I'M not a Boltonian by birth but I've lived here for more than 30 years and it's a place I call home.

So it must be a cause for concern for thousands of other residents with greater claims on it than I to see the town centre slowly dying from neglect.

This neglect is not necessarily all to do with Bolton Council - although squandering money on elephants made from yob-friendly material and turning Churchgate into an open-air mausoleum is down to them.

It is to do with an absence of people. We are just not going into the town centre like we once did.

Blame the success of Middlebrook and the Trafford Centre to some extent, with plenty to offer including free, easy parking which Bolton town centre doesn't.

Blame the lack of central entertainment amenities - no cinemas, few places to take the family, and plans for a much-needed swimming pool at the university campus that's quite a stride away from the town centre.

Instead, bars and pubs proliferate and an evening economy dominated by an ambient young population determined to get completely off their faces as quickly as possible. And what family - or couple over 40 - wants to tangle with this unruly mob on a night out?

Shops and stores have closed, and independent traders squeezed out by high rents and competition from the big boys, or chucked out of the Market Hall.

So . . . we no longer necessarily look towards our town centre for shopping and entertainment.

But, hang on, it really is too important to Bolton to casually ignore to death a place bursting with such history and potential.

There are still plenty of positive retail experiences, in the open market in the Market Place and around Victoria Square. And it's vital that we stick with the Council and plans for a Cultural Quarter, and the Town Centre Company in its support for central ventures.

Because Bolton town centre CAN return as the vibrant heart of this town - if we all get behind it, visit it and spend some of our money there.

Now, it's up to us. The decision is there for us to make the difference, and vote with our feet.