LETTER: Larger town is less enticing

Having heard that over £650,000 had been spent on Horsham’s West Street improvements at such a ‘hard up’ time and work had been completed, I went to do my Christmas shopping and see the great things that had come to pass.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Jan 2014, 08:00 BST
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Expecting to see things of great wonder I was surprised to find no immediately noticeable difference.

Well, I could see the paving had been re-laid, as it curved from side to side. There is nothing wrong with the work but why was our money spent in such a way? Surely we could have kept our Old Town Hall instead of selling it off to be yet another restaurant if money can be wasted in this way!

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I fail to see how a re-laid walking surface will encourage more people to visit the West Street shops especially as, on the other hand, a new out-of-town shopping centre behind Bishopric Court is planned to draw them out of the town centre.

West Street now has no plant tubs to enhance the scene and even a Christmas tree in the Carfax was sacrificed to West Street paving! It was very noticeable too that the Xmas lighting this year was a less and cheaper display.

It is sad to see the decline of Horsham centre as shops close or become restaurants as out-of-town stores take over. Before long we will all be forced to use cars to drive to shopping centres and large stores instead of walking in our town centre.

As Horsham gets larger and larger, it becomes less and less enticing. I miss the cheer and colour of the old days but, as we cannot turn the clock back, try to have a Happy New Year!

DEREK J. SANTER

Highlands Avenue, Horsham

Related topics:West Street