I spent this afternoon at the planning meeting held at The Marches school to decide on the three "out of town" supermarket proposals in the context of the central car park proposal having been rejected though under appeal.

Having got to the meeting 5 mins late, I was told it was it was a full house and was taken to the overflow area in the canteen, which allowed us to watch through a side door and along the line of Shropshire council officers - which was a new fascinating perspective - and we were close to the coffee. :)

The fact that this second meeting was full to the brim showed the concern felt by local people on all sides as to where the decision would lie.

The whole drama felt like a huge facade behind which one could but imagine the myriad agendas and political machinations bustling for precedence.

As a process, it boiled down to:

1. Summary of the each proposal.

2. Speakers for and against - with some questions.

3. Councillors debate.

4. Decision.

Given the huge and complex documentation, the whole deal seemed to come down to:

1. Size of store

2. Shuttle buses and farmer's wives.

To be fair, I don't envy the task of councillors - some of whom were substitution councillors - to grasp the detail, weigh it judiciously and come to a decision that - on balance - will be positive for the town.

That said, that is their role, and when it came down to it, it did seem to rely more on the councillors own subjective thoughts and feelings, as opposed to a more objective assessment.

Their task wasn't helped, in my humble opinion, by a Chairman who used his position to state his support for the Smithfield proposal in no uncertain terms, and may well have swayed the few undecided councillors.

Had it not been for his persuasive pre-vote endorsement, we might now be sitting on a vote of refusal for all proposals.  But, who knows.

If this does go ahead, in some bizarre way, the fact that it is so far out of town, might actually help the town.  This may be fantasy or hope on my behalf, but I strongly feel that if the town works together we can build on - what is already, a strengthening and bouyant, market town, and continue to support Oswestry as a thriving and enjoyable town to live and work in.

I honestly believe that Oswestry is uniquely rich in creative, energetic and pragmatic people both in business and the arts who will endeavour to make true the beautiful motto of this town, "FLOREAT OSWESTRIA"!