Hasn't Tesco got enough of Salisbury's custom already?

EMBOLDENED by success, Tesco is seeking to tighten its grip on Salisbury and south Wiltshire.
It wants to build a ‘pod’ in front of its Southampton Road megastore offering key cutting, shoe and watch repairs and dry cleaning.
What’s wrong with that? All those services are already on offer in Waitrose. You could call it healthy competition. Or convenience for customers.
Yes, but … where is all this leading us? How would you like Salisbury to look in a few years’ time? What sort of place would you like to live in?
Since Tesco opened its pharmacy, I can think of two chemists that have closed. It may be coincidence.
But if this application is approved, our key cutters, shoe repairers and dry cleaners will have little chance of hanging on. It’s tough enough already.
And what will take their place? More coffee shops and chain restaurants, just in case the ones the Salisbury Vision have in mind for the redeveloped Central Car Park aren’t enough?
We’ll be able to stuff ourselves sick on identikit menus whilst planning our next shopping spree in stores selling identikit merchandise. Because only the same old national names will pay the rents in any new complex.
Interesting independent traders will soon find they can only afford to do business online.
But I digress. Back to Tesco.
It already rules the roost in Amesbury and Tidworth. It owns One Stop ‘corner shops’ in Harnham, Bishopdown and Wilton. It’s rebuilding its city centre supermarket and popping a hotel on top for good measure.
Not content with all that, it intends to turn the Malmesbury Arms in Wilton Road into a Tesco Express. And why wouldn’t it? From a corporate point of view, it makes business sense.
I asked Morrisons last week whether it’s lost interest in the Old Manor site. If so, you couldn’t blame it. A spokeswoman replied in the nicest possible way that she couldn’t say yes and she couldn’t say no. I reckon that leaves us free to speculate. Maybe it’s in a secret bidding war with Wiltshire Police?
Meanwhile, back at the Southampton Road roundabout ….
National guidelines suggest that councils should discourage out-of-town developments that suck the life out of traditional shopping centres.
Last week the government was criticised by its own climate change experts for failing to prevent building on flood plains.
Yet still the big boys find it worthwhile to try their luck. And if Sainsbury’s-on-Sea gets the nod, all we’ll be left with soon is a choice between monstermarkets, glaring out at each other across our jammed dual carriageways.