GORSEINON residents will this week find out whether two supermarkets will be built in the town.

Applications from Asda and Aldi will go in front of Swansea Council's planning committee on Thursday.

A decision on whether to allow Asda to build a £25 million store at Heol y Mynydd will bring a long drawn out saga to a close.

Plans submitted by the supermarket giant owned by Wal-Mart were refused in 2005 and then again in 2007 on the grounds that there was no need for a shop of that size and that it could have a detrimental effect on the town.

An appeal to the Welsh Assembly was dismissed in June 2008.

Re-submitted and revised plans have been dogged by deferrals, which have frustrated both supporters and opposers of the store.

It was due to be considered at a special meeting in May, it was then put back to June, but has only now been put on the committee's agenda.

Speaking earlier this year, Chris Marlow, Asda's property communications manager, said the delays had been frustrating for all supporters.

He said: "We fully appreciate that the planning system can be complex and that decisions cannot be rushed but this planning application was submitted with a wealth of supporting information — all of the information that could reasonably be expected — and we, like so many residents, hoped that a decision would be made as soon as possible."

Gorseinon Town Council voted in favour of the application, and the majority of people at the council's planning meeting supported the revised plans — a complete turnaround compared with the reaction when Asda submitted its initial application four years ago.

However, not everyone has been so supportive. Gorseinon Chamber of Trade had vehemently opposed the plans.

Spokesman Phillip Sillick said: "I still oppose this on the same grounds as before. It poses a detrimental effect on the traders in Gorseinon and I'm concerned over the traffic pollution, in particular High Street and the lower end of Gorseinon."

The application for the Aldi store proposed for the old Bryngwyn Works sitehad a less negative reaction from the Chamber of Trade.

Mr Sillick, who plans to attend the planning committee meeting on Thursday, said: "We tentatively agree — it's only a small store and it won't have the same impact as a huge store such as Asda and it's at the edge of Gorseinon."

The planning meeting will take place at 2pm in Swansea Civic Centre.