The Northern Echo's revelation this week that councillors in Darlington have had a private briefing on a plan to demolish the town hall to make way for a supermarket has certainly put the cat among the pigeons.

Inevitably, the plan, involving an unidentified developer, was leaked and found its way into our hands. It really wasn't difficult - my deputy Chris Lloyd and I were simply out in town for a sandwich when a council briefing document was shoved into our hands.

Now, there are frantic efforts going on within council circles to 'manage the news'.

I've just had another walk round the town centre, talking to some of the traders and there are clearly concerns about the possible impact of the proposal on Darlington's historic covered market and independent shops.

I hear Darlington MP Jenny Chapman has also been having a similar walkabout to assess the feedback from traders. We await her views with interest.

The council has stressed that the town hall site is one of a number of options and that discussions are at an early stage. Council leader Bill Dixon has called in today's paper for a public debate and, of course, there must be. Indeed, it has already started, on the pages of The Northern Echo and on its website.

The last time there was a public debate about a supermarket plan for the town hall site - when Tesco was behind the bid in 2005 - there was an overwhelming 'no' reaction from local people.

This is what the then council leader John Williams said at the time: "I share people's clear opinion that a large supermarket or superstore-led development on council-owned land in the town centre should never happen.

"I would also be opposed to any similar development in the immediate periphery of the centre, such as the ring road."

Times have certainly changed since then. There's a new council leader for a start, albeit one who's in the middle of trying to be the new elected police commissioner for County Durham, and we're in the middle of economic turmoil. We've also just seen Sainsbury's expand its Victoria Road site significantly. But has public opinion changed? We'll see.

What is already clear is that this is going to be a highly sensitive and controversial issue and it needs to be dealt with transparently.

Just like last time, we'll be doing our best to keep local people up to date with developments - whether they are leaked on the sandwich run or officially released.