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4 days ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
Weston-super-Mare’s main shopping area is meant to be a central focus of the town, a place to meet friends, relax in cafés and, oh yes, shop. Yet it lacks definition and direction, unless you accept the frequent slurs on social media which define the High Street as a depressed and uninviting place with no future. The surge of online shopping, which was boosted by the COVID pandemic and lockdowns, sounded the death knell for traditional retail.
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1 week ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
Poor-quality rented housing scars parts of Weston-super-Mare and afflicts the unfortunate people consigned to tatty flats and bedsits. They deserve a better place to live. Conditions are a catalogue of neglect and decay which can result in tenants giving up and contributing to perpetual squalor. Crumbling buildings, leaking roofs, damp and mould, inadequate heating and cramped spaces are accompanied by rubbish strewn across outside areas. No one seems to care.
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2 weeks ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
Like many coastal towns, Weston-super-Mare has more runners in the race than most: eight at the last count. And it’s a safe bet the bookmakers don’t have punters’ wellbeing in mind. They certainly aren’t social enterprises redistributing wealth, unless you count the cash the bookies rake in when unlucky clients chase their losses. According to researchers, betting shops are concentrated in the most deprived areas of the UK, so there’s nothing to boast about.
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3 weeks ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
It’s as if they are blind to all the good things on offer: long sandy beach, expansive views, wonderful architecture; not to mention a burgeoning arts scene, varied places to eat and, above all, the welcoming people. But Weston-super-Mare continues to have an image problem. Have you heard the joke? "Weston is so bad, even the tide doesn’t want to come in!" It’s funny, but also not so funny.
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1 month ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
"Resorts are often one-industry towns, relying on tourism, but as fewer holidaymakers are choosing long staycations in the UK, there has been no lasting government relief" (Image: Contributed) Now, more than ever, it’s time to throw seaside towns a lifeline, writes Peter Archer. For far too long they have been abandoned by policymakers.
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1 month ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
Peter Archer. (Image: Contributed) They’re in your face and on your mind, writes Peter Archer. No escaping. They are loud, antisocial, and threatening. Often they are drunk, high, or drugged up on their medication. A minority, they dominate as if in the majority. They can give Weston-super-Mare a bad name. When people think of Weston, their perception is distorted by the disaffected people who take over parts of the town.
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1 month ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
"Being at the seaside is like travelling back in time to find a place, which may now be struggling to be part of the modern world, but invokes past comfort and a feeling of security" (Image: Contributed) What’s so good about living by the sea?, writes Peter Archer People I talk to often recall nostalgic memories of summer days in childhood, playing on the beach and swimming in the shallows.
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1 month ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
"The increase in shoplifting is partly a consequence of the current cost-of-living crisis. But, of course, most people suffering financial hardship do not turn to crime" (Image: Contributed) I couldn’t believe my eyes; it was so brazen, