CONCERNED residents are lending their support to a petition in an effort to prevent one of Launceston’s largest employers leaving the town.

Back in April, packaging and paper production company DS Smith confirmed proposals to close its Link Road site in Launceston.

DS Smith is one of the UK’s leaders in innovative corrugated packaging. The North Cornwall town has been fortunate enough to benefit from investment through the years from this big employer. Today, the site processes 28,000 tonnes of paper a year and provides employment for hundreds of local employees.

In 2019, the company celebrated 50 years of production within the town, however, the organisation says that this history could soon come to an end in order to ‘improve efficiencies’ as it undertakes a consultation about the potential closure of the site.

However, being such a vital employer, residents are not taking the news sitting down. Instead, a local woman has established a petition in an effort to ‘keep DS Smith Launceston open’.

Hayley Sanders said she chose to start the petition because she has been deeply saddened by the potential closure and the effect this will have on many local people.

“The reasoning behind creating the petition was to be able to show how much support and the impact DS Smith has within the community,” she explained. “DS Smith have been running within Launceston for almost 60 years, they provide over 160 jobs within the local community, they also use other local businesses within Launceston that the closure could also impact.

“Behind every job is a family that the workers are trying hard to support, especially in the current climate we are in. This could cause devastating impacts on families within our community.

“I feel deeply saddened by the potential closure and the effect this will have on many local people in our town, the stress and worry families will be carrying at this present time is massive, but these manager, engineers, operatives and other staff member still show up every day and work to their full potential to ensure that everyone is still having their order fulfilled even with this playing on many minds.”

So far the petition has garnered more than 220 signatures, with many sharing the sentiment about the potential impact from the loss.

More information about the petition can be found via: www.change.org/p/keep-ds-smith-launceston-open