• I WAS surprised to see that the opposition to the Co-op proposing to fill the empty site previously occupied by XO in Belsize Village is being spearheaded by Conservative councillors, (‘Save our village’ pleas over Co-Op’s supermarket plan for Belsize Park, August 23).

Their opposition to the Co-op is not, seemingly, based on concerns about anti-social opening hours, disruption by delivery vans, or licensing concerns, but rather that its presence might have a negative commercial effect on other businesses nearby, especially Budgens.

The Conservative party is supposed to believe in free markets. Indeed one of the councillors protesting the Co-op claims, in his Twitter biography, to be a “free market… liberal”.

I fail to see how this can be reconciled with an objection to the Co-op in Belsize Village which seems mostly about protecting one national supermarket chain from another.

If residents in Belsize Village like the Co-op they will shop there. If the other local businesses are competitive and good, they will survive and thrive even with competition from the Co-op.

While the councillors in Hampstead have been engaged in protecting Budgens’s business interests, the delightful and iconic Kape Barako coffee kiosk on Hampstead High Street has closed, apparently partly due to the difficulties the owner had with the council.

Hampstead deserves councillors who work to encourage businesses to thrive in our community, for the benefit of all residents and visitors, not ones who interfere with the market and favour one company over another.

HAMISH HUNTER
Address supplied