IT IS to be hoped Richmond Town Council's public meeting to discuss "Richmond Pride" later this month will be well-attended. The town is in sorry state.

Whether the town's ills are simply a matter of a general untidyness, as some have suggested, is doubtful. There is a deeper malaise of which the state of the cobbles and the weeds growing between paving stones are just symptoms.

Richmond town centre's plight is a great mystery. Why, when the town is one of the prettiest in England, do traders turn their back on it? Why are retail rental values among the lowest in the county? Why is the town seemingly in a spiral of decline where the poor selection of shops is turning people away and leading to more shop closures?

The extent of Richmond's problems have been recognised for some time. There has been a town centre forum and a town centre manager for many years and while worthy initiatives have been tried (the Richmond Rewards scheme comes to mind) they have not made an appreciable difference.

Perhaps something altogether bolder is required. Is there scope for retail development close to the market place (as opposed to the Friary Field) which would offer attractive premises for some of the national multiples? Could an architecturally-appropriate scheme be developed in such a conservation-conscious town without a massive debate and public inquiry?

Perhaps this is a nettle to be grasped, if not at the public meeting on the 16th, but in the corridors of power. The town centre is hemorrhaging people, the people whose simple presence would stop the weeds growing through the pavements.