Bishop Auckland HAS Special

What are M&S’ plans for its clothing department? A move to the North Bondgate site would be an ideal opportunity for M&S to prove to the people of Bishop Auckland that they still have the confidence to invest in our town centre.

In the Mary Portas report on the future of town centres, one reason why they were in decline was the pressures from out-oftown shopping.

Durham County Council planning committee thought otherwise when it allowed the St Helen’s development.

The Portas report also said that parking charges in town centres were to blame. That is why I have put forward to Durham County Council a pilot scheme for free parking between 1pm and 6pm. Let’s see what happens.

I would also like to invite Councillor Rob Yorke to attend Bishop Auckland’s town team meeting so that he can explain to business people and residents of our town exactly how Bishop Auckland town centre would benefit from the out-of-town shopping complex at St Helen’s. I am sure he will be welcomed by everyone.

Coun Sam Zair (Ind), Bishop Auckland.

WHAT the opponents of the developments at St Helen Auckland fail to realise is that retailing is changing and that all the large retailers have to be part of this evolution.

King Canute was responsible for founding Bishop Auckland Market Place, but not even he could have halted these trends.

I agree with Coun Rob Yorke’s stance because if planning permission for the developments at St Helen had been refused, the retailers would have moved on to another town in south Durham.

This would have had an even more damaging impact on Bishop Auckland town centre as shoppers would be attracted away from the Bishop area. It would have deprived the area of hundreds of jobs and new facilities such as the football ground.

It would be better if everyone united behind Durham County Council’s efforts to introduce new tourist attractions to the town. The creation of an arts centre at Auckland Castle and the Weardale Railway’s developments at the station should attract more visitors.

This more than anything could help the town’s retail trade.

Andrew Dowson, Etherley Moor, Bishop Auckland.

I WAS born in Bishop Auckland. Coun Sam Zair keeps going on as if the decline of Bishop Auckland high street was something new. To me, the decline started many years ago with the closure of Auckland House in which Doggarts’ department store was located.

Then Morrisons, which was originally in the Market Place, moved to the station area, as did Asda, and the thriving Thursday and Saturday markets vanished.

There was also a Finefare supermarket of which, aged 19, I was the manager designate.

One of the sad things for younger people was the closure of Rossies coffee bar, where we met up after school.

In recent times, we’ve lost a large Woolworths, all of the picture houses and the general post office.

Bishop Auckland is not alone in struggling, but it is not doing so bad. There’s a new, large Poundstretcher on the edge of the town centre, an Aldi, a Lidl, an Iceland, a Homebase and various carpet shops all within two miles of the centre.

The way forward is out-of-town shopping with easy parking.

If the people of Bishop Auckland looked at what the town’s smaller shops have to offer they will find that they have the best of both worlds.

But they need to use what they do have.

JM Gowland, Heighington .

I READ with interest the ongoing saga of the so-called out of town developments at St Helen Auckland. Why is Coun Sam Zair still harping on about M&S? The decision has been made. His efforts are too little, too late.

Now he tells us he has a new master plan for the town with free car parking, and cheaper rates for businesses. What next – free ice creams?

Does Coun Zair approve of the proposed cinema development at St Helen’s or does he want this in the town centre too?

Bishop Auckland, like so many other town centres, has been in decline for decades and it doesn’t matter how much money Durham County Council spends on it people will vote with their feet for a new development with a good range of shops and restaurants, in a convenient location with ample free parking.

This facility is a welcome addition to the town. It will be enjoyed by the residents of Bishop Auckland for many years to come.

Come on, Coun Zair, please put petty political squabbles to one side and show some support for this first class development

RN Aberdeen, Bishop Auckland.

AFTER reading the letter from John Bradley, who lives in Spennymoor but shops in Durham or Teesside (HAS, Sept 5), let’s look at the bigger picture.

A new shopping centre on the edge of Bishop Auckland is fine once the future of the town centre has been sorted, but what is to become of this historic old town centre?

Just to blindly leave it will create an eyesore between the new retail complex and the Market Place.

The Market Place has just been updated at enormous cost.

Auckland Castle and surrounding area is intended to promote tourism in the near future. A ghost town will do little to send out the message that Bishop Auckland is worth visiting.

I also disagree that cafes like Starbucks and Costa bring jobs and prosperity. We need local cafes that will spend their earnings in our area.

And just for the record, I am Mr Atkinson – unless Mr Bradley was telling my wife “to wake up and smell the coffee”.

BM Atkinson, Bishop Auckland.

I AGREE with John Gasston (HAS, Sept 4), a balance needs to be struck between town centre development and out-of-town development. However, I think we have the balance right.

For decades we have seen a decline in Bishop Auckland town centre. Mr Gasston says that Bondgate is a mess, the town centre redevelopment is a joke, that Durham County Council is wasting money and that certain members should stand down.

Again I agree. The two local Independent members, Councillors Sam Zair and Neil Harrison, have done nothing, unlike Labour Councillor Rob Yorke who is doing a great job in St Helen’s.

Mr Gasston, of Bishop Auckland Conservatives, says Coun Yorke is like a runaway train with no destination.

Well, the destination is St Helen and it is full steam ahead.

S Brown, Bishop Auckland.

THE news that Marks & Spencer is leaving Bishop Auckland town centre is very bad for our community.

Coun Sam Zair has worked very hard to prevent this from happening because he has a business in the town and knows how hard it is to run one when every other shop is boarded up.

How short-sighted our elected councillors are.

We have a lovely departmental store, Beales, which has come into the town and all our representatives can think about is demolishing our shopping area. What must Beales think when M&S is allowed to leave without many attempts at persuasion from our councillors?

How long, I wonder, will Beales decide to stay?

These councillors keep dangling the promise of an out-of-town cinema, but it is yet another promise that has failed to materialise.

These men were elected as town councillors not as “out-oftown councillors”. They really have let this special market town down.

A Parkin, Bishop Auckland .