CONTROVERSIAL proposals for a new supermarket in Williton that village traders fear will sound the death knell for their businesses has failed to win the support of local parish councillors.

The scheme being put forward by Williton-based agricultural machinery specialists J Gliddon and Sons would see the company's current premises in Bank Street - and additional land behind - turned into a supermarket just under half the size of Minehead's Morrisons store.

But Williton Parish Council this week voted to lodge a formal objection to the application, which is expected to be decided by West Somerset Council, the planning authority, in the next month or so.

Councillors said the proposal, which also includes a 175-space car park, a further 1,300 gross square metres of units, office accommodation, five flats and a pedestrian link to Fore Street, would scupper any chance of building a hoped-for inner relief road in the village.

The parish council has already earmarked funding towards a feasibility study for the road, which would run from the junction of North Street and Long Street to the other side of Mamsey House on the A39 - through the site of the proposed development.

Gliddon's spokesman David Gliddon admitted to councillors, when they met to decide their views on the scheme on Monday, that the retail impact assessment commissioned to accompany the application predicted a loss to existing businesses - "a big one".

But Mr Gliddon said the net gain in annual turnover for local traders would be £800,000 because the supermarket would pull so many more customers into the village.

He said the development would help sustain facilities like the library, as well as create between 100 and 120 full time equivalent jobs, plus additional jobs from the proposed new smaller shop units.

And he revealed that the village's existing Co-Op - predicted to suffer a 35 per cent drop in business - was not objecting to the development and had expressed a strong interest in relocating to the new store.

"People say we are just a village - but some village when we have a hospital, two care homes, and an industrial estate," he said.

"We have 12,300 residents within a four mile radius and there are also 9,000 holiday beds between St Audries and Blue Anchor."

Mr Gliddon said the village would benefit from additional parking - free for two hours - while an estimated 1.5 million miles would be saved on the roads, with people travelling less distances to shop.

"If we don't take this opportunity now, in five or ten years' time a supermarket will come to the edge of town and that will have an impact on Williton's businesses."

But Edward Martin, who owns a greengrocery business in the village, told the meeting that all independent traders in Fore Street felt threatened by the proposal.

Mr Martin, who was speaking on behalf of the Williton Chamber of Commerce, said at a public meeting staged by the organisation last week, the majority of Williton people who attended were opposed to the supermarket.

He said the development would have a knock-on effect on many businesses, including shops in neighbouring Watchet.

"We are unique in Williton in having the number of independent shops that we have - this supermarket will take choice away, not add to it.

"Williton is a village and this is totally out of proportion. "We have all the major services we need here - do we really need this development?"

Councillors debated the comments made by the parish council's planning committee, including a proposal that the application was supported.

Just six of the 11-strong council were at the meeting to decide whether to back or oppose the development, with the proposal to lodge an objection carried by four votes.

Cllr Bill Vaughan said it was very difficult for the council to back it in any shape or form as it stood because the authority had already given its support for an inner relief road.

"This is at odds with our vision for Williton, which includes the inner relief road," he said.

"We don't seem to have a joined-up approach to development - it is unfortunate that the Williton Regeneration Forum seems to lack the drive to come up with an overall vision for Williton."

Cllr Vaughan said what Williton needed was good quality housing, while Cllr Rebecca James said she had no problem with the planning permission for 90 homes previously granted for the supermarket site.

"That land should be developed and it is not that we are against any development - we would welcome the chance to have discussions with the applicant," she said.

Cllr James said she had concerns about the traffic implication of the supermarket scheme, which would involve the construction of a roundabout very close to the existing roundabout at the Egremont corner.

And she said it was also important to ensure the vitality and vibrancy of the village's business community

"Until a supermarket opened, no-one would really know what the true impact would be - it is a very big risk to take."

Cllr Graham Bigwood said he regretted the development of yet another supermarket and its impact on 'food miles'.

He said Williton was a rural community, which had effectively lost its farming industry.

"I just worry that in ten or 15 years' time, we would look at this supermarket and ask - what have we done?"

But Cllr John Richards said people were keen to highlight the potential snags but he believed, when they thought about it, the development would be beneficial.

Among the reasons for objecting to the scheme, councillors highlighted traffic concerns, the effect on the inner relief road and the impact on existing businesses.

They also raised concerns about the future of the village's Lloyds Bank branch, which would be lost to the proposed pedestrian link.