25/5/2007

Your Letters

We’ve heard all the Aldershot talk before

Once again the local politicians are bickering about who is responsible for the delays over building work in Aldershot town centre. Well, to be frank, we’ve heard it all before.

I’ve lived in the town for 33 years and have seen a once vibrant, bustling place descend into the mess that it is now.

Many factors are behind the town’s decline but for once, why don’t the council do something about it, instead of having these ridiculous arguments? 

What Aldershot really needs is a focus that will draw people here and create revenue for our local businesses.

I’m not talking about another large supermarket, as I’m convinced that they rob any town of any character by offering poor quality produce at low prices.

What we need is some good quality, local shops run by people who care about our town, rather than huge supermarkets who are only interested in making money.

I want to see is the cinema and hotel that we’ve been promised for so long.

Farnborough’s regener-ation is about to take off and I don’t want Aldershot to be left behind.

I might be a pensioner and may wish for the old days when life was easier to come back but — let’s face it — that simply isn’t going to happen.

Change is good and required and that’s what we’re all longing for in the town.

If you go to Guildford or Reading they have vibrant town centres that clearly have had a lot of thought put into them.

I know that the Oracle Shopping Centre in Reading was built on disused land about ten years ago and that town is thriving.

No wonder turnout at the local elections was so sparse. I’d imagine that, like me, many people are disillusioned with the council and its policies and have given up on them.

So Peter Moyle, leader of Rushmoor Borough Council, prove me wrong, stop faffing around and give us what you’ve promised us.
Will we still be waiting in another five years for the Westgate to be put up?

Brian Beaton
High Street
Aldershot

First printed in: Aldershot News and Mail