{"id":48451,"date":"2025-04-25T04:35:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T04:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/48451\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T04:35:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T04:35:17","slug":"we-live-in-englands-smallest-town-dominos-you-are-not-welcome-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/48451\/","title":{"rendered":"We live in England’s smallest town, Domino’s you are not welcome here!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Furious residents in England’s tiniest town are up in arms after Domino’s lodged plans to open a new branch on their historic High Street.<\/p>\n

Locals in the picture-postcard town of Manningtree, Essex, have launched a fierce backlash after the pizza giant applied to take over a former Barclays<\/a> bank that’s lain empty since June last year.<\/p>\n

The fast-food chain wants to open daily from 11am to 11pm, promising 25 new jobs \u2013 but residents aren’t having it.<\/p>\n

More than 120 people have objected, slamming the idea as a threat to the town’s unique charm \u2013 with only one person supporting the move.<\/p>\n

Independent shop owner Sarah Mawkes, who runs The Wholefood Store, didn’t hold back.<\/p>\n

‘This is the slow erosion of our culture,’ she said. ‘We’ve created something special here in Manningtree \u2014 this would ruin it.’<\/p>\n

Others warned it could ‘open the floodgates’ to more big chains rolling in and destroying the local economy.<\/p>\n

With just 47 acres to its name, Manningtree holds the title of England’s smallest town, and prides itself on its cosy, independent feel \u2014 think tearooms, boutiques and a single Tesco Express.<\/p>\n

\"Locals <\/p>\n

Locals in the picture-postcard town of Manningtree, Essex, have launched a fierce backlash after the pizza giant applied to take over a former Barclays bank that’s lain empty since June last year<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The fast-food chain wants to open daily from 11am to 11pm, promising 25 new jobs \u2013 but residents aren’t having it. Pictured: the former Barclay’s bank that may become a Dominos<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The idea of a Domino’s popping up on the High Street (above) has left residents stunned<\/p>\n

The idea of a Domino’s popping up on the High Street has left residents stunned.<\/p>\n

Sophie Edwards, who lives just yards from the proposed site, called the plan a ‘total eyesore.’<\/p>\n

She said: ‘The Barclays building is one of the first buildings you see when entering the town.<\/p>\n

‘To be greeted by a Domino’s sign would be totally out of place for our historic town.’<\/p>\n

The proposed site sits next to a Post Office and directly opposite a beloved tearoom.<\/p>\n

Rowan Hunter, who runs The Stour Store next door, said it would only lead to more development in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘It would be a complete eyesore compared to the other businesses.’<\/p>\n

Even those in nearby Mistley are weighing in.<\/p>\n

Sally Johns joked: ‘It almost feels like an April Fools gag, so ridiculous is the idea.’<\/p>\n

\"Rowan <\/p>\n

Rowan Hunter, who runs The Stour Store next door, said it would only lead to more development in the area<\/p>\n

\"Manningtree <\/p>\n

Manningtree Essex aerial photo.\u00a0Sally Johns joked: ‘It almost feels like an April Fools gag, so ridiculous is the idea’<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, nutritional therapist Catherine Arnold pointed to the UK’s ballooning obesity crisis.<\/p>\n

‘We don’t need more ultra-processed food,’ she said.<\/p>\n

But not everyone is outraged, Stephen Ivell, from Lawford, said objectors are just scared of change.<\/p>\n

‘Younger families would welcome more choice,’ he argued.<\/p>\n

Domino’s insists the move is a good thing.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman said: ‘We bring the joy of the occasional takeaway to customers across the country and use data and local market knowledge to identify where there is demand for our store.<\/p>\n

‘We also provide employment and development opportunities for local people.’<\/p>\n

The company says it will manage litter and plans to create two rear parking spaces.<\/p>\n

Tendring District Council is still taking public comments on the plan until May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Furious residents in England’s tiniest town are up in arms after Domino’s lodged plans to open a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[8669,748,92,393,4884,12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-48451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-barclays","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114396746476305938","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}