Eden is a pleasant experience

12:04pm Friday 4th April 2008

Comments (1)   Have your say »

HAVING read all the negative letters sent in about Eden, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found during my visit last week.

From the point of view of a young person, the centre has lots of good shops, such as Zara or H&M, that High Wycombe has missed in the past.

As a student, some high streets are full of shops that are simply out of my price range but I was pleased to find many reasonably priced shops in contrast to some of the more opinionated comment I read on the centre.

There are also many job opportunities which, in my experience, have been lacking in the town centre.

Complaints about the centre being too windy seem to me to be unfounded, indeed I believe the fact that it is not enclosed, will make it much more pleasant come the summer.

Overall, my experience was a pleasant one and I believe Eden to be a success story in the ongoing effort to revitalise High Wycombe.

Simon Rollison Fennels Way Flackwell Heath *****************************************

I CAME back to High Wycombe on Easter weekend for my Easter break from uni, looking forward to seeing family, friends and the long-anticipated Eden.

One of the first questions I asked was "so what is it like?" and was met with a good response. However, I sat down to read last week's BFP to find a whole page of people whinging about it and just found myself cross at this town!

I've been in Coventry for two years now, a town which had to be completely rebuilt after the war. It is a great example of a place that gets things done, with residents who will then not moan about it after. A great example being the very 1950s shopping precinct and rather scary (however efficient) ring road (all of which is being redeveloped over the next 15 years).

If only people in High Wycombe could appreciate Eden, which was not built because the town had been destroyed, but because we are finally moving forward and will have a town centre which will finally reflect the size of the town we live in and hopefully attract many more people.

The people writing in have very petty complaints and don't seem to understand that it's not finished yet, that it's not going to be perfect straight away, and it's only been a week!

It's going to take time for everything to settle in and for more retailers to come to the town.

I think Eden is great for Wycombe and am quite jealous I'm now not around as much to make use of it. For all those people complaining, for crying out loud go back to moaning about Waitrose or Marlow Hill!

Daniel MacKintosh, Conisbrough Keep, Coventry **********************************************

I HAVE just read this week's letters about the Eden Centre, and am sick and tired of all the negativity. I feel that it is about time someone wrote something positive about it.

We visited on the opening day, and have been several times since, as we enjoy the buzz' in there. Not only that, we felt that it was something that had been needed for a very long time, and is a credit to the planners who had limited space to build it in. I particularly like the fact that it is not fully enclosed, as overheated shopping centres are exhausting.

It is a waste to heat such vast areas, when we all arrive in town dressed for the weather outdoors, and when the need to economise on fossil fuels is so necessary. It looks, therefore, as though the planners have taken the issues of fuel conservation seriously. I also think that when the summer comes, we shall be glad of the open roof plan.

It is a shopping centre that is a comfortable size, not mind-blowing like Milton Keynes, and I feel that the number of visitors speaks for itself.

I appreciate the difficulties being experienced by parking for those who are disabled, but I am sure this will be sorted out in due course.

When complaining about the teething troubles of our excellent new facility, remember what happened at Terminal Five, and give thanks!

Mrs Gillian Twissell Penn

***********************

AN ARTICLE in last Saturday's Daily Mail explained that researchers believe that Buckinghamshire is the best county to live in.

The reasons, they say, were that its residents have the highest life expectancy, earn the most money and live in the biggest houses.

Furthermore, we are also the healthiest county in England, we have more hours of sunshine than the national average and we have more celebrities living in Bucks than anywhere else except London.

As a county, we have so much to be proud of - so why does your newspaper insist on publishing such high levels of negativity?

Flicking through the opening pages of the Bucks Free Press on Friday March 28, I was confronted with complaints about parking at the Eden Centre, terrorist accusations, stories of tragic deaths, animal cruelty and worries about taxes.

In fact, it wasn't until page 10 that the newspaper gave the reader anything to smile about, before it returned to reports of speeding fines, criminals and abduction attempts.

The letter pages were packed full of downbeat complaints and moans, while the editorial comment lamented the poor access into the town centre and also the low crowds at Wycombe Wanderers' fixtures.

In the sport section, a so-called supporter called for Wycombe manager Paul Lambert to accept that the team won't win automatic promotion and to drop his best players. I could go on.

High Wycombe is in one of the best conditions it has been for a very long time. We have a thriving town centre which is being visited by over 350,000 people from all over the south of England, we have some hugely successful schools and individuals and we have a football team which has the potential to play at Wembley in two months and achieve promotion for the first time in 14 years.

Regardless of the old saying, "don't believe what you read in the papers", I believe that people actually do pay a lot of attention to what they are told in the press. Your newspaper is contributing to an unfounded sense of negativity and pessimism around the town when in fact we should be celebrating the achievements and successes of our town.

Mr M Cecil Address supplied High Wycombe *****************************************

I CANNOT believe all of the negativity about Eden after just a few short weeks. Compared to how High Wycombe was before the site was created, the local residents should be praising all involved.

Yes it is cold, but then it is still Winter/Spring. What it will do is put High Wycombe back on the map, and has already created hundreds of jobs, with more to follow. So, stop moaning and enjoy it - if you can't, stay away.

Phil Bedwell Bathing Court Place Oxon

***********************************

SUCH a shame - so many negative letters about Eden, our new shopping centre. I have to say that I think it's delightful and my shopping trips there have been most enjoyable. As for the comments about it being cold - just think how cool it will be on those hot summer days! Hopefully you will be printing some positive comments about Eden from now on. Enough of the negatives.

Rosemarie Haynes Amersham Road High Wycombe ***********************************************

YOU get whingers everywhere who are never satisfied.

Multiplex has made a beautiful job of our shopping centre and it looks great.

The construction workers have worked day and night to finish the project on time, which they did so stop moaning and shop, eat, bowl, watch the films and when the winter finishes enjoy the open air covered shopping centre when it is hot in summer.

To all - thanks, including OCS Security.

David Thomas c/o Boots Arcade Octagon, High Wycombe *****************************************************

I'M afraid not a complaint about the new Eden shopping centre (which I happen to like), but something that has been puzzling me in the old part of the town centre. Does anyone know why the drains outside the Nail Shop in the Cornmarket are stained white?

Dr D Martin Gordon Road High Wycombe ***************************************