He said a superstore was "one of the most highly desired aspects of the development" which would kick-start other elements of the £80 million scheme. And he said he was not worried by talk of a possible supermarket development on the edge of Fort William.

Last week the Lochaber News exclusively revealed that developer Oatridge Ltd, whose clients include Tesco, is in discussions with landowners at the Blar Mhor about creating a 70,000 sq ft store.

At Monday's meeting, many residents expressed support for an out-of-town supermarket, stating that the town needed competition to Morrisons now, not in 2014, the year FWWL says its store could be in place.

Questioners said potential out-of-town developments, such as an Aldi supermarket or Morbaine Ltd's non-food retail park, were being "chased away" in favour of a waterfront site yet to be created.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Fort William councillor Donald Cameron said: "The main concerns of the residents with regard to the lack of water-based activities, traffic congestion, unsuitability of such density of development in the loch and, crucially, the detrimental effect on other investment and development by planners using the proposed waterfront to stymie other applications were well made if not well received.

"It was quite clear that the public would not wish to turn down a second large supermarket for this development which has many hurdles to overcome."

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