Sprawl-Busters has received the following communiqu?? from the frontlines of a battle with the Swedish furniture superstore in England: “Mega-mart sprawl is a problem for the whole of the western world. Greasley and District Civic Society (GDCS) are fighting against IKEA’s plans to create a retail park in D.H. Lawrence country at Giltbrook, Nottinghamshire, England. IKEA was unwelcome when they arrived there a decade ago – they purchased the land from under a local business and evicted them. They put up their big blue box in between 2 stretches of protected green land, introduced traffic problems and closed businesses in nearby Kimberley and Eastwood. Behind the mask of fund names, and alternative company names (such as Aurora II BV and Inter-Ikea) they are planning to double their site and add 13 shops, 3 offices and 1 indoor playarea. Although they claim this will not significantly impact traffic volumes and local business, it is clear that this is untrue. The Local Planning Authority is prepared to allow this to go ahead, despite the violation of 36 planning policies and the proof that the traffic survey (paid for by IKEA) was wrong. It is hoped that the extra tax income of ??1.2 million per year from
this site will be spent on addressing the problems that IKEA create. After a 7-month campaign of letter-writing, public meetings, newspaper coverage, television and radio appearances, GDCS are urging the Secretary of State to overturn the decision of the Local Planning Authority. The case for local impact is clear, but the Secretary of State doesn’t care about this. What matters is the larger picture – is this important to Great Britain? GDCS are saying “Not only is this matter important to Great Britain, but it is
important for the whole world”, and are urging people across the globe to sign their petition.”
To help the Brits take on IKEA in Nottinghamshire, sign their petition, which will find on their website at: www.gdcs.org.uk, The petition is at http://www.petitiononline.com/gdcs1/petition.html. For stories about IKEA battles in the U.S. search this database by “IKEA.”
