RE 'Many of us are in favour of a shop' (LT, December 13) with regards to the comments in the paper regarding the possible development of the Oak Tree Public House into a Co-op Late Shop, I would like to put forward a local resident's point of view.

While not everyone objects to the Co-op developing the site, a lot of people do. I moved on to Livesey Branch Road over 20 years ago to get away from teenage nuisance where I was living previously.

When I moved in, the Oak Tree, or Beechwood Hotel as it was known then, was thriving.

There were also three, not two as the gentleman suggests, shops lower down Livesey Branch Road.

The shops on Pinewood remain because people use them, but the other three shops disappeared many years ago, one would assume because local residents were not frequenting them.

A shop on the Oak tree site might be welcome to some, but it isn't for those who will have to live with the noise and nuisance.

The gentlemen comments that going to town on the bus causes restrictions on carrying shopping and then says that most people using the new shop would travel there by foot.

I would suggest that from where he lives there would still be a restriction on the amount of shopping that could be carried and that he would not walk but would drive there in his car.

I disagree that shops cause less noise than pubs. The pub is frequented by a lot of older locals who walk there because of the drink-driving laws. Even on busy nights there is very little noise or disruption.

If a shop opens we will have traffic from 6am to 11pm. The ATM will be a 24-hour one so people will be stopping at all hours.

It is well known that large groups of teenagers gather outside these types of shops. The problem has also been highlighted at the local parish council meeting and backed up by the police reports. The gathering of teenagers outside the Pinewood shops is minimal to the numbers that could gather on this site, given the larger area of space.

Contrary to what the gentleman said, the pub is used for meetings, not the car park.

Competition is healthy but not when it is on the scale of big business versus a small family-run business. It is because big businesses are trying to muscle in on residential areas of town and people not supporting their local shops that local, small, family-run businesses are being driven out.

The gentleman also suggests that only 50 people are against the scheme. There are in fact a lot more than 50 and the petition due to be handed in along with letters of objection already sent will confirm this.

May I suggest that the gentleman might not be so keen on the development if it was planned for his own doorstep instead of ours?

MRS ADENE HALL, Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn.