  With the arrival of wide-field imagers on medium-size telescopes (e.g.
SkyMapper, Pan-STARRS) and the future co-existence of LSST with the E-ELT, it
is worthwhile to evaluate the scientific potential of a CCD camera with ~1
degree FOV for the VLT. Here we discuss the role that such an instrument could
play in resolving persisting fundamental problems in "near-field cosmology".
