Bombsite Fleetwood

Visitors to Bombsite Fleetwood could be forgiven for thinking world war III had erupted on Copse Road. Wide eyed, expectant day trippers making their way to Fleetwood by tram and road, stare bewildered at the disgraceful piles of rubble, remenisant of the blitz during the last war, as they travel through the gateway to our town.

Copse road was no oil painting before Al Patel inflicted this devastation, but it was a damn site better than the way he has left it now. Demolition of the old buildings has saved this businessman thousands of pounds in empty buildings taxes. The new empty buildings tax, which was announced by this government last summer and came into force this April, was introduced to keep commercial property companies from leaving buildings vacant rather than putting them to practical use.

If Mr Patel had any intention of doing anything for Fleetwood except lining his own pocket, he would have had the decency to clear the site after demolition and make the area safe, but of course that would have cost him money. Mr Patel doesn't live nearby so he doesn't have to see his hideous mess every day, unlike local residents who now have the added concern of a gipsy encampment taking root.

Make no mistake, we are a long way from experiencing an up turn in this current economic climate, making development plans such as this extremely optimistic. If his proposed plans are passed there is no guarantee that we will see the promised development reach fruition. I am afraid that with this gloomy outlook we can expect to see this disgusting eyesore for some considerable time.

I am grateful to the Weekly News for highlighting the devastation and hopefully shaming Al Patel into using some of his saved taxes to fund the clearance of his site for the safety and appearance of Fleetwood.