We want local businesses to reinvest in the town but only if they are doing the things we think we want.
In recent weeks we have had some new developments announced. Most notably in Blackburn, it was revealed that a TJ Hughes would be opening in the town centre on the spot vacated by Debenhams.
On the whole the reaction has been positive but then we have some folk moaning that it isn’t ‘Selfridges’ or some other upmarket brand.
I would love a Waitrose in town but I am unlikely to ever shop there. I probably would go in for a wander like everyone else.
You really have to look at the market and what people want and are likely to shop in.
I think some people tend to live in a bubble when it comes to smaller towns like Blackburn. We have, much like the football team for many years, punched above our weight. It is a smallish population but compared to all the areas around it happens to have a lot more going for it.
A lot of this has got to do with people who are born and raised in the town who are keen to invest back into the borough. It can be easy to put the town down and I admit there are areas we could clean up a little and we could do with some more fancy places but we are never going to be like the big cities or the suburban villages.
One of the most important things is bringing old and abandoned buildings back into life.
This is actually not a new trend and has happened in towns and cities across the country for decades. Demographics change, people’s habits change and buildings are redeveloped. I am sure in a hundred years somebody will reminisce about the changes that we went through at the turn of the century.
We constantly moan about how a place is an eyesore and someone should do something with it. But then just don’t like it when someone does.
One great example in recent years has been the old Pitcher’s Bar opposite the bus station. Totally revamped and looks completely different to what it was. I know many readers will know it was not a pretty sight at all.
I recollect speaking to one guy at the time who still wasn’t happy because he ‘didn’t eat burgers’ and wished they had ‘done something else with it’.
There really is no pleasing some people.
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