Quite agree the cafe culture during the day, is absolutely no problem at all, at night a different beast all together. Unfortunately due to scant Police resources in the area, local Police Stations have been closed and resources redirected to cover other hot spots like Blackpool. This was based on the very low crime stats in the area at that time. So with scant or no local Policing presence at night, and the subsequent growth of late night drinking establishments and outsiders coming in at night to avail of the facilities, has lead to a crime and antisocial behaviour spiral, which the Police cannot respond too, as more and more local town centres are becoming increasingly more demanding to Police at night for the same or very similar reasons.
Yes regeneration does offer a blank canvas, but the future development should reflect and service the demographics of the local population, in my case over 60% of the population is over 65 and that's not going to change anytime soon, its a typical coastal retirement area. Housing is in very short supply, and we have a Victorian high street and surrounding area that is too large for the established all year round residential footfall, there are just too many shops, many of which could be relatively easily converted back into houses, bringing an increased community presence living within the town centre. Even a local 24hour Local NHS drop in centre, would change the footfall in town and assist pensioners reliant upon 2 buses to get to the local hospital........
I appreciate these are minor issues compared to what some rural areas face by comparison. As a coastal community we are used to 2 distinction sessions a year, with it a changing crime and antisocial behaviour that often follows with the tourist season, now it has become a all year round issue.
Last edited by JohnHarris; 03/01/25 12:23 PM.
