Concern over new shop in town hall

A Wem cafe owner has hit out at a new £400,000 town hall business, claiming it might bring unfair competition into the area.

John Murray, who owns Wem Treacle Mine in High Street and is also a town councillor, said he was concerned a new coffee shop within the town hall might be a threat to similar businesses.

He said he supported the town hall project and looked forward to seeing it open, but called for the coffee shop to be run independently.

Work to refurbish the dilapidated town hall began last week, and is due to be completed by October.

Organisers today said the town hall would be used mainly as a marketplace and meeting space, and the coffee shop would be a separate venture.

Councillor Murray said he hoped grant funding from Advantage West Midlands, the former North Shropshire District Council and the Wem Town Hall Committee would not be used to fund the coffee shop.

"One of the things I'm concerned about is they are going to open a cafe in there. I'm all for competition as long as they are not using grant money to build the thing and it will be totally self-sufficient and not a burden on the rates," he said.

"It's in competition with us and any other cafe and should be run as a business because it is," he added.

Councillor Mandy Meakin, a town hall trustee, said the group had not worked out the finer details but hoped the coffee shop would be run as a separate venture.