A Wem councillor has told his colleagues he wants to start a discussion about generating more business in the town.

Councillor George Nash added the item to last night’s (Thursday) full town council meeting where it was discussed in details.

Cllr Nash believes bringing new business into the town, such as a small to mid-sized supermarket, would be beneficial if the council is going to grow the High Street to meet demands.

“It only takes a few shops to close and then the town is struggling commercially,” he said.

“I would like to take a group to talk about ‘generation’ – not re-generation – as it needs to be from start.

“The town needs another little supermarket. The idea is that they would have to do something within the town and not an out-of-town superstore. The idea is to entice people into the High Street.

“It would make the Co-op think about their prices if their rivals came into the town. I would be happy to lead this.

“There are grants available to help ‘clean up’ or culturalise the High Street. It’s about asking around and seeing what people can come up with.

“It’s asking people their views and can include groups such as Wem Civic Society. We do need that generation.”

Cllr Nash also added that he was in a position to talk with Morrisons supermarket about their formula for deciding where to build new stores after councillors raised their concerns that Wem would be considered not big enough.

Clllr Pauline Dee added her support to the call for discussion, adding that previous mayors had tried to bring bigger names to the town.

Wem mayor Cllr Edward Towers added: “Let's do due diligence on this.

“We'll have a briefing session in the new year from February onwards to give Wem Town Council the chance to research before any future action.”