PEOPLE in Tenbury could get the chance to buy shares in the town’s former cattle market site as part of a bid to save it for community use.

The scheme has been unveiled by Tenbury Futures, a pressure group campaigning against the proposal to develop the currently privately owned site by Tesco as a supermarket.

Under the proposal, people could buy shares in a ‘community interest company’ that would buy the site for the town. Investors would then get a return from the site once it had been developed.

Tenbury Futures also believes that there is potential grant funding available from bodies such as the European Re gional Development Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund.

According to a survey by Tenbury Futures there is little support for the development of the site as a supermarket but the majority of the 300 people who took part would like a more community-based scheme.

This could include small shops, restaurants, a museum and tourist information centre together with parking and a riverside walk. A recycling facility and green energ y plant such as a small hydro electric plant are also possibilities.

It is envisaged that the site, which has remained derelict for a number of years, could be the base for events like the annual AppleFest and Teme Valley Food Fair.

For the scheme to have a chance site owners would need to allow time to develop the project further and study funding ar rangements.

But Tenbury Futures believes that its proposal, which it describes as ‘plan B’, provides a “once in a lifetime chance to invest in a vibrant and sustainable future for the town”.

Later this year a new plan for a Tesco supermarket will be considered by Malvern Hills District Council after planners rejected a scheme from the supermarket chain earlier this year