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OH OKAY then, I am very excited. The Eden centre in High Wycombe is just six days away now from opening and it's going to change a drab old town for the better.

I'm not into shopping, or bowling, while my cinema-going days ended when Bogart hung up his holster.

And I may have to hide my credit card from Mrs Mann who is threatening to go on the rampage when all these new shops open. But, despite all this, it is fantastic the town is getting such a lift.

High Wycombe was famed for many years for being the capital of Europe's furniture industry, but that's rather dissolved. The football team are still in the lowest tier of the football league, and even the prestigious rugger club refuses to change its name from London to Wycombe Wasps.

In other words, there isn't much these days that makes High Wycombe stand out. In recent times, it's even threatened to become a music hall joke on a par with Bognor Regis.

So it can only be a really good thing getting all these prestigious shops and being elevated into the UK's top 50 hit parade for retail towns.

There will still be loads of questions marks. Where will people park? Are these gleaming new stores too upmarket for the indigenous population? What will happen to the Chilterns Shopping Centre and the High Street?

However, this is not the time for negativity because we are on the cusp of a fabulous new era.

Eden stands on the part of town once dubbed the Western Desert. There was a real risk Wycombe could spiral into terminal decline if nothing was done. So, for once, it's time to give our councillors a pat on the back for making a dream come true.

And maybe there's a new business opportunity for someone to sell map books of High Wycombe to all the folk of Beaconsfield, Marlow and Gerrards Cross who never previously deigned or dared to set foot in this town.

7:09pm Thursday 6th March 2008

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