Life is needed in wonderful town

WHY does Saffron Walden aspire to be Bishop s Stortford or Harlow with large housing estates and retail parks? Are we really seeing planning granted for a retail park, which we all know will just grow and grow in the future, slowly sucking the life out o

WHY does Saffron Walden aspire to be Bishop's Stortford or Harlow with large housing estates and retail parks?

Are we really seeing planning granted for a retail park, which we all know will just grow and grow in the future, slowly sucking the life out of a town centre that is already on the edge - looking at the recent shop closures and empty leases that are starting to spring up.

We all know this development will cause increased congestion throughout that side

of town.

Is this retail park really even needed with Cambridge and Bishop's Stortford just 15 to 20 minutes away?

Why are our planners and councillors not

urgently looking at measures to get some life back into this wonderful historic market town?

Make it a market town with individual and different shops, a thriving market and an atmosphere that people want to come and spend time and money in rather than approving unwanted retail parks.

Next we'll have a McDonald's and a Subway sandwich shop.

If Saffron Walden is to keep the unique character that it has, which has provided generations of families with excellent schooling, shopping and facilities to date, then we need to make sure we keep it a special place that families want to live and work in, rather than just any other over-developed town in England.

We need to play up to our historic past before it is too late and the town centre becomes a ghost town with surrounding areas of traffic jams and car parks.

Come on so-called planners and councillors keep Saffron Walden vibrant and not commit it to death by a thousand cuts.

Howard Marks

Saffron Walden