OVER the years, we have had to sit back and endure the demise of our street markets and small businesses in city centres, brought about by a mere stroke of the pen from councils that are forever telling us that we must accept change to survive.

Now, I read these same people are set to spend £170m to redevelop the Eldon Square shopping centre, Newcastle, to its former glory - how it looked at the turn of the century. Surely there is a message for us all, somewhere among all this.

Tom Seale, Middlesbrough.