Quote:
Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris
No holidays, Ken? You're working too hard!
As you have just said, you go into Accrington centre, therefore you're qualified to talk about it. Never mind about the "history", it's what's happening NOW that counts.
Do you accept that, whatever the reason, there's a particular problem with undesirables in the town centre over and above other towns?
What do you think the council should do about it?
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Perhaps I've just been very lucky but I've never been tapped up for money or come across anyone I would class as undesirable. All town centres have their fair share of people who simply have little better to do than hang around on benches but I'd say that Accrington's populace is generally representative of the demographic. We're in a depressed area and we could throw all the money in the world into Accrington but it still wouldn't help the people who actually live here if they can't afford to shop there.
To give you an example, I spent three days last week working in Nottingham and I was appalled at the price of items which I could quite easily buy in Accrington or Blackburn for a fraction of the cost. We could fill the high street with Ted Bakers and Harvey Nichols and it wouldn't help one iota. I have to say that wandering around the shops with my friend I felt genuinely poor in comparison with all the people who were handing over hundreds of pounds for everyday items and thinking nothing of it. It was not a very nice feeling being looked down upon because my face didn't fit.
I've worked my way up from nothing to a point where I still count the pennies but I am no longer struggling. I know how it feels to watch people splashing out thousands at places such as Debenhams when I could barely afford milk for my tea. We need to accept that Accrington is not full of well-off people and there is a danger that if the major players do eventually dislodge all the smaller shops then we risk alienating our own residents.
That said, I'm all in favour of attracting bigger names to fill up the empty shops but it needs to be done simultaneously or it will never work. Costa Coffee has made an excellent job of that corner unit and the town looks better for it but we could do with talking to a few more bigger players in order to keep up the improvement.
However, the council can only do so much and the success or failure of local shops must ultimately rest with private enterprise.