Wake up, council and help our town

EACH time I visit Bridgend town I become more and more disheartened. Why is Bridgend town in such a mess?

Shops are closing down at a rate of knots and I fear the indoor market is not much longer for this world! I have just come back from a visit to Shrewsbury, where I found a thriving town with all sorts of different individual shops and a fabulous market, both of which attract people to the town. Why is it that Bridgend cannot do the same? I spoke to a stall holder there and it ap- pears that rents are minimal there compared with what Bridgend council is asking.

When are BCBC going to wake up and realise that by charging extortionate rents, first there will be no shops there, and second, BCBC will have no income from these premises?

The same goes to those who own empty properties in Bridgend town. Some rent is better than nothing at all and should go some way to bringing Bridgend back to the lovely town it once was. Of course, there are properties in Bridgend town that are in a dire state of repair and landlords need to bring them back up to scratch to make them desirable.

In addition, BCBC should offer reduced parking to entice people into the town centre.

Most people these days go to Tesco or McArthurGlen instead. Why? Because parking is free, it’s not because the outlet is cheaper, that’s for sure.

For goodness sake, BCBC, wake up and do something positive to bring our town back to life, or you will come to a point where it will be too late to revive at all. We are nearly at that point now. Alison Dickinson Coychurch