Traders fear impact of £12m garden centre

Some traders claim there are too many developments outside the town centre

Traders say they fear a new £12m garden centre will "drag people away from the town centre".

The 2.5-acre (10,000-sq-m) development on the outskirts of Alnwick, Northumberland, has been given the go-ahead by councillors and includes a 600-space car park.

Sam Neal, from Northumberland Estates which submitted the plans, said: "There is little doubt the scheme will bring a wide range of benefits to Alnwick and has public support."

But Steve Whiting, manager of menswear store Bell and Sons, which dates back to 1897, said: "There's just too much getting built outside the town centre."

The garden centre will be built on the Cawledge Business Park

The garden centre will be operated by Blue Diamond, which has 44 sites in the UK, and will be built on the Cawledge Business Park close to the A1.

Caroline Ball, Labour councillor for Ashington Centre, said it was "the perfect site".

"I think it's brilliant and will bring much needed opportunities and employment."

Alnwick is home to a number of independent shops

Martin Swinbank, Green councillor for Alnwick, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it would be "good for the town."

"Where there is change, there is always some uncertainty, but this will gather a lot of passing trade from the A1."

Meanwhile, Mr Neal said: "Alnwick doesn't have a proper garden centre and the imminent closure of Homebase this month will leave a big gap in that service."

Retailer Andrew Hodgson is worried about the impact on Alnwick traders

But Mr Whiting said big out-of-town developments were "killing market towns."

"The winter months are a struggle and there's got to be half a dozen empty shops already in Alnwick."

Andrew Hodgson, who runs Sportsworld, an independent sports shop, said: "It'll drag people out of the town centre and there isn't the infrastructure in place with all the problems on the A1.

"I really don't think it's necessary to bring a great big garden centre to the outskirts of Alnwick, we just don't have the population in the area to support it."