08:27 Tuesday 23rd June 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
DOTTY MCLEOD: It has been dubbed Supermarketgate. For a number of years we have been reporting on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire that the town of Whittlesey could get a new supermarket. Well, there was a battle, and then it was over, between a couple of the biggest players in the industry. Sainsburys seems to have come out on top. The planning application for the supermarket included an industrial estate, a new nature and leisure reserve to include Gildenburgh Water, and then that was all thrown into a muddle. There were reports that Sainsburys could pull out if final planning permission wasn’t granted within a certain time. Well yesterday that planning permission was granted by Fenland District Council. So is Whittlesey finally going to get its Sainsburys? Johnnie Dee is in Whittlesey for me this morning. Hi there Johnny.
(OB)
JOHHNY DEE: Hello Dotty. Yes I’m right on the border Dotty between Whittlesey and the very small village of Eastrea, which is about seven, eight miles from Peterborough. I’ve come down a little country lane, and to my left it’s very idyllic and right out in the countryside really, because there’s a field of wheat to my left, and if I turn just 180° over the other side on the right, there’s this huge area which will be a 55 acre country park, in the mould of Ferry Meadows or indeed the Milton Country Park over your way in Cambridge Dotty. I’ve also got with me a guest. He’s councillor Alex Miscandlon, who’s the Chair of Fenland District Council’s Planning Committee, and a local councillor, and to boot, the new Mayor of Whittlesey. Congratulations Alex.
ALEX MISCANDLON: Thank you very much.
JOHNNY DEE: So Alex, what happened yesterday?
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