It's clear that Wycombe town centre is struggling.
Who can fail to see the multitude of empty shops that blight our once thriving town.
With a torrent of beggars, vagrants and unfortunates sitting on the pavements with begging bowls even the most optimistic of people must admit that Wycombe is a town down on its luck.
Frogmoor is another example of decline right in the heart of the town. Not only does the fact nothing is done there show the lack of vision for the town but the failed fountain shows the inability of the powers that be to actually put things right.
Things weren't always like this though.
Sadly I fear the policy of building out of town shopping areas in the late 1980's was one of the many contributing factors to the economic decline of Wycombe and the onset of the stagnation that remains with us to this very day.
Back then the motor car was king, petrol was cheap and the M25 had just opened to act as a panacea to solve everyone’s traffic jam problems.
The world is a very different place now and thanks to the rise of the environmentalists and their concept of a 'carbon footprint' driving around in cars is not as socially acceptable as it was thirty years ago.
So faced with a dying town centre, high petrol prices and a raised awareness of environmental issues what's the latest great idea in Wycombe?
Amazingly a news article appeared on this site today announcing that permission has been given to build a new out of town shop in Cressex!
Of course the new shop is likely to draw even more people away from the town centre and help to accelerate the decline that has already set in.
In my opinion the decision to build the new shop is one more nail in the coffin of the town centre and a continuation of the policy that has driven Wycombe into the ground.
Out of town shops were consigned to the history books in the late 1990's just as kipper ties and flaired trousers disappeared in the early 1980's.
To be competitive Wycombe needs to be imaginative. The town should stop bending over backwards to accommodate the needs of the developers and profits of the large stores.
Instead we need to become focused on rejuvenating the town and making it a nice place to live, work and play.
Are we hosting this new shop for the convenience of those from Marlow, Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross who want to nip down the motorway in their posh cars and buy upmarket goods for their neat homes?
Once again I fear Wycombe is being used as a medium of other peoples convenience and they will drive off into the sunset leaving us with a carbuncle that's killing off the town centre.
I fear such a shop could never be built in our town centre because the instant one of the posh people set eyes on a Wycombe town centre tramp they would jump in their fancy car in a flash and drive off as fast as they can.
By allowing out of town shops it's merely skirting around the problems that are holding the town centre back and stifling prosperity.
Once again the new development may possibly be another nail in the coffin of the town centre and I fear it won't be long before we say 'goodbye to Wycombe town centre'.
What do you think?
*Don't forget to read my regular column in this Friday's edition of the printed version of the Bucks Free Press!
