I was delighted to read the news about Lidl applying for planning permission to build a new supermarket in Wellington near the roundabout at Cades Farm (WWN, September 25) and hope the planners pass this request.

I have hoped Lidl would choose to open a store in Wellington for some considerable time. It provides a different option and, importantly, further competition to the limited selection of supermarkets available to us. Perhaps most importantly I think it will be a significant benefit to Wellington and its businesses as I believe a large proportion of local people already travel to Taunton to shop in the existing Lidl and Aldi stores.

I feel sure having our own Lidl store would encourage people to stay local and shop in the town where we have a range of good independent shops and traders, rather than making the journeys to Taunton and other towns. This also has a large environmental benefit as it would reduce the number of vehicle journeys made to Taunton.

With the substantial number of homes being built in the area and the thousands more to follow in the future, this is an opportunity for our town to encourage local people to stay local and benefit the planet at the same time.

I cannot see a negative to this application, but conversely many benefits, and hope that those making the decisions approve the request and enable something that will benefit our town to be built.

Dave McClelland

via email