Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) has restated its aim to regenerate the centre of Caldicot and at the same time bring the town’s secondary school up to 21st Century Schools standards. The council has also released a video on YouTube to illustrate what the planned new supermarket for the town could look like.
The council is faced with two challenges:
1 – The need to regenerate the town centre and reduce the possibility of an out of town supermarket putting further pressure on the town’s traders
2 – The need to upgrade the town’s secondary school to meet 21st Century Schools standards
Kellie Beirne, MCC’s Chief Officer for Regeneration & Culture said: “It seems that there is some confusion about the improvements that we are trying to make to Caldicot. An area of land belonging to the school is to be sold to enable the construction of a superstore. This will raise money that will form part of MCC’s contribution to the upgrading of the school – regardless of whether 21st Century Schools funding is made available. By encouraging the construction of a superstore in the town centre, MCC is pre-empting the construction of a similar facility outside the town. New superstores on out of town sites usually lead to less shoppers in town centres. Allowing a superstore to establish within or close enough to a town centre to enable good pedestrian linkage will be a key factor to the regeneration of a town. That is precisely what we are aiming for in Caldicot and the proposed site is the only site available that will achieve the aim.”
The council has posted a short film on YouTube that shows what the new supermarket could look like:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Monmouthshirecc#p/a/u/0/I5vblE_S5GE
Andy Keep, MCC’s Chief Officer for Schools added: “We need to be clear that if we are to invest properly in Caldicot School – regardless of whether we secure 21st Century Schools funding – MCC will need to contribute significantly more money than the sale of this land would raise. And disposal of the land would still leave the school with more than the space legally required for playing fields.”
