Descending into a clone town

Now, where there might have been an excellent eco-village close to motorway access, railway and bus station, what have we got, but Morrisons? This will further blight our few remaining excellent inner town small businesses.

Worse still we have the further threat of the curse of an unwanted, unneeded, hideous superfluous shopping development in the upper town. Maybe the local planners are hamstrung by central government and political party central headquarters and are unable to resist the power of developers.

What the town needs in that area is something which will attract families and particularly youngsters. There could be several indoor facilities. For instance a skating rink (ice or in-line) with above it - away from existing housing to prevent noise disruption - a soundproofed, well-supervised skateboard/bmx facility.

There could be small-scale associated shops and a small foodhall. No alcohol outlets would be permitted. Parking could be underground. Infrastructure could be provided for parking and recharging of electric cars which by the time of completion may be a common feature in town centres.

Other people may have similar and better ideas for attracting the future generations to our attractive and unique town centre with its Loft Theatre and other family entertainment which our district planners’ current proposals seem to want to kill off. - E. Matthews, via email.