New twist in store wars

Oswestry's store wars now looks to have become a two-horse race with planners urging that the multi-million pound supermarket complex is built on either the town's Central car park or the Richard Burbidge factory site.

Planning officers at Shropshire Council are recommending that two of the four supermarket planning applications - for the livestock market land and the JT Hughes/Guttercrest site - are ruled out.

Instead, planners are suggesting deferring the Burbidge application for three months while investigations take place to see if traffic problems associated with Central car park, which in its present form is recommended for refusal, can be ironed out. Both proposals include a cinema.

Shropshire Council meets on Thursday at the Lion Quays on the edge of Oswestry to discuss the four supermarket planning applications. Planners say a new store would stop shoppers driving out of the town to Wrexham or Shrewsbury to shop.

A report to the meeting says the Central car park development is the preferred site in terms of its closeness to the town centre.

It says: "Its central location is likely to generate more linked trips and spin-off benefit for the town centre."

But the report says the current scheme for Central car park is not suitable because of concerns about traffic congestion.

There are also worries about delivery lorries clogging up the roads and motorists using nearby residential streets as a "rat run". The report says the Burbidge site is the planners' second choice in its closeness to the town centre.

Traders say any new supermarket could destroy Oswestry's town centre. Earlier this month about 400 people made a "No more supermarkets" protest march through the town centre.

By Sue Austin