Storrington Waitrose delay welcomed

As county council installs traffic cameras to monitor air pollution levels in Storrington, a Waitrose representative confirmed earlier this month that the village’s supermarket expansion will be delayed until 2016.

Award winning environmentalist Nicola Peel and campaigner against the Waitrose expansion, which was approved by Horsham District Council (HDC) in 2012, said the village does not need more packaging, waste and traffic.

She said: “I am so pleased to discover the delay on the Waitrose development.

“Hopefully this will give time to see some sense.

“We have chosen to live in the country, not in towns surrounded by shopping malls.

“Life is simpler, slower and ideally the air is cleaner. Why would we need a mega shop when what we have is more than sufficient?

“We really do not need so much choice. Nor does the world need more packaging, more waste, more transportation and endlessly more stuff.”

Last year, the Pulborough resident won ‘Campaigner of the Year’ in the People’s Environment Awards (PEA), but recently lost out to the prize for the Observer Ethical Awards 2014 to Dr Brian May, Queen guitarist and wildlife campaigner.

Nicola has been a campaigner against the Waitrose expansion, concerned that it will attract more pollution to the village.

She continued: “Storrington already experiences at times heavy traffic congestion, do we want more?

“The air is known to be one of the most polluted places in the South, is this really true? Would more shoppers and more traffic help this?’’

According to the Daily Air Quality Index, produced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) earlier this year, air pollution in towns and villages across the South East is at Level 8 or higher with Storrington at Level 9 - just one point off the worst possible level.

“So far I have yet to meet one local person who actually wants this development. Interesting as the councillors are supposed to represent ‘we the people’,” said Nicola.

“So let’s just take a while to reconsider whether we need more and more and more and more stuff. Small is beautiful. Let’s keep Storrington that way.”

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