Promise a change in priorities

What a difference an election makes. Suddenly district centres are important and are the "lifeblood of the borough", according to Keith Austin, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council.

In 2004 he was a member of the Labour group that initially wanted to impose car parking charges in district centres across the borough, which - had it not been for petitions signed by people of Telford - would have gone ahead and would have had a devastating effect on the district centres.

Add to that the statement by former chief executive Michael Frater that "millions of pounds are to be spent on Telford Town Centre and district centres will have to sink or swim". This paints a different picture.

There are a number of areas across Telford that have been neglected by successive councils, including the present administration, and these should be given top priority.

Any regeneration of Telford Town Centre should be financed by the private sector and should not cost the community anything.

Dawley is a town that has been treated as a backwater for a long time. The botched job of the surface in the High Street allows too much surface water to be held when it rains - the uneven surface at the bottom of the street is very dangerous for pedestrians.

Two retail outlets have been turned into residential dwellings. This is anti-regeneration. Dawley needs a leisure centre/swimming pool in keeping with the memory of Captain Webb, a famous son of the town.

Vic Tonks, Telford