Darren Barrenger, community activist and former parliamentary candidate

Darren spoke at a public meeting organised to discuss Tesco's proposed development of a 30,000 sq ft supermarket in Station Road Manningtree. Although the proposal is still in a consultative stage, with no formal planning application being submitted, it is clear that many people are considering this potential change to their community as significant.

Nearly 200 people attended the public meeting in the Venture Centre in Lawford, as David Edmunds, who chaired the meeting explained the current situation and process that any application would need to go through. There were many excellent contributions during the meeting as a number of issues were raised. A steering group to oppose any subsequent application was formed, thanks to the efforts of Nicky Long and Rosemary Raddon, who had organised this public meeting.

Darren said after the event "The level of interest in this potentially significant change to the communities surrounding Manningtree, clearly shows that people care passionately about where they live. I was very impressed with the conduct of the meeting, the organisation and Mr Edmund's chairing of the event. I am very supportive of local communities having a voice and would encourage those from all sides of the debate to contribute."

Darren spoke of his own experience in Brightlingsea during Live Animal Exports and as Mayor when he chaired a similar public meeting into the then proposed Waterside development in the town.

If you would like to have your say, Darren has set up a specific discussion forum for this issue, which can be found at : http://www.darrenbarrenger.org/your_say