Choice and quality of local supermarket is well below standard (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Choice and quality of local supermarket is well below standard

11:07am Wednesday 25th April 2012 in Letters

THERE have been many views put forward by councillors and the NIMBYS in Malmesbury concerning the proposed development of either Sainsbury's or Waitrose in Malmesbury. Some of the High Street traders are against it. Malmesbury Town Council are opposed also.

I think it would be fair to ask the shoppers who now go either to Tetbury to Tesco or Chippenham to Morrison's. The choice and quality provided by our local supermarket falls way below the standards set by their competitors. Yes our shop is convenient and the wine and spirits are cheap and you only have to pop round the corner or go to the High Street When you want to have a choice, quality and customer service is an issue you have to go elsewhere. On my visits to Tetbury or Chippenham supermarkets I never fail but to see people from Malmesbury with their trolleys full to the brim and those are people that I know after 41 years as a resident To open another supermarket in Malmesbury whether out of town at the garden centre site or closer to the town centre, near the Silk Mills would provide welcome competition to our current retailer and bring back those people from Malmesbury who now shop elsewhere, this ought to improve the customer foot fall in the High Street as well Our local MP refers to Malmesbury as a Market Town; there has not been a market in Malmesbury for years, unless the Saturday market in the Market Cross is included with its few stalls. In years gone by when transportation and communication is not what it is today, local farmers, weavers, potters, furniture makers brought their produce and goods to the nearest towns to sell to the population. This alas is generally speaking no more. Although in many continental European countries proper markets do exist because their governments provide tax incentives for local family business so they can sit alongside supermarkets and large chain stores that do not get their tax benefits In the UK people come to towns to shop, they expect a high standard of retail business and with transportation becoming more expensive the closer they can be the better We in Malmesbury deserve to have a choice. Are we to be denied it?

DAVID HENDRY Malmesbury