Voices is the Dorset Echo's weekly youth page - written for young people by young people.

The decision to put a Tesco and a Subway directly next to a Co-op and a bakery at Wyke has somehow topped the list of bizarre things the local authorities have allowed in recent times.

This is a decision by two commercial giants that, in my opinion, I just cannot agree with.

Both of these shops serve the exact same function as each other so there is absolutely no need, as far as I can see, for there to be two buildings of the same purpose right next to each other.

The same rule applies to the situation with the Subway and the bakery.

There is no added convenience gained by putting the either of the two next to each other and the area is already hotly contested with a pizza outlet, a fish and chip shop and a newsagent just down the road.

The market is becoming far too oversaturated with chain stores and the local independent businesses that have been here for more than a century are the ones that are losing out – just look at what has happened to Wyke Stores.

There is the obvious argument of ‘if a business cannot sustain itself, let it die’ and I would go so far as to argue against bailouts for such businesses, regardless of size or context. However, that does not justify superstores with an already alarming presence in the area marching in and setting up shop next door to local and smaller shops.

The sole justification for this would be profit, but if profit involves clogging the arteries that feed the heart of the community with cheap, mass-produced products, is that profit really worth it?

I think that there should be a level of social responsibility that comes with running a business.

I surely can’t be the only one whose moral alarm bells are going off at this?

By Oliver Streather-Paul