The old Co-op site still has planning permission for a new supermarket (of the same size ), which could be actioned straight away if Asda or any food store wished to use. Therefore, if a foodstore is needed for that side of town (which I believe it is ), why hasn’t a store opened?

It would be simple to demolish the present store and rebuild, but Asda would not be happy with that sort of size (25,000sqft ), as they have halted expansion of smaller stores in favour of the ‘hypermarket’ format with ‘open A1’ planning, where it can sell anything and everything.

This can hurt the town centre and I don’t mean just the new arc development as smaller traders and the market traders lose out and cannot compete with the range or price of Wal-Mart.

The Wal-Mart effect is well known in thousands of towns in the US, where they come in and decimate the town centre as no-one shops there anymore.

I have nothing against a food-based store on that site, but am concerned about another open A1 out of town superstore of 60,000sqft hitting the town centre.

On another point, the Roys site is not just about a food store. The council is surely looking at that site as planning gain, ie if permission is granted, the council gets a free decked car park of 800 spaces – free to the taxpayer – as well as tidying up a scruffy area of the town centre.

Let’s hope the residents of western Bury get a food store quickly – of a size that meets the food needs of the area but does not harm the town centre’s range and diversity.

Retailing is an ever-changing beast. Bury has escaped relatively unscathed from the many closures of recent times, but we need to protect the town centre as the primary shopping area, with the arc development strengthening the retail offer, otherwise the whole character of the town centre will be destroyed.

Stephen Moody,

Thurston.