Malton car park to be sold off for store
Plans to sell off a car park to make way for a supermarket in a North Yorkshire market town have been approved.
Ryedale District Council has agreed to sell the land at Wentworth Street in Malton to an unnamed developer.
There were protests as a majority of 17 councillors to nine voted in favour of the development on Wednesday night.
Campaigners said there were already enough supermarkets in the area.
Councillor Linda Cowling, who supported the sale, said at the meeting: "I know a lot of the people in the audience here tonight won't be very pleased with it and I am sorry about that.
"But I think in four or five years time we shall be saying to them 'we told you so'."
Mrs Cowling said she believed the development would be beneficial to local traders.
She said: "It's proved to be the case in other market towns and I am fairly positive that it will prove to be the case here."
Denys Townsend, the chairman of Malton and Norton Business in Action, said Malton already had one of the largest Morrisons stores in the north of England and there were smaller outlets run by ASDA, Sainsbury's and Costcutters.
A Lidl store is also being built and permission was recently given for a new Aldi store in nearby Norton.
Mr Townsend said: "It really is not good news, it's ridiculous.
"We will be pressing for planning restrictions on the superstore so as to help protect the independent shops we have got in Malton and preserve the market town that we know and love."