Mike Eales, of Torquay, writes: In Queen Street, Newton Abbot, the former Three Cooks restaurant has been empty for 18 months, with smashed windows, old damaged fascias, dirty yellow paper plastered over the windows and old cooking equipment piled up inside. Why has nobody shown any interest in these premises in all this time? The general appearance could be something to do with it. Then there is the former PicNics restaurant opposite. This lay empty for more than a year until a wooden shutter has appeared around it with a skip in the road, a hazard to pedestrians and traffic alike. This was there for five or six weeks at least. Is anybody doing anything here? If not then why are not the skip and shuttering required to be removed? There is then another shop on the Queen Street/Courtenay Street junction empty and delapidated for months on end. Then there is the old Curry's store in Courtenay Street. A request to convert this to an amusement arcade was recently, and I believe rightly turned down, but one of the reasons given, that it would be the loss of a 'Prime Retail Site' takes some believing. A prime site that clearly nobody wants. At the moment a gardening/DIY type outlet has moved in but for how long and what a mess the frontage looks. Then there is the former Dixon's, now Currys Digital shop opposite. For at least four weeks now, half of its steel security shutter has been permanently down and covered in tape. Presumably it is jammed or broken but has nobody in this store got the gumption to get the thing mended in four weeks plus? If it isn't there responsibility then whose is it. Let's see some action on their part. Market Walk now has a row of threeempty shops, two of which have been empty for some two years. The town is awash with charity shops, cheap shops, estate agents and the like. Why? Where are some decent well known retail names? I can suggest two reasons. (1) that the rents on shop premises are unrealistic. If so then why hasn't the council the power to fix rents at a level that retailers can afford. If they have such powers then use them, if not then they darn well should have. (2) the state of the traffic and parking in the town which gets worse year by year. I don't know what the answer here is but until ordinary people forget this door-to-door in the car mentality, I can see little hope of any improvement, it being a problem in many other towns. Oh yes, Asda. When the store opened there were three cash dispenser machines installed for the 'benefit of customers'. two of them have never worked, I believe, and the other was out of order last week. Come on Asda, get it sorted, now, today. If these machines are not your responsibility but that of the respective banks, tell them to get them sorted promptly, or else get them taken out. Teignbridge planners forced a charity shop in the town to paint their frontage a 'more suitable colour' as the bright purple was not becoming of the area. I suggest it's time for whoever is concerned about the appearance of properties in the town to start rattling a few cages.
