THEY say you should be careful what you wish for.

Equally, we’re led to believe there’s no gain without pain - writes Phil Hill.

No one likes to see stores closing, and shoppers in Taunton are no exception.

But there was no great sadness after the tills at the old Poundstretcher store in Bridge Street rang for the last time in August 2020.  

The celebrations had nothing to do with the discount store itself.

Remember, it was a great place to buy that cheap Christmas present for the mother-in-law.

And with the pandemic still stalking the land at the time, we had other things on our minds.

But there was good reason to welcome the demise of the store located smack bang beside The Bridge over the River Tone.

The shop was housed in one of the ugliest business premises in the county town.

You could look around at a number of elegant buildings and the beautiful Bridge itself.

But to steal a term our king once used before ascending to the top job, the Poundstretcher outlet was "a monstrous carbuncle".  

There had been chatter for some time in the Deane House council chamber about the desire to demolish and replace it with something easier on the eye.

And it was not uncommon to hear people complain about the blight of the unattractive building next to the glorious Tone and Goodland Gardens.

So, there was some celebration when the bulldozers moved in to take out the store in September 2021.  

But despite getting rid of the detested bricks and mortar, the site has remained a fenced-off eyesore, and access along the path beside the river has been blocked off.

The owners did submit a number of planning applications that came to nothing, including to create a car park on the derelict site.

However, people maybe began to wish they had not been so hasty in welcoming seeing the building turn to rubble.

Step forward Acorn Homes, who have announced proposals to build 50 flats atop several street-level commercial units.

A planning application is expected to be lodged with Somerset Council in the coming weeks.

If successful, the development should hopefully make the long and painful wait for an improvement worthwhile.