QUESTIONNAIRES are set to be delivered to homes in Dorridge this weekend by Sainsbury’s to ask what residents want from the ashes of a failed store plan.The supermarket giant hopes the questionnaire will help it develop a new plan for Forest Court after a scheme was reject by planners in March.
It confirmed to The Silhillian yesterday that it plans to develop a new food store plan for the site following the defeat.
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It follows discussions with the Dorridge and District Residents Association, which opposed the plan, and the Dorridge Residents Opposed to Village Superstore action group.
A DROVS spokesman said she did not hope the move was a ‘PR stunt’.
Spokesman Sue Bailey said: “It is about understanding what people would like to see and working out what is viable and feasible for us to incorporate.”
She said it was too early to speculate on whether the store would be reduced in size. Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council rejected the previous scheme because of the ‘excessive’ size.
A key question would be what residents want to see as well as a store as part of the re-development, she said.
The previous plan proposed a replacement doctors’ surgery, four retail units, including café, and community facility.
Mrs Bailey said: “We have been liaising with the DDRA and DROVS on the material that should go into that questionnaire and we are hoping it will be delivered to households in the Dorridge area over the next weekend.”
She said homes south of Widney Road will get the questionnaire, which can be returned by freepost. The results would be shared in full, she added, though without names and addresses because of data protection rules.
Alison McWilliam, of DROVS, said: “This is a positive move and on the face of it the proposed survey looks innocuous. However there is concern over who will manage the responses.”
Mrs McWilliam said: “We need total transparency, not another Sainsbury’s PR stunt.
“Residents should have a say. Generally we choose to live here because it is a quiet village, if we wanted constant traffic and noise we would choose to live elsewhere.”
She said ‘many’ residents want to see a store similar in size to Tesco in Knowle which would give the firm a ‘big return’ if managed well.
Mrs McWilliam said: “They need to stop thinking 'out-of-town size warehouse store' and start thinking creatively about a new kind of store that blends in with its surroundings and makes money whilst retaining the character of a village centre.”
It comes after the DDRA called for views on the future of the village. This would help devise a plan that would be considered when future planning applications are received.
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