THE news that Darlington Borough Council is considering allowing a supermarket to be built within the town centre has horrified independent traders, but council officials say the move might be the best option for the town’s economy.

Although the approach to the council is at the earliest stage, with no firm location or supermarket chain in mind, or even a firm proposal to build a store put forward, traders say they are ready to mobilise against any application that may arise.

The council has insisted that it is doing all it can to protect the town centre and said a smaller supermarket that keeps footfall within the town centre is the lesser of two evils compared to the threat of a hypermarket on the edge of town.

Although the developer initially approached the council about developing Garden Street car park, council officers have asked councillors to consider using the town hall site.

Such a move would tie in with existing proposals to develop the neighbouring Feethams car park into a cinema.

The council’s director of place Richard Alty, who is responsible for guiding any development process, said changes to planning law mean that if the council turns down the chance to develop its own land, it runs the risk of having a bigger, unsuitable development forced on it.

He said: “We had the approach about Garden Street but we were also aware that the site of the existing town hall could be a site that supermarket operators could be interested in. There is a chance for the council and the public to say that if we are going to have a supermarket in the town centre, where is the best place for it to go?

“We need to consider the balance of the town, how the different options would affect footfall in the market and traffic issues.

“We have to ask ourselves, if we said no to developing all the sites that we own, could someone come in with a planning application on a site on the outskirts of town – could they win that on appeal, even if we said no?”

The new proposals for a development on the site have upset some traders who fought in 2006 against a plan by one of Britain’s biggest retailers, Tesco, to build a supermarket close to the 140- year-old Covered Market, on the town hall site.

The company came up with a package that included the offer of a new £14m town hall nearby, but the scheme faced unprecedented opposition from local people with more than 11,000 people signing a petition opposing it in only five weeks.

After a lengthy consultation, the council decided against the proposal.

Robin Blair, of the Darlington Retail Market Stalls Association, said: “We thought we had killed it once and for all last time. It’s not good news that they are considering building a supermarket in the town again.

“I think the town will help us to fight again – things like the market and the civic theatre are places that are close to people’s hearts and when there is a threat of losing them they will act.”

Mike Barker, owner of The Health Warehouse, in Post House Wynd, said: “If the council is considering building a supermarket in town just a few years after 11,000 people fought against it, that shows a lack of understanding about what Darlington town centre needs, and what the people of the town want. I can’t believe they are seriously considering this.”

The leader of the opposition at the council, Councillor Heather Scott, said she had been kept in the dark about the proposals.

She added: “The Tory group would not support a supermarket being built on the town hall site – it would kill the town centre dead. We have sufficient supermarkets – a town centre development would be detrimental to traders.”