I attended the planning meeting last week where the councillors made decisions on the Marks and Spencer application for Middlebrook and the new £100 million development planned for Central Street which also involves the demolition of some buildings on Deansgate, including the one currently occupied by Sweetens Book shop.

I hope that Sweetens can be found alternative accommodation, either in the new development or another appropriate site in the town centre. Sweetens is a great addition to the town centre, as are all the independent traders.

Some people have concerns about Bolton becoming a 'clone' town and I can assure you that, neither I, nor Bolton Council want that.

The fact remains that however popular independent traders are, without the high street stores Bolton will not be able to compete with Manchester and The Trafford Centre.

I know it is early to start talking about Christmas but during October many of the town centre shops will start stocking Christmas gifts. Two that I particularly look forward to are BHS and M&S Christmas shops. So for those early shoppers BHS Christmas shop opens October 8 and M&S on October 20.

Before that Crompton Place is running a Spooky Stories competition where the winner will win £500 worth of books for their school and the runner-up £100 books for their school. There are two categories; Years 3/4 and Years 5/6.

Following the Market Place car park promotion during September (spend £50 and park for free) I was delighted to find out that more than 1,300 people had taken advantage of the offer. There is still discounted parking on Saturdays at Bow Street and The Octagon multi-storey car parks where you can park all day for £2.50.

A date for your diary is the Christmas lights switch-on happening on November 17. This year the lights will be switched on by Amir Khan and the mayor of Bolton, Cllr Frank White. This coincides with the beginning of late night shopping when most shops will stay open till 9pm on Thursdays. More details nearer the time.

Cathy Savage

Bolton Town Centre Ltd

Market Hall

Knowsley Street

Bolton

Tel: 01204 523762

email: Catsava@aol.com