Today saw the opening of Sainsbury’s new supermarket on the Enham arch roundabout. The new shop is a vast improvement on the derelict Do-It-All site we have seen for the last few months. I was particularly impressed with the amount of time spent by contractors landscaping the surrounding area.

I welcome the vastly increased choice we now have for food shopping in Andover. With Sainsbury following ASDA in expanding in the town, Tesco, who have dominated the town’s food market for too long, will see some serious competion and local shoppers have some real choice.

The expansion in food retail however does raise other issues.

• While we now have a range of food shops to choose from we are still desparately short of other shops. In particular we need a major department store. I have raised this at council meetings and will continue to push for a full range of retail facilities in the town.
• The new supermarkets bring welcome new jobs to the town. But, too many local jobs are in retail and distribution. For the town to flourish we must widen the range of employment opportunities. Andover Lib Dems intend to make this a top priority over the next few years.
• Despite being raised on a number of occasions by both me and Cllr Rod Bailey we are no nearer a solution to the traffic congestion on Enham Arch roundabout. This is bound to get worse now Sainsbury’s is open. Tory council leader, Ian Carr, told us over a year ago  thast he was personally dealing with the problem. Come on Ian – tell us when you intend to resolve it.