One thought on “Sidmouth Garden Centre wants to extend business units further into AONB”

1. Just because it is an AONB should not mean that you cannot undertake any development at all. It just means that the developments should be:

   a. Necessary to be there
   b. Done very sympathetically with the surrounding countryside.

   If Cllr Barlow wanted to extend his existing garden centre that might meet both of the above criteria.

   But general business units could be built anywhere in Sidmouth (say on the brownfield depot which EDDC say is no longer needed and want to sell off to fund the relocation from the Knowle) and don’t need to be built in the AONB.

   If you don’t make necessity a criteria and take Cllr Barlow’s position to its extreme, you could cover the whole of an AONB with sympathetic buildings, with grass roofs and clever drainage systems, and leave no fields at all.

   So, whilst we should probably commend Cllr Barlow for his green thinking and for demonstrating to others that necessary development in AONB can indeed be done sympathetically, let’s not lose sight that, however greenly done, both an extension to his existing business or a new venture for small business units would be for his profit not for altruistic reasons.

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