The Lady at No 6 Week In Week Out

She thought this house would be her home for the rest of her life. But

something's in store. We are responding request requiring more

parking end Retail for the area. The process will not be transparent,

but the process -- our plans well, yes. She could be forced out soon.

Whether I can persuade the other 41 people to do so, I don't know at

the moment. It brings forward fall into the town, which is critical.

At the end of the day, people drink Tesco -- people like Tesco exist

because people wanted. But this is a fight against some big forces.

For Enid Jones, Number 6, Glyndwr Road in Aberystwyth is the most

important thing in her life after It is my home, it's not a house,

it's my home and I feel I have settled down here in the last seven

years and I really don't want to leave. When I bought this house I

thought I would live here until the day I died. This is my home, in

between the four walls, I go out when I need shopping, but I don't

go out much. I like to sit and read and I spend most of my time in my

home. But this home is under threat. A developer wants to buy No 6 and

the 11 others in Glyndwr Road to demolish them. I have spent a lot

of money on it because it needed it when I came here. It was very run-

down. I have done everything to it, and put a conservatory in the back

and got new windows and doors and everything has been re done. It is

not my house, in a way, it is my home and I'm very attached to it

and I don't want to move. Ceredigion County Council have for

years wanted to sell off this land to someone who would bring better

car parking and shopping. So residents of Glyndwr Road began to

get some attention. Two years ago I had a visit from two people from

Alexander's estate agents and they said that they were looking for a

building company and would build a multi-storey car park and a big

development at the back. They bought a couple of pictures and

they were of skyscrapers and they said something like that would be

going in the back. Last month, after a competitive bidding process,

the county council announced that a developer called Chelverton had

been appointed. Their plans show a retail scheme that involves the

demolition of Glyndwr Road. The company say they want to bring in a

When I bought a home I knew there would be planning permission in the

street and there would be a development, but it was supposed to

be only up to the wall. They no wonder all the homes and houses in

the street. -- they now want to all the homes and houses in the street.

Next door at Number Five, Val and John Evans are doing up their house.

After a period of living away, they say they're coming back to live

here permanently. We live here because it is on the Flat,

convenient, we are getting elderly. It is a lovely location here. Three

big bedrooms, two beautiful rooms, large garden, quiet, parking, near

the shops, rail station, bus station, taxes. What more do you

want? There had been rumours, and we had been down to the council

offices and into the council offices here and we have looked at

the maps and we were told it was just the car park being redeveloped.

We were quite happy with that. two years, estate agents

Alexander's have been meeting with Glyndwr Road's home owners asking

if they'd sell up for a premium. Val and John, Enid and another home

owner have refused to sign. Nine houses have signed out of the 12. I

was disappointed when they signed, but it is up to them, but for up

the others, they are just houses to some people. They have got other

The developers and the estate agents have had several meetings

with the residents. Enid only went to the first one, not wanting to

get drawn into negotiations. But she still wanted to know why her

street was now part of the plan. Her sister Bethan advised her to go

to the local newspaper, the Cambrian News. Although I accuse

her of having her head in the sand, but because of the secrecy and

confidentiality clause in the agreement, but it is her fight and

I am here as moral support and to back her. In getting another place

within Aberystwyth itself, that is going to be very difficult in her

financial situation. The idle threats of the compulsory purchase

are fretting. The you never know if it will come through and if it does,

what are they going to do. And also the value. If Enid refuses to sell,

the developers could ask the council to carry out a compulsory

purchase order, or CPO, so it can be demolished. But the full council

would have to vote on that. Enid lives quite close to her daughter

Eleri and looks after the grandchildren when she's working.

Those top two, those are my little granddaughters. What does she think

about all this? It worries her as well, thinking, where is my mum

going to go? It has brought a lot of strain on to us. It has bought a

lot of worry on to her. I am very worried about their at the moment.

