What a barefaced cheek Shelia Swarbrick and her husband Anthony have to start a petition against Costa coming to Malvern.

I take it that when they opened their second cafe in April they did not think about the other eateries and how it would affect them and the fact that Malvern was already overrun with places to eat?

It is a good thing that a large chain is coming to Malvern (not so much another coffee shop) and creating jobs and filling a large shop that has been empty for more than a year.

With luck it will bring extra footfall for the other shops as Malvern could do with more national brands coming to town to help increase footfall – not only are the locals not coming into the town but there is also a lack of tourists.

Independents and large chains have to work together for the sake of helping the footfall of the town, and I am sure a few small independents may close, but it won’t be long before someone else reopens.

An independent does not have the right to stop progress from taking place. After all, many large chains started off as small independents!

Anthony Morris

Storridge