Luke Marsden: Wiganers want a town centre to be proud of and one we want to visit

I had just got back into Wigan, having been out of town for the afternoon to visit my aunt.

Stepping back into Wigan after spending the day in Chester is like that sinking feeling you get when you touch down back in the UK after enjoying a sun-soaked foreign holiday.

I was already thinking the thoughts expressed by the gentleman, who had randomly inserted himself into a conversation I was having with my dad and sister.

As I looked around outside the old Post Office, I remarked that, “God knows what it will be turned into”.

The gentleman in question (who was on two crutches) came along and informed me that it will be a new “trendy wine bar”.

I was looking at Little Fifteens and the five other bars in very close proximity as he said this, and I replied, “Why the hell do we need another wine bar?”

The gentleman then set off on a rant in which he covered everything from the Grand Arcade, The Galleries, Beijing buying up the town centre, oh and the

pie eating championships.

Although some of what he said verged into conspiracy theory territory, the core of his message was correct.

Our town centre is dying.

More betting shops and cheap booze bars than places to buy clothes and groceries, and we do not even have a town centre post office anymore.

A lot of this can, of course, be blamed on Amazon and the like, but accountability must fall with Wigan Council who have continued to be asleep at the wheel as we have driven off a cliff.

We need to get back to basics and have a town centre that we can all take pride in, that does indeed provide a service we all want to use; we can’t drink our way to prosperity.

As the gentleman walked away, he shouted to me: “things can only get better, they can’t get much worse”.

I do have hope, dear reader, that my newfound friend is correct!