Enid has a camera to monitor callers. She's had it since she

moved in but says she's relied on it heavily since the local estate

agents have been wanting to speak to her. They just don't take no for

an answer. That is how I feel they were being. They were later visits,

after 6 o'clock at night, when they would lead the office and just come

in and say we needed to talk to again and I asked them several

times if they could come back when I have someone in the house, but

they weren't interested. They just wanted to talk to me. They said

that they wanted their houses and if I wouldn't signed out that the

compulsory purchase order would come in, which is very stressful,

because if they do, Weder why go? - - way do I go? What's really

annoyed the family is that the estate agent had tried contacting

Enid through her daughter Eleri on Facebook. An employee at Alexanders

sent her an email: Hey, I've been asked to e-mail you read my mum's

house. He was wondering if I could speech about options. It is getting

to decision time and I'm not sure he's made it clearer now. Maybe if

he explains everything to you as well, he can come to see you, or

you can see him. It was sent to me on Facebook or, asking me to going

to discuss wife situation, and I don't think I should have been

approach about it are told that --, to discuss my mum's situation. It

is not my house to have a saying. When Local Assembly Member Elin

Jones saw the press coverage, she issued a statement saying she would

not support the council's use of compulsory purchase orders. Today

she's come to see Enid in person. You wouldn't have any objection to

a building of a supermarket or anything. It has been on the cards

for a long time. People do support the idea of some retail development

with car parking and going into town then to make it more

attractive to get people into shopping. If I said no, how would

they get me out? Would there be a way to get me out. Not without

compulsory purchase. It's his only with that they can get me out?

Enid's assembly member was shocked when she was shown the email the

estate agent sent to her daughter. It is not nice for your daughter to

receive that and not nice for them to use informal ways to get you.

Thank you very much for coming. Enid has felt as if she is

completely left out of this discussion. People in this street

and in the area should have been kept fully informed by the council,

formally, as to what was happening. And they have had to glean

information from different sources, which is not the right way to go

about developing and gaining the community's trust. I think they

could have been at a better development here. But the council,

for whatever reason, chose a large Tesco development that includes the

option of taking the road down. There are not many small houses

available like this in Aberystwyth, and we should keep them, not

demolishing them. Elin Jones leaves promising she'll try to set up a

meeting for Enid with council chief executive Bronwen Morgan. She said

you'll need a solicitor. Our I don't know how I will pay for it,

but I don't know what else to do. We put the allegations made by Enid

Jones to Alexander's estate agents but they failed to provide a

response. But in a statement to the local newspaper, they said they'd

acted professionally throughout, denied claims of harassment and

said they'd only sent her daughter the e-mail because Enid herself

hadn't been responding to their The shape of Wales's towns and

cities has changed radically since the opening near Caerphilly of our

first big supermarket, back in 1972. Hooray! And this is Wales's newest

supermarket, opening last month in Newport. It's Tesco's 93rd and the

biggest yet. Newport already has 27 supermarkets. Still not enough

apparently for these excited shoppers. There is a need for the

supermarket. It's only over the road for me. But we thought it

would never happen. We have got one in Chepstow, but we came in to look

at the new one today. I am a bargain hunter, but by the time I

use my petrol, there is no bargain. But that's me. According to our

research, there now 168 stores in Wales operated by the big four. And

there's more to come. Retail experts Verdict calculate that

supermarkets are planning a 20% increase in floorspace in the next

few years. In particular, they're expanding into the convenience

store sector and they're looking at Machynlleth, for example, where

Tesco want to build on the old cattlemarket. The town council's

for it, but some others aren't, including a Machynlleth resident

who is one of the UK's leading critics of supermarkets. Enid

wanted to meet him. Hello, Enid. Nice to meet you. They have been

keeping secrets, and every time I saw him, he said he was not allowed

to tell me because it was a secret. I said, this is my home, I leave

here, should I not be told? This is a constant story. The important

information is held back until you have very little time in which to

act. And it seems that this is another real democratic deficit,

but there is a golf between what the people are entitled to and how

the supermarkets are entitled to behave. By moving into these little

market towns, all around Wales, it is as if they are trying to

complete the picture. I can picture them with a map of Wales and all

the bits covered in red, like the British empire used to be, saying

this is ours, this is ours. There is a white patch on the map we

haven't got, and it is called Aberystwyth, we have to move in

there and conquer. The compulsory purchase orders, if they come

through, what exactly happens? think it might be worth taking

legal advice at this point. Just to find out what the likely

timetable is and to find out when they might be likely to introduce

such a thing. Thank you very much indeed. Nice to me to an thank you

for advice. A lovely to meet you and good luck fighting. Fight them

all away. You have to join with other people and get as many people

as you can to help them. It opened my eyes to quite a bit of what I

need to do, and he said not to fight on your own, you have to have

company, and I will do my best to get the people who are opposing to

come with me and fight on. The Big Four supermarkets deny their

activities are damaging and say We calculate there are another 27

spots in Wales where the Big 4 have tried to put at new store recently,

where they have planning applications in or where new stores

will open soon. There has been surprisingly little work done on

the impact of supermarkets. A recent study by Southampton

University found evidence that supermarkets, close to a town

centre, can actually boost trade in smaller shops there. They found

customers parked at the supermarket and walked into the high street. Of

course, the flip side of this is that out of town stores may not be

good for town centres, drawing people away. We took Enid to meet

someone who agrease with all that. Chris Mackenzie Grieve. He owns a

cafe in Aberystwyth and heads the local Chamber of Commerce. He

believes a new Tesco will boost the town by increasing foot fall.

you think Tesco kos will be good for Aberystwyth What Aberystwyth

needed for a long time. What people said for 20 years is that we need

better car parking in the town. Somebody like Tescos, whether it's

Tescos or Marks & Spencer, doesn't it matter, it brings foot fall into

the town. Links in from the car park to town are clearly marked and

easy used. All that happens is that people go over to the Morison site

and everything moves away from town. Did you realise you would have to

demolish my house? I hadn't. We hadn't seen the detail. What we

were concerned about is getting a development on there. The way the

council positioned that is, they set criteria. That is it. Tescos

won on the basis of that criteria. That is it. Nobody has seen the

plans. I saw them in the newspaper last night. I didn't realise they

were taking the houses away and they needed them for part of the

development. Tescos are going to need a big site. I think that is a

big enough site. It's a huge site. It has to go through planning.

There has to be a public consultation. There is room to

manoeuvre and change things. There must be. Aall along Enid has been

blaming the climate change Kenneth Clarke and her own representative

Aled Davies fr not telling telling her anything about the plans. They

said their hands were tide by commercial confidentiality when the

bidding process was under way. The winner Chelverton was announced

last month by the county council. Did this mean that Aled Davies

could tell Enid more. It was time to find out. He agreed to meet us

at the town council, because he is a town councilor too. This was the

first meeting of any council Enid had ever attended. Further advice

on... The town council isn't responsible for the Mill Street

Development. Being on the county council, Aled Davies will get to

vote on the plans when they come forward. What do you know about the

Chelverton thing now? Do you know what is going on. Chelverton is

working on behalf of Tescos. Not only wanting to acquire the Mill

Street car park they wanted to acquire Glyndwr Road as well, which

wasn't part of the original deal. The issue we have here, because

they hadn't acquired all the properties, Chelverton's are

expecting the county council to help them with compulsory purchase

orders. Now, my view on this, it wasn't part of the original remit.

That we shouldn't, as a council, be supporting this. Even myself, who

is your ward councillor, I have had limited information until about two

weeks ago before it was due in front of Cabinet. Only then, then

they made it exempt from the public. So I couldn't pass that information

on to you. Which is very interesting. Mark Strong feels the

county council should have revealed more to the town council. Even it

if it was how they were judging the bids. My feeling is they hide

behind commercial sensitivity. It's extremely frustrating. The whole

manner which the Mill Street development has been dealt with by

county council, half the time the town council doesn't find out what

is going on. We find out, half the time, in the Cambrian News that the

decision has been made. The company choosen by Ceredigion council is

Bristol based cheflcheflchefl. They say the council have carried out

the selection process quite correctly and accord together

European rules things will become more transparent. As part of a land

sale we now need to secure a planning consent for that scheme.

That is quite separate hurdle that we now need to clear. There will be

consultation with the public? part of this process we must engage,

first of all, with the council's planning officers, through pre-

application discussions. Discuss with them the design, the layout of

the development. Once we have a consensus of support from those

planning officers, we will then seek to engage with local community

groups. Local town council, the chamber of trade. Back at number

six, Enid's daughter say the anxiety about the house is taking

its toll. It affects her diabetes a lot. He it's not only worrying for

her, her family as well. I have lived here seven years. It's on the

flat. Close to everywhere. I don't know what complications diabetics

will have. If I need to go in a wheelchair some day I'm close to

everywhere. That is the reason I bought the house in the first place.

The develop verse offered the residents in the street a financial

deal which nine think is attractive enough to accept. Chelverton Deeley

Freed have offered them aalternative houses on a nearby

estate. Enid isn't tempted. It's close to the river. If I were ever

to move from here I want to move where I want to go, not where

someone else wants me to go. There is enough room for Tescos to be

built there and keep the houses. I don't see why my mum should have to

move. People watching it might think, she's just at it. She is

trying to drive a hard bargain. Is that the case? Yes. No. No. I think

if somebody had come to the door with �1 million I would say, no,

it's my home, I'm staying here. developer and county council point

out there will be public consultation over the scheme. It's

only hope is that they aren't so attached to their plans they will

go through unchanged, whatever anyone else thinks. She has been

putting it off, but now it's time to seek legal advice. That Cambrian

News article last night indicated that gr may be affected. It didn't

say that Glyndwr Road will be affected. Of course, that was a

spokesperson on behalf of the authority. It's the authority's

decision now whether to proceed with compulsory purchase. OK.

Or do they go back to the developers and see whether there is

any scope for admendment of the plan. I think we have to find out

what the authority's position is in relation to Glyndwr Road. Yeah.

Enid is in the dark over whether there is anything she can do to

save her street. Perhaps the leader of the county council can cast

light on whether Mill Street is a done deal. Right. I was just

wondering if you could tell me something about what is going to

happen to my home? I haven't received any information at all.

Developers have come along and want to expand the site etc. That is

whether they want to do that. If they get the support of house

householders and of the private owners in the street to take the

property, it means they have enhanced facility then in terms of

what they are able to develop. Now, I'm surprised that they said to you

they would be issues CPO's. Before anybody is able to use compulsory

purchase order you have to make the case to the planning authority that

it's a requirement of the project to do that. Then the process

follows then is that the authority will have to sit in judgment on

that. Right. Council Evans was saying that compulsory purchase

orders may not be necessary. Enid anyway may not be forced to sell

her home. The plan of the selected scheme clearly shows the new store

built right on top of Glyndwr Road's houses. It has been

mentioned all along? It might be mentioned. It wasn't part of the

brief that went out to perspective bidders. Is it not? Not as far as

the authority is concerned. We have put the footprint in place and

bidders. That map has got a big Tesco and car park over Glyndwr

Street? That is their proposals. The Chelverton proposal you said

yes to includes Glyndwr Road on that map. That's right. It will go

surely. Surely Glyndwr Street has to go? Why do you assume that?

on the map. On their proposals. If they do don't have the result they

require, in terms of doing that, perhaps they will have to re-scale

and look up what they are proposing. This is strange. The council said

yes to something and it doesn't know the ultimate shape? I don't

think so. What you have to respect is the fact that these developers

will have to have their time now to work out, with landowners, they

might want to acquire land etc. While the council leader was

suggesting the scheme could be amended, what did the developers

think? Engagement with local groups will take place before a planning

application is smited. Does that mean there is wriggle room and

Glyndwr Road may not be in the final scheme? I wouldn't envisage

that Glyndwr Road would be excluded from the scheme. We have been

selected on a particular project. This project includes the inclusion

of 12 houses on Glyndwr Road. Of which nine are controlled by

Now, all Enid can do is wait to the see if people will back her before

and during a planning application that's expected in the coming

months. As more details have come out, her county councillor Aled

Davies is pledge pledging his support. I can guarantee you that I

will vote against CPOs. Whether I can persuade the other 41 or the

majority not to do so, I don't know at the moment. You will be happy to

kick me out of my home? No, I'm not. Are you? Not at all. Do you think

others will? Who knows. By now the council and developer have spent

money on the scheme. Will councillors vote against it.

Unlikely says George Monbiot, because of the way the planning

system works in his view. If a council rejects the application,

for a supermarket, the supermarket can take it to appeal, if the

council lose that is appeal on certain grounds it can be charged

enormous amount of money, in terms of legal fees. We are talking

hundreds of thousands of pounds. Which is one of the reasons why

councils are reluctant to reject applications from big developers.

Chelverton are still hoping they can do deals with the final three

householders of Glyndwr Road and avoid asking for compulsory

purchase orders. They say the whole of Aberystwyth will gain.

benefit of bringing a store, such as this, a retail store into a town

centre location is to increase the link trip foot fall between the

development and the town centre and them to benefit from that spin-off

expenditure. Ceredigion council said they provide information to

Enid and her neighbour in a letter last year. Neither Enid nor Val and

John said they received. It Tesco declined their offer of an

interview referring us to the developers. County council

officials have offered to meet Enid Jones her solicitor and her

Assembly Member. I will fight until there is no breath left in my body.

It's my home. I've paid for. It I want to live. There I do not want

to move. I'll fight every step of the way. So, it still remains a