[JohnW]

I may have said this before, if so, please forgive me and put it down to a senior moment.

References keep being made to Accrington striving to become a centre of tourism. There was another one recently on the new Broadway thread. Now, please don't misunderstand me, I love the area, I was born there and I would not dream of visiting England without popping over for a visit, especially to Bash. But, tourism, come on! Places that people visit for tourist purposes have to have certain things for them to see and do. Accrington was never built for this in the first place and it would be, in my humble opinion, virtually impossible to convert without flattening most of it and starting again. The only way Accrington is going to attract tourists to its centre to do their shopping is if the shops are selling something very different from the shops in their town. People are not going to travel from Blackburn, Burnley, Preston, Manchester etc and all towns in between to buy the same stuff they can buy at home. It would take some guts to open a shop selling something wildly different in a comparatively small town like Accrington. The innovators of such a venture would be more likely to start up in a large location like Manchester where they already have lots of people visiting because the shopping is reputed to be better there than anywhere else around. What pleasurable tourist attractions does Accrington have? They have the art gallery, but most towns have them, the only thing different would be the Tiffany collection but how many people are going to travel just to see that? They may, if there were lots of other things of interest also but sadly, there are not. The market is a beautiful building, but most towns in the area have markets also so it is not unique. The only way that traders in the town centre are going to increase their revenue is by an increase in the population of Accrington and/or the general public having more money to spend.

The only way forward for Accrington is industry. It was built on industry in the first place and is geared to it. HBC should be trying to attract industry to the town not tourists. Good paying jobs for a skilled labourforce would put money in the hands of the town centre shops and market traders. The town needs to stop trying to be something that is isn't, and never could be, without massive capital injection which it doesn't have.
Promotion of the town having good Motorway links, an industrious and skilled workforce, innovative minds and industrial space is what is needed. Offer companies cheaper rates than other areas so that it encourages them to put their businesses in Accrington. Make it great again by encouraging what made it great in the first place. Wake up HBC, you are not a tourist attraction and you never will be!