Enviroment: Supermarkets have tough lesson for Dales folk

Say yes to plans for a supermarket development and get a new school. That is the proposal that has divided folk in a picturesque Dales town, as Jojo Moyes explains.

Opposing plans for two supermarket developments have split a market community in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

Schemes submitted by the Co-op and the supermarket chain Booths, would use a 10-acre field near the centre of Settle. In return, both are offering to build a much-needed primary school, which would ease pressure on the existing school.

Tony Henry, chief executive of Yorkshire Coop Ltd, believes its planning application would be the least intrusive. "We've traded in the market square for about 130 years. Unfortunately we've got no means of providing any car parking, so we've got a plan to build a new shop adjacent to the square. Ours is to build a supermarket where the existing bowling club is, and move the bowling club to the field."

The Booths application would site the supermarket, and the primary school, directly on the field. The 10-acre site was given to the town years ago and is now owned by North Yorkshire County Council. It had been earmarked for a school for years but resources meant that the council could never afford to build it.

But the plans have divided residents, with one protest group threatening to block any construction groups who attempt to take over the field.

Geoff Knights, a local businessman, says that the council cannot guarantee a school will actually be built. "It's the last greenfield site in Settle," he said yesterday. "All the children play on this playing field. It's a real community space - we even used it to raise enough money to pay for our swimming pool."

He said that the town centre had already lost many of its traders, and that the vast majority of people in the town would continue to fight the supermarket chains, in order to ensure that it still thrived. If given the opportunity, he added, local businesses would buy it to safeguard its future.

But Ian Parker, head of Settle Primary School, says the existing Victorian building is overcrowded. The new site would provide a much needed nursery unit, as well as "more breathing space". Others say a larger supermarket would be welcome, citing a 16 mile drive to the nearest superstore.

Yesterday both schemes received a second refusal, but will await a planning inquiry set for April.