Leader: How many supermarkets does Shrewsbury need?

By a method of elimination, it should not be too difficult for Shrewsbury residents to have a good guess at the likely candidate among the "big four" supermarkets for a new out-of-town superstore off Hereford Road in Meole Brace.

While the applicants say the preferred operator has not yet been chosen, this is a major scheme, costing £10 million and creating up to 200 new jobs.

It will be another part of the process which is turning Shrewsbury into a town ringed by supermarkets – there are already plans which will see a Waitrose on the edge of town.

It is as if every supermarket chain wants a share of the action and is saying to towns, if you have given permission to supermarket chains W, X and Y, how can you justify stopping us, supermarket Z, coming in as well?

From a planning point of view, there must be real concerns about putting this supermarket in an area of the town which is already a snarl-up point.

From the point of view of the economy of Shrewsbury, there will be worries that this supermarket would contribute to the siphoning off of the lifeblood from the town centre and that the 200 jobs it created would be offset by job losses as in-town stores felt the pressure.

And then there is the public mood. A public which once welcomed or accepted supermarkets is becoming increasingly weary of the never-ending flow of new schemes as the supermarket chains seek to expand their empires and cement their grip on market share. In Newport, residents have rebelled – proposals for a new Sainsbury's have run into serious protests.

How many supermarkets does Shrewsbury need?

How many supermarkets does Shrewsbury want?

Would a new supermarket give Shrewsbury more choice – or just more of the same?