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THE empire building by Wiltshire Council is continuing with the news that the new council wants to take over a shop in a prime location in Warminster.

Wiltshire Council has applied to itself to change the use of a building in The Cornmarket from retail A1 use to office use.

The facility will provide a drop in centre for Surestart where parents can access advice, information and support.

“No doubt the authorities can argue the case for this additional facility on a number of grounds,” said Steve Dancey, a former county council member.

“However at a time of austerity and belt-tightening it does seem typical that the ballooning and overweight public sector once again seems capable of expansion.

“No doubt this facility will be staffed by highly paid professional officers and provide us hard-pressed council tax payers, often employed in the private sector, with yet another area of expenditure to finance.

“If there is one thing we need much more than this it is help for those trapped in unemployment - especially those under the age of 25.

“The closure of our Jobcentre and its conversion into a beauty parlour could be a metaphor for what has gone wrong in this town over the past few decades.

“The council will of course say that the shop building has been empty for some time - it was a hairdressers - and while that is the case the reason is that the rental was set too high to make a retail business viable.

“When bodies like councils come along and take over retail shops they simply perpetuate the high rentals by paying the asking price rather then the market price which would be lower, especially in the current economic climate.”

An open police station, a jobcentre, a magistrates court, a cinema, a crown post office, a minor injuries unit at Warminster hospital, a register office....

If readers can think of others please let us know.