The Range and development company associated with it, First Chippenham LLP, claim that their out-of-town development opposite Cepen Park North will be beneficial to Chippenham, providing the town with 1,000 new jobs. Yet, by their very own admission, that is not correct. They admit that they will only be able to source 200 jobs from amongst those seeking Jobseekers Allowance in Chippenham, and the remaining 800 jobs will have to be sourced from outside Chippenham. So be aware, reality does not square with the massive “jobs for Chippenham” claim which First Chippenham LLP is making.

Set against the 200 jobs that may be created for Chippenham by The Range must be the loss of jobs that The Range will cause by its siphoning of trade from the town centre and the retail estates near to the centre. A typical Tesco supermarket stocks 25,000 different products. The Range will stock 65,000 different products. So you can see that The Range’s product overlap and its impact on the town centre’s stores will be very substantial. In fact, The Range is admitting that more than seven per cent of its trade will be taken from the town centre, and over 20 per cent from the retail estates near to the centre. The number of jobs that will be lost has not been quantified, but it’s likely to be considerable. In fact, there’s a serious danger that overall Chippenham will be losing jobs.

Do people realise how huge The Range development is? It is as large as Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Have a look at the picture above. You can fit into The Range site the following stores and buildings: Borough Parade, Wiltshire Council offices and Police Station, Olympiad Leisure Centre, Leekes Melksham, B&Q, Wickes, B&M, Pets at Home, Hathaway Retail Park, Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s, Allington Farm Shop, and The Law Courts.

Do we want to move Chippenham town centre effectively into open fields alongside the A350, into a site which contains some of Chippenham’s most important archaeological remains dating back to Roman times? Do we want all the traffic chaos, and the noise, air and light pollution from The Range’s 24/7 operation that will be thrust on the people living at Cepen Park North and nearby villages?

Do we want the urban sprawl and uncontrolled development which will inevitably follow if the A350 boundary is breached?

Will Chippenham and its town centre and rural landscape ever be the same again if we allow this to happen?

This is why so many people say no to The Range. Not because they are against jobs. And, not because they are against The Range itself. They say no because this development is in the wrong place. It should, as Chippenham Town Council has told Wiltshire Council, be located alongside Junction 17 of the M4 where development land for this purpose is currently for sale, where the traffic problems are solved, and where the jobs and associated economic benefits that are on offer are still available to the people of Wiltshire.

Stephen Eades, Allington, Chippenham.