I MOVED with my job 11 years ago when I was 30. Until then I had lived all my days in and around Leigh.

My family are true 'Leythers', going back several generations. My parents and only sister still live in Leigh.

The Journal has been a part of my life from the earliest days when I could only read the pictures, to the present. I regularly read The Journal on the Internet, it is my only way to keep abreast of the current stories in and around Leigh. Thanks for having the foresight to publish on the 'Net'.

I still consider myself a 'Leyther' and passionately believe in the sincerity of the people of Leigh. I have for several years witnessed the decline of a very proud town to what is becoming a housing estate on the periphery of Manchester.

I remember vividly as a child and young man what Leigh was like in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The town was prosperous with almost full employment. The community thrived around what was an attractive bustling town centre.

I visited Leigh before Christmas to see my friends. I felt cheated and sorry for the people of Leigh as I passed the excuse for the Christmas tree, and walked home along Lord Street, passing boarded up buildings and shops.

That summed up to me the contempt that Leigh is viewed with in some circles. If the Xanadu project goes ahead then I am sure that the town will rise once again to what it was and even exceed the hey days of the past.

I speak with recent experience of visiting The States where similar projects have been developed. The whole infrastructure of the surrounding area is improved as a by-product.

The politicians must embrace this unique opportunity to place Leigh back on the map and remove the stigma of a run down 'once been' town by the regeneration of Leigh as a place that is worth visiting, and more important worth remembering.

I appeal to the doubters to think of Leigh and its future and hope that the moaners and groaners see sense for the community overall.

If this project is lost to some other place then Leigh and all it has stood for will be condemned to the abyss, and I for one will feel saddened and angry that my home town has had another nail knocked in its coffin.

Ian Aspinall BSc (Hons)

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.