SO, Morecambe is to get a new Marina, a new Freeport-style shopping centre (perhaps!), Bubbles is to be redeveloped, into a boating entertainment centre. The old band area into a large chandlers, The Midland Hotel into a casino, the old railway sidings car park into a boat yard, and not forgetting the most recent and up to date attraction yet: the 110ft. high attraction to be built on Frontierland, I refer of course to the radio mast for Orange. Wow! and all these things would bring Morecambe back to life wouldn't it!

Wrong, no it would not! None of the above will work, why? I'll tell you why:

Where will the visitors park all their cars?

Where will all the 4-wheel type vehicles with boat trailers park?

How will the large trucks carrying boats manage to negotiate our newly narrowed promenade, not forgetting the large cranes used to unload them! (some of these trucks are likely to be 40ft long and weighing in at 40 tonnes). And finally assuming these severe obstacles are overcome by some strange miracle, who will come here? No-one will want to negotiate our small, inadequate, gridlocked roads, the extra length of jams will be horrendous, people will not want to sit in jams burning fuel for 1-2 hours entering and leaving Morecambe/Lancaster.

Who in their right mind will moor a boat in a marina they can't get to? Unless there is a better road network leading directly to Morecambe these suggestions will not succeed.

But, our council in their wisdom will allow the shopping centre to be built (strange how we were offered Freeport before Fleetwood was but our council of the time turned it down!) this will then force the already struggling shops of the West End and shops on the sea front and central Morecambe to close down due to lack of trade. Oh, sorry they have closed down already, (well a lot of them!)

I will believe in a successful new marina and shopping centre in Morecambe when I drive over a new Lune road bridge, when the sea defences are completed and when you can tow a 30ft boat with a push-bike, or when the existing roads are repaired to a reasonable standard, when there is a public transport network which is cheap, reliable, convenient and clean, and when our council gets some sense of public accountability, that probably means when pigs can fly!

Mr N Patrick

Grove Street

Morecambe