The Shropshire Survey results - Your Area

The vast majority of respondents were happy to describe the area where they as either 'beautiful' 'nice', or simply 'OK'.

Only four per cent of people described their local area as 'poor'.

Fifteen per cent of people said they visited their local town centre every day, while nearly half – 48 per cent – said they called in every week.

But 32 per cent said they rarely visited, and a further three per cent said they never did.

Only 8.7 per cent of people said their local town had everything they needed, and just over 60 per cent said it had 'most things'.

A third of our respondents, however, said their town offered them little that they needed.

In fact, when we asked if people thought their town centre had deteriorated over the past decade, nearly half – 48 per cent – of people agreed, 29 per cent thought it had stayed the same, and only 22 per cent thought it had improved.

But most people feel their local councils are doing a fair, or good, job of supporting the county's towns.

Councillor Mike Owen, Shropshire Council cabinet member responsible for economic growth and prosperity, said: "It's encouraging to see that people seem to appreciate we are doing what we can to support our streets.

"As a council we are investing millions of pounds in town centre projects through our Market Towns Revitalisation Programme, and working with businesses to help them prosper as much as possible."

If one story dominated the headlines in Shropshire over the summer – and looks set to continue to do so into 2013 - it's farming.

There was bovine TB and the planned – and cancelled – badger cull, the dismal weather's effect on crops and, of course, the continuing issue of dairy farmers who say they are being driven out of business by milk buyers paying them less than the cost of production.

But the majority of our readers say they are prepared to pay more to help.

Some 57 per cent of people said they either visited their local farm shop or used supermarkets that they understood gave farmers a fair deal – although that meant 43 per cent admitted they made no conscious effort to support farmers.

However, more than half – 53 per cent – of people who responded said they would pay more for their milk or cheese if they knew the money was going to support local farmers, while a further 24 per cent said they 'probably' would.

And a massive 85.4 per cent of people said they did not believe supermarkets gave farmers a fair deal.

Meanwhile, the growth of supermarket shopping has certainly had an impact on our market towns, as well as big centres such as Shrewsbury and Telford. But we love our supermarkets – 77 per cent of our respondents do their main shopping in one, compared to just 14.6 per cent who stick to their high street.

Tesco, with superstores in Ludlow, Tesco and Shrewsbury, was the most popular supermarket – attracting 23 per cent of shoppers, followed by Sainsbury's and Asda. However, although we may be confirmed fans of supermarkets, nearly three-quarters of respondents – 73 per cent – said they would not want another near to where they live. Ludlow MP Philip Dunne found this 'intriguing'.

"The supermarkets are all looking at the secondary market towns in Shropshire as potential new opportunities for growth," he said, "and it's interesting that people feel that, generally, we have got enough supermarkets in the county, which I tend to agree with."

But planners have to assess the benefits and costs of each application.

Michael Barker, head of planning at Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "As a planning authority we are bound by national planning regulations which indicate that supermarkets should ideally be in town centres and, if not, on the next available site nearest a town ce- ntre.

"Councils must determine any planning application for a supermarket in accordance with planning regulations.

"This may mean considering supermarket applications on the edge of centre or out of centre sites, and the Government's planning policy and guidance gives the basis on which the local planning authority should make such decisions.

"If a planning authority does not follow this approach, their decision can be subject to appeal or challenge by other parties."

Five per cent of people say they mainly shop over the internet – and it will be interesting to see how that develops over the coming years.

But some of us prefer the old ways, with Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski keen to support local independent traders.

"There will always be a requirement for supermarkets and the high quality services they offer," he said, "but it's also very important to support your local producers."

Mr Kawczynski said he was keen to see hotels and restaurants buying locally, and is an enthusiastic advocate of Shrewsbury's farmers' and indoor markets.

"In Shropshire we have wonderful local produce," he added.

"You can find local suppliers for just about everything, apart from the obvious like kiwi fruit.

"If you went around Shrewsbury restaurants you would be amazed at the amount that buy from outside Shropshire.

"Ham, cheese, we have it all, yet you see them selling jam from Essex. Why would you not have it from a local supplier?"

Ludlow has been supporting local farmers and producers for the past 11 years through its Local to Ludlow campaign.

Kate Norman, who chairs the organisation, which holds farmers markets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month, said it was important to keep money within the local economy, rather than giving it to organisations which are often based elsewhere, even overseas.

"This way it gets spent locally," she said. "It provides and income for local people which gets spent in the local community."

There are also environmental reasons, she added, as bringing in food from the local area caused less pollution.

John Hall, of Shrewsbury's Shop in the Loop campaign which promotes town centre business, said he thought Shropshire's high streets were proving robust, despite the current 'hard times'.

And he thought they would co-exist with their supermarket rivals, offering an entirely different shopping experience. "They're about mass appeal," he said. "But town centres are moving towards more specific things."

And he said a new supermarket did not necessarily have the same effect on a town that it would have had a few years ago.

"At the moment they're basically consuming each other rather than the town centres."

"Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Shrewsbury have a good range of shops and they're quite robust because they're providing something that the supermarkets don't."

We also asked about how our towns are developing, with particular regard to new housing.

It's a thorny subject; 43.5 per cent of people thought their local town was fine as it is, while 38.2 per cent of people believed where they lived was being damaged by new homes.

But some 18 per cent of people thought they needed more development for people to live.

It's up to local authority planners to try to find the right balance.

As Mr Barker of Telford & Wrekin says: "Government has made it clear to councils that building new homes is a major priority and we have to respond to this.

"It is the responsibility of the local planning authority to determine applications that are submitted, taking into account this national planning policy framework which favours sustainable development."

But there was concern for county libraries after more than 55 per cent of people said they never visited their local library.

And a further 21 per cent said they went only every couple of months.Mr Dunne said the figures were a matter of concern, and more needed to be done to make libraries 'relevant to people's daily lives'.

Shropshire Councillor Steve Charmley, Cabinet member responsible for libraries, added: "We are passionate about libraries and see a future for them in Shropshire, but we do need to find ways of making them more accessible and appealing."