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Whitby nuns defend plans to sell land
THE nun in charge of Whitby's St Hilda's Priory has defended plans to sell off part of its land to supermarket giant Tesco.
The 40m eco store, 90 affordable homes, filling station and sheltered accommodation for the elderly, has divided town and sparked a petition from 3,000 residents against it.
Prioress Sister Dorothy Stella of the Order of the Holy Paraclete has now spoken out exclusively to the Whitby Gazette for the first time since the bid was first announced.
She is concerned at the amount of misunderstanding surrounding the plans and believes it is important everyone understands the "real facts".
She said: "Our actions have the genuine interests of the people of Whitby at heart with the focus on those who otherwise may not be able to afford to stay in their town and who need the facilities this scheme would provide.
"These are not necessarily the people who make their voice heard but they deserve consideration.
"Like anyone else we need to manage our assets to provide funds for the running of the priory and to provide suitable facilities and accommodation for the elderly and infirm in our care.
"We also wanted to increase the level of bursaries we are able to offer young people in Whitby.
"The Order did not wish the land to be used for yet more large houses the majority of people could not afford.
"These agreements were made in the interests of the people of the whole of Whitby, especially those who are not in a position to shop outside of town, fill up their cars at supermarket fuel stations or shop online.
"It is also designed to help young people in Whitby who do not have adequate accommodation and are not able to take out a mortgage on the larger houses.
"This will help keep Whitby families together, in Whitby.
"The sisters wanted to put something on the land that would benefit the whole of Whitby."
She said the need for a supermarket with a filling station, low cost housing and extra care facilities were identified by York based-developers S Harrison who approached the Order and showed interest in buying the land at Sneaton Castle Farm after it was published in a Scarborough Borough Council document back in February 2008 as one of eight sites suitable for housing.
Sister Dorothy countered concerns from local people by saying:
l the Tesco building will be clad in wood to blend into the surroundings
l it will be lower than the present farm buildings
l only a very small number of people will be able to see the new development from their houses
l many of the present trees will be kept and the area extensively landscaped
l up to 300 jobs will be created for Whitby people
l local food will be on sale in the shop when available
l the houses will be available for rent or sale in shared ownership
l they will only be available to Whitby people, must remain as affordable homes for all time and cannot be sold as holiday cottages
Sister Dorothy also responded to concerns over traffic and said S Harrison is working towards providing better and safer facilities than already exist on the Switchbacks and have demonstrated how traffic will run more smoothly than now.
She added: "We are aware also that this is green land," she said. "We understand there are no suitable brown land sites left in Whitby.
"The land at Stainsacre Lane, which some people are suggesting as an alternative, needs to be kept to provide space for manufacturing jobs that the town so desperately needs.
"If the town wants to have enough homes and facilities for local people, then green sites will have to be utilised. It can also be noted that the people living nearest to the present site are living in houses that were built on what was originally green land."
* more exclusive revelations in Friday's Whitby Gazette.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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