What is going on in Southampton Road?

And what is our publicly-funded system of planning controls worth?

First, we’ve got the daft plan from Sainsbury’s for a superstore complete with built-to-flood car park on the fields next to B&Q.

Despite some 150 objections and the fact that the site is outside the city’s agreed development boundaries, the supermarket chain is intent on pursuing this scheme, and is presumably prepared to take Wiltshire Council through an expensive appeal process if necessary.

I can imagine, though, that there are plenty of people who would enjoy seeing Tesco face a powerful challenger on its own out-of-town doorstep.

And I wouldn’t bet against the plan succeeding, given the track record of the final arbiter, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles - unless our MP John Glen, who’s his parliamentary private secretary, also happens to be a miracle-worker.

Now there is an apparently serious proposal to build a 65-bedroom hotel opposite this mad megastore, between Tesco and the main road.

This site is also flood plain which, the last time I looked at it a few days ago, was doing its job – i.e.

storing flood water which might otherwise inconvenience nearby residents and businesses.

But if the planners approve the Sainsbury’s scheme, I can’t see any argument that would prevent them approving a hotel, too. So maybe they’ll feel they have to turn them both down?

Who knows? We can only hope.

Meanwhile, do you think we should give up trying to protect our little green wildernesses on the basis that they’re a lost cause?

Is yet more chaos on Southampton Road inevitable?

What do you think local democracy actually amounts to?

With elections to Wiltshire Council and Salisbury City Council fast approaching, these are questions worth considering.

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