Time not right for new arcade

Why is Clarendon Arcade being built? The country is in the worst economic times since the 1940s, austerity is everywhere you look and unemployment is high.

Existing retailers in Leamington Spa, like the rest of the UK are having tough times as people do not have the disposable incomes they had a fews years ago before our greedy bankers caused the present economic situation and recession.

The Regency Arcade in the parade, once occupied by furniture outlet Lee Longlands, has sat empty for several years.

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It’s a beautiful building that is going to be turned into hotel, which is a pity, as it is a shopping centre of days gone past that could have been revived and given a 21st century makeover.

I am sure that the people of Leamington cannot understand the barmy decision to turn a Victorian shopping centre into a hotel and a car park into a shopping centre, especially when there are empty units in the Royal Priors Arcade and empty retail units along the Parade where businesses have gone out of business due to the lack of customers spending money.

I am sure that half of the £90 million being spent on the Clarendon Arcade could be saved if they brought the Regency Arcade back to life and am sure that because it is a building that is loved and cherished by the townsfolk, would itself be an attraction and help bring trade to those who open businesses within it’s Victorian splendor.

Why do the developers of Clarendon Arcade think that their building will change the economy of the town, as retailers are closing branches across the UK and streamlining their businesses in order to ride out these difficult times, they are unlikely to be enticed into a new shopping arcade when their businesses ethic is to scale back, not expand? - Lee Jennings, Bishops Tachbrook.

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