WILLITON could become the location for a major new foodstore creating around 100 jobs under plans about to be unveiled by one of the village's oldest family owned firms.

The Free Press exclusively revealed last September that agricultural machinery specialist J Gliddon and Sons was behind a move to build a supermarket almost three times the size of Williton's existing Co-Op store.

Now a two-day public exhibition will give local people the chance to see the details of the scheme and talk to a project team working on the proposal.

The plans will be on show in Williton Library next Friday (February 26) from 2pm to 6pm and the following day from 9.30am to 12.30pm.

The exhibition boards will also be displayed in West Somerset Council's offices in Killick Way from March 1 to 12 as part of a pre-planning process to gauge local reaction to the proposal.

Gliddon's scheme would see the company's current premises in Bank Street transformed.

The supermarket would be built to the rear of the 1.49-hectare site and would offer a sales area roughly half the size of the soon-to-be built Morrisons store in Minehead.

A total of 175 parking spaces would also be created.

Crucially, the development would include a new pedestrian link through to Fore Street in a bid to ensure the store is considered to be within the heart of Williton's shopping centre.

Gliddon's spokesman David Gliddon said the new store would be good for Williton, which he believed was fighting for its economic survival.

And he revealed that at least three major supermarket names had already shown interest in the proposal.

"I think it's right for the village - if I didn't, I wouldn't be doing this," said Mr Gliddon.

"It's crazy that we don't have a significant sized supermarket here - we are losing out to Taunton and Minehead.

"And by getting people to shop locally, we could cut down on two million miles of motoring a year."

Mr Gliddon said, although Williton was already a focal point for many outlying villages, there was a huge untapped visitor market that could be exploited.

"The potential tourist spend is huge - there are around 9,000 bed spaces between St Audries and Blue Anchor and yet at the moment Williton is getting little benefit."

He said he had already received support for the scheme from a number of small businesses operating on the fringes of Williton.

But he stressed that the point of the exhibition - a precursor to the outline planning application being formally registered with the district council - was to give local people the chance to raise any concerns and make any comments.

"We will listen to and take on board what people have to say. It's the small things that matter - how the new store would link to the rest of the village, the layout and the highway issues."

Mr Gliddon said not only would the proposal provide a much needed additional shopping facility but it would also deliver a convenient, attractive and accessible store within a high quality and modern building on a brownfield site.

In addition, it would reduce the need for people to travel to stores outside the village for their main shopping and provide much needed jobs for local people.

An economic assessment commissioned by Mr Gliddon in support of the scheme has highlighted the need for more jobs in the Williton area, with a greater proportion of people currently leaving the village for work than employed in it.

Other assessments carried out provide evidence of the retail need and look at issues ranging from noise and air quality to transport, travel and flooding.

The site is already designated for retail use but also has existing planning consent for a mixed development of refurbished retail accommodation and around 90 new homes.