Business makes town attractive

Hats off to Mr Blackmore for his eloquently penned letter. Frank's bar has enhanced this town no end with its high calibre food and drink.

It's providing a wonderful example of how modern businesses in the town can help to preserve our historic buildings, helping retain the character of the town whilst creating jobs, attracting young professionals and improving our built environment.

We should all do anything that we can to support the expansion of this enterprise.

The business has breathed new life into the area and, along with the regeneration of the old foundry site, it's playing an important role in the socio-economic regeneration of the area.

What this town needs is more young entrepreneurs like him, who are interested in running high quality businesses that integrate into the local community and enhance the area.

There's a real shortage of housing and high quality jobs and entertainment venues in and around the town and we desperately need to attract entrepreneurs and developers to this area, not deter them.

I am sick to death of this rich oligarchy in the town centre that seeks to interfere in the everyday lives of everyone in the borough, in some bizarre attempt to keep the town trapped in the medieval era, just selfishly trying to keep their own house prices high, denying the vast majority access to the property ladder in the process.

The town centre is not just somewhere for tourists to visit and the elderly to retire to, it's for living in, not dying in, it is the economic hub of this market town, designated as it has been for centuries primarily for commerce.

Darren Dean, Copthorne