I have to say I love the light on the Folly - the rather bizarre and aimless way it points around the sky and guides us all all home. And the fact that we have a lighthouse in probably the most land-locked town in England!

I agree with Alan's comments. Faringdon is a town where we dye our doves purple, where a pointless tower becomes our focal point, where we shoot off the steeple from our church. We have always celebrated our eccentrics and championed the unique and unusual.

Little wonder we don't fit into the dull, conformist mould the planners are trying to make for us.

Vale planning officers wish to block plans to expand Little Lodge Farm Shop at Wicklesham. It's a shame because there's a lot of local support for it, not least Faringdon Town Council, that approved the plans last month.

The plan is to put up a new building next to the shop that will provide a much-needed indoor café area. It will also serve as a meeting room. There are 3-d drawings of the plans on the website.

The grounds for refusal are that a café is not usually acceptable in rural locations. But this ignores the fact that Little Lodge has become something of a social hub of the community, and provides a valuable local service. As Faringdon's only farm shop it also has tourism value, encouraging all to enjoy the beautiful countryside around Faringdon.

Final say will be down to the district councillors on the VoWH Development Control Committee when it meets at the beginning of March. The committee can approve the plans if it feels there are benefits for the local area that outweigh the standard policy that restricts commercial development in rural areas. But local arguments are unlikely to be appreciated by the majority of councillors who have little connection with Faringdon.

So we're keen to ensure we have plenty of views about the application from people who use the shop or enjoy walking through the farm so that district councillors can make an informed decision. If you'd like to make your views known, I'd be very grateful if you could either send them to me (tom@wickleshamlodge.com), or send them direct to the Vale of White Horse District Council via its Public Access system, quoting the planning application reference GFA/10598/8 or computer reference 09/02235/FUL.

The Tesco figures on home and office shoppers are interesting, but I think we're in danger of confusing two different shopping experiences.

Tesco was looking for info on people's main food shopping habits - your weekly shop. Naturally this is usually done from home, so Tesco's figure of 84% sounds about right. Those people will tend to shop at a larger retailer, such as Budgens currently, if in Faringdon, or a store further away.

Those who nip out from the office to shop are more likely to use their local smaller shops and services - to grab some lunch, to take something in for repair, use the bank, pick up the odd household item, etc. So those who work in Faringdon will use the shops in Market Sq, London St, etc.

A straw poll of the businesses here at Wicklesham revealed they greatly value and use these smaller shops and services - one small company spends an average of £500 per week in Faringdon. Having these shops available is a big deciding factor for a company planning to move here.

It's little surprise, then, that the footfall through Faringdon's smaller shops has dwindled as businesses have left the town. If everyone has to commute to work to Swindon, Oxford or Milton, of course the town's shops suffer.

So while it's essential Faringdon makes the right choice over Tesco/Budgens/whatever, it doesn't necessarily follow that more people doing their main food shop in Faringdon will bring the town's smaller shops the shot in the arm they need.

That will only come about if Faringdon's business community is allowed to flourish. Currently the Vale's plans put that under threat.