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6th April 2007
Dear Sir,
We are told that two major retailers are vying to provide a large
supermarket in the new Hebburn redevelopment. Are the councillors
involved aware that a study of communities into which Wal-Mart has put
superstores in America indicates that the communities have deteriorated
as a result [1]?
Our present local shops do a good job and need encouragement. The
Council's own magazine "On-line" features an excellent organic grocer in
Whitburn. That's the sort of enterprise we want here, plus some better
architecture and a lot of tidying up: not yet another megalopoly of the
likes of Tesco!
Yours faithfully,
Paul Winch,
Co-ordinator,
Tyne Crossings Alliance.
NOTE [1] A report "Wal-Mart and Social Capital" published in the
American Journal of Agricultural Economics says: "Big supermarkets
undermine social capital and local trust.....both the initial number of
Wal-mart stores, and each store added per 10,000 persons during the
decade, reduced the overall social capital measure".
The paper can be accessed via http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8276.2006.00949.x.
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