RECENTLY I read an article in the BEN about the fears of town center traders as to the growth of suburban shopping malls such as Middlebrook, Trafford Center, etc.

I have seen first hand the results of urban decay and the massive cost involved putting it to rights.

My family and I emigrated to Canada in the early 70s. By this time cities such as Toronto, Windsor, London, and many more in Ontario were suffering due the building of beautiful new shopping malls in suburbia.

By the early 1980s millions of dollars were being poured into urban renewal. With this little bit of hindsight I suggest that the town planners contact the councils in Windsor and Toronto and ask what could have been done before the rot set in.

One person on a tourist class ticket could gleen volumes of information. Let's not allow our town centers become ghost towns.

ronald.hall@lineone.net.uk