SIR, Last week a letter by Stephen Starkie, talked of how town planners opposed a Subway being opened on the high-street and about the 'obstacles' which have been put in the way of the Dixton Road Roundabout proposals as if it had a negative effect on the progress of Monmouth town. Well the progress of a town isn't based on how much it can slowly morph into another unrecognisable high street filled with the same chain stores you find all over the country, but rather by the smaller and independent stores which give a town like Monmouth it's character. By encouraging chain stores into Monmouth all you do is create a shortage of opportunity for local businesses to expand or new ones to start, meaning local businesses and business owners lose out. Smaller shops do move about and some eventually close down, an example being Granny Brown's which recently moved just around the corner to White Swan Court for the cost of rent. Big names such as Subway and McDonald's would be a lot more reluctant to give up their shop space to close down or move as they have large amounts of money backing them meaning they don't care too much if one of their branches was only just about making a profit, they simply won't move out. This eventually would make it near to impossible for small independent businesses to operate and expand as shop space would become even pricier and harder to get hold of than it already is. It's a slippery slope which would eventually lead to Monmouth becoming just another town filled with the same shops you'd find everywhere else. Why there is a feeling in Monmouth that we desperately need places like McDonald's and Subway I just don't know, as if there aren't already places locally to get a sandwich or something cheap for lunch. People like to pretend they're really supportive of local shops but when it comes down to it a lot of people would sooner order an item off Amazon or go to a shop like Lidl because it saves them a few quid. Is saving a couple of pounds really worth it to see Monmouth lose its local shops? Callum Sloper (Monmouth)