From the Daily Mail, 25th November, 2011
'Plans have been submitted to Ryedale District Council for a supersized supermarket covering the area of a football pitch to be built in the heart of Malton, on the site of the town’s car park.
Residents are unequivocal in their condemnation, certain it will destroy the fragile balance of local shops and community spirit that has been the hallmark of this special little town since the middle ages. Like many other market towns in Britain, locals are banding together to try to stop the developer, Leeds-based firm GMI Holbeck Land, obtaining planning permission.'
And
'It is not as though Malton, with a population of just 4,000, doesn’t have a supermarket. It has three.
'It is not as though Malton, with a population of just 4,000, doesn’t have a supermarket. It has three.
But if a 50,000 sq ft store gets the go-ahead then the hundred or so small shopkeepers who are already struggling will be driven out.'
"Who’ll come and buy a pound of sausages from me when they’ve been to Tesco? It’ll kill us."Melanie Fox, the daughter of Derek the butcher — whose family has traded here [Malton] for 200 years.
'Malton is the latest town to attempt to resist the power and money of the supermarket chains which steamroller over local sensibilities. From the Herefordshire town of Ledbury to the Welsh market town of Machynlleth and Scotland’s Castle Douglas, local people have manned the barricades.'
