TODAY was the busiest I have seen the centre of Bolton, even busier than when the Christmas stalls were there. But people were not spending their money. People know that times are hard — they can see that in their wallets and their bank accounts. But this is not the worst thing in Bolton. Bolton Council permitted the new shops in the Market Place which are currently empty. But what gets me is how anyone thought they could fill them, even though what was Littlewoods has just been standing there for a lifetime it seems. I think what they were trying to do was make an Arndale for Bolton but what they didn’t realise was that the shops couldn’t be rent d out at Arndale prices because Bolton does not get half the amount of people. So now we are left in a mess. Small shops are closing down, or really struggling. We have empty shops all over the place. And people are not spending. What needs to be done is to lower the cost of renting a shop in Bolton, even if it is just for a year or two. Help small shops out, like newsagents, so that they are still there for people to go to instead of going to Morrison’s or even Asda. Although the council can not give people money to spend, by lowering these costs for a year or two, shops will remain in Bolton. And you never know, it might then be possible to rent out the empty shops. I also think what I read in the paper the other day was a good idea — turning Woolworths into an indoor market. Bolton has lost its character and having stalls in there would help bring it back to life. The outdoor market near the bus station is an almost ghost town most of the time as people will not go there every weekend and it is simply too cold. But by making Woolworths into an indoor market. we can do something now for the short term and in the long term have something great. William Moseley Bolton