A Letter To The Echo That Says It All

I CALL upon people of the town to attend Darlington Borough Council's carnival weekend of celebrations to officially open the Pedestrian Heart scheme on June 30 and July 1 - but to wear black armbands, lest we forget the price traders have paid.

The business closures, those of us still struggling month to month, week to week, after the shoppers have deserted Darlington. The people who have been hospitalised during alterations and still falling on badly planned and laid out steps, slopes and silly chamfers.

The fact that 20 per cent of the elderly and disabled feel they cannot access the town centre for fear of falling.
Yes, let's all join in - but not to celebrate, rather to commiserate the worst thing to befall our town.

The council never asked for our opinion or consent to take the soul out of Darlington and give us a grey, same as any other place, characterless town centre.

I wish from now on the opposition swelled in numbers after May's local elections. Remember unlike the old guard, their job is to oppose from time-to-time what this council puts forward if it is not in the best interest of Darlington people. -

Timothy Hinton-Clifton, Darlington.