The controversial plans to develop Mill Riggs farm and build a new big supermarket and petrol station have been dropped for the present, much to the relief of the very well organised opposition in the Save our Stokesley campaign, local residents and traders. The fear that this intrusion would decimate the traditional high street in Stokesley, like it has done in so many other towns up and down the country, motivated what has become a successful campaign.
Being so close to Stokesley ourselves this also is naturally of interest to Seamer residents, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t use the high street in Stokesley regularly, and the thought of it turning into a row of empty shops personally fills me with horror.
The campaign which took full advantage of social media and the internet in addition to the traditional routes of petitions and meetings is to be applauded and hopefully will give inspiration and hope to other communities across the country whose local towns are facing similar threats from big businesses.
The image and video are courtesy of the Save our Stokesley Campaign
Save our Stokesley on Facebook