Come to Hayle and admire... Pickfords!

With reference to stupid remarks made by Hayle Town councillors, last year when I was kicking up about the state of Hayle and the eyesores in our town one of the longest serving town councillors said I was bringing the town down by publicising these things. I asked him to describe what he thought the first impressions would be for people coming to Hayle. He said, that and I quote, “Visitors to Hayle will now see the fully refurbished Pickfords building as they enter the town, it looks really nice now”

Surely this is destined to become one of the great wonders of the world – no not the building – I mean this unbelievably stupid remark. No wonder Penwith Council can by-pass Hayle whenever it comes down to actually doing anything. I suggest our local town councillors go out and visit other towns in Cornwall this summer and look in particular at harbours like Padstow, Falmouth, Porthleven, St Ives or any town with a harbour for that matter they will see thousands of visitors and locals alike enjoying themselves and spending money. Then they can come back to Hayle and see to what extent the town is buzzing especially on a Sunday.

Hayle is fast becoming a dormitory town just somewhere to live and somewhere to sleep while on holiday. On summer mornings Hayle’s roads are choked with cars from the campsites from the Towans all going out of the town to visit other places, and in the evening they all come back – straight to the campsites - many people come to Hayle and never even set foot in the town. Just look at the signs directing visitors to one of the finest beaches in the world and the state of the roads that lead to it. One beaten up old sign looks like its been written on an old fag packet and pinned to a stick – its clearly an attempt to discourage anyone from going anywhere near the beach via that route – go an see for yourself as you drive across the dangerous, potholed, filthy, muddy (or dusty depending on the weather), road and take in the spectacle.

Hayle Town council should be ashamed of themselves, they have allowed our once great town to wither away while they have used their power to massage their own egos. If they think a few quid's worth of flower tubs and a few yards of tacky bunting strewn about the main street is going to make any difference they are wrong. Some councillors seem proud to claim they have been on the council for years and years – well I say thanks – thanks for nothing – its time to wake up and fight for Hayle – if you won’t or can’t its time to get out and stay out, this town cannot afford your services for another 20-30 years. At a town council meeting months ago, I asked if they would write to the railway company requesting that the railings on the viaduct at foundry could be given a lick of paint. It was a total waste of my time. Most of these people seem to like seeing Hayle in a rough state – perhaps it makes their suits look better when they go off for numerous photo-shoots and stick their thumbs in the air yet again.

Geoff Holman

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