As The Journal went to press, Councillor Barry Macrae, (Conservative, Midsomer Norton North), will be presenting his own personal ideas for the Welton, Bibby and Baron site at Welton, currently earmarked for housing and, potentially, another supermarket, to the Town Council's Economic Development Partnership Meeting.

Cllr Macrae is calling on a local debate for the site and its possible options for the future from his own personal working experience. He stresses the importance of the site for the whole of the Somer Valley and, particularly, as a way in which to connect to the top of Midsomer Norton High Street, further regenerating the town itself.

The main call, however, is to provide new jobs and

investment and to inspire young people in the area. His presentation will argue that the site needs to be for mixed use, be employment led, sensitive to its location, infrastructure and environment and to seek to add sustainable opportunities to both local and wider communities. Whatever is proposed needs to respect the commercial realities of its current owners.

"If the community really wants another supermarket and commuter housing, then that is fine. But if they don't – now is the time for us to discuss further options. I cannot support yet more simplistic commuter housing designed to promote Midsomer Norton as a city dormitory. This site could potentially accommodate another 500 homes. Such an outcome will, in my personal view, be very sad and very damaging.

"There is, I believe, a much more positive way – for communities to urgently begin to work with the site's owners to jointly explore some new, viable, commercial and sustainable alternative ideas that will satisfy their reasonable commercial imperatives and support our local community's aspirations."

Potential ideas are to make more use of the direct access via The Greenway, to make the most of the river as a feature for the development and to use some of the newer parts of the site to perhaps provide new provision for local sports and leisure uses. S106 money could be used to create a new primary gateway and entrance to the newly-revitalised town centre and High Street, to improve the road area at Stones Cross and to reinforce restrictions of continuing HGV use of North Road. There could even be a pedestrian link to the ground at West Clewes from the development.

Cllr Macrae stresses the importance of working with local schools and colleges to ask young people in the area what they would like to see and most benefit from. He also argues that providing office space for the self-employed is key, to save people having to

commute every day. The land could provide for

community facilities for technology, arts, health, sport and even media.

"It is time to start thinking creatively. We cannot lose this tremendous opportunity to influence the future of this site. Unless the community of Midsomer Norton discuss, consider, consult and state, publicly, what we want and what we need, then we will simply be given what is profitable – take it or leave it."

Do you have any ideas for the site? Email them to us at: [email protected]">[email protected]