Letter: Town needs all the help it can get

Letter: I was disappointed to read in the Shropshire Star recently that Market Drayton's newly-formed Saturday market and car boot sale was to close due to becoming too popular. This is amazing.

I can see that local traders might be concerned about a new facility, but they should have greeted the new business as a new opportunity to save their livelihoods, maybe setting up stalls there to sell their products.

I hear from shop owners that the overheads for running a business in Market Drayton are crippling, and have been given as the reason for a lot of the shop closures. Market Drayton needs to take a reality check, as our town is fast becoming a ghost town. We have just seen a 25 per cent rise in car park charges for the town.

Market Drayton seems to have been bailing out the other small towns around us for years. Perhaps it's time for Drayton to be allowed to prosper instead of charging businesses excessive overheads to run their businesses, only to then increase car parking charges which serves to reduce the number of people coming into the town.

I personally feel that those in office, both in the town and unitary council, need to think long and hard about how to improve our town's prospects.

Market Drayton desperately needs help from outside companies such as those responsible for the new market and car boot. We need to offer any assistance we can to get these new ventures off the ground, if we don't want to see the remaining small businesses in our town fold.

I hope the company concerned with the market will reconsider their decision to close the market down, and will be offered every assistance in finding a more suitable site.

Mike Smith

Market Drayton