents on age, many people have reported that the first question asked when they were phoned was their age, if they were over 34 then the telephone polling company didn't want to know! So only people under 34 (who are more likely to want an ASDA are allowed to respond?)
So we decided to conduct our own survey of Shoppers and Traders on the High Street of Ware
Survey consisted of 3 statements:
A) I am totally opposed to an Asda store being built on the Watton Road site. I feel it is in the wrong location, will harm the Town Centre retailers and is not needed in Ware.
B) I am generally in favour of an Asda store however object to the current plans. I feel the store is too large, too high and will generate too much traffic along Watton Road, if the store was reduced in size I may support the proposal.
C) I support the current Asda proposal and have no objections to it. I feel that the 36,000 sqft store will benefit Ware.
The people surveyed were allowed to read the 3 statements and then make a choice as to the statement that best suited their feelings about the development. The results are displayed below. A whopping 89% of those surveyed either did not want a store at all (38%) or objected to the current plans (51%), with only 11% wanting the Asda as laid out in the current plans.
A survey undertaken by EHDC after the previous planning application for the Cintel site was withdrawn, in 2007, shows that only 4% of the respondents wanted a supermarket on the site and 83% did not want any buildings higher than 3 storeys on the site. The proposed ASDA store will stand HIGHER than the current Cintel Building on the site.