The Countess of Cranbrook has praised Suffolk Coastal District Council

Michael Rines, 12 February 2008

The Countess of Cranbrook told the 6 February meeting of The Woodbridge Society that it was “ a legend” that she had  single-handedly kept Tesco out of Saxmundham. She said that the credit should go to Suffolk Coastal District Council for being “far-sighted enough” to block the store group’s planning application on the ground of lack of retail requirement.

However the countess, who was addressing 200 members of the Society on the need for a local food industry, went on to warn that many of the safeguards that prevented inappropriate retail developments were being removed. While admitting that the large supermarket chains had brought benefits in terms of high retailing standards and a wider variety of food, the Countess said there were powerful arguments for suggesting that they had taken the process too far.

She said small retail outlets were the ‘glue’ that bound country areas into functional social groupings, where the elderly, for example, could interact with and be cared about by others.

She also said that the supermarket companies had become too influential in food production, to the detriment of both local food producers and those in developing countries. The standardisation of products led to avoidable wastage, and the demand for low prices meant that producers and their workers received minimal returns.

“These factors, plus the environmental effects of transporting food long distances, means that the price that we are paying for cheap food, both as individuals and as world citizens, is too high.”