Half of the famous Diss Mere is to be reclaimed and turned into a car park for a new cut-price supermarket.

Council chiefs recognised the new pound store could cause parking chaos in the pretty town, so have agreed to drastic measures to concrete over half of the popular lake.

The town is built around the beautifuil six-acre Mere - and locals are furious half of it will now be replaced by an ugly car park.

Gone will be the wonderful noise of wildlife enjoying the surroundings. Instead, car engines and the clanking off shopping trolleys will become the norm.

<a href="http://www.suffolkgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/diss-mere-e1429777020456.jpg"><img src="http://www.suffolkgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/diss-mere-e1429777020456.jpg" alt="Diss Mere" width="450" height="253" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-700" /></a><center><i>Diss-appointment: Mere will be cut in half (pic: Shirley P, tripadvisor.co.uk)</center></i><br><br>


Local campaigner Emerson Lake-Palmer fumed: "This is an outrage, another example of a big supermarket riding roughshod over a local community.

"Diss Mere is a famous attraction, drawing thousands of people into the town. It will be ruined if half of it is filled in for a car park."

But council bosses insist the visual and environmental impact of the work will be kept to a minimum.

A spokesman for Diss Council Waterways Committee said: "The car park will be built using very dark blue concrete to blend in with the remaining area of the lake.

"Also, we have insisted the supermarket builds an ornamental pond in the middle of the car park, which can be used by wading birds and filled with koi carp and such.

"We're pretty sure the people of Diss will get used to it soon enough."

The supermarket involved is believed to be a pound-style of store, which does not seem too concerned about the impact on the Mere, which was mentioned in the Doosmday Book .

An retail insider told the Suffolk Gazette: "The locals can moan all they like. But they'll soon be flocking to the shop to buy their cheap toothpaste.

"Anyway, if people want to see a whole Mere, they can always go to Thorpeness on the coast."


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