BOLTON Tory councillor Stuart Lever's suggestion to put gates up around Bolton town centre to help it compete with out-of-town shopping complexes may well have been howled down. But, his ideas are not totally without merit.
He feels that gates around Victoria Square, as at the Trafford Centre, will improve it, along with free parking.
Cllr Jack Foster may well have, quite rightly, dismissed the gates' plan as "barmy," but free parking always made sense.
Paid-for parking may well have helped earn money for Bolton, but the likelihood that it has also deterred visitors in droves outweighs this value to the retail future of our town.
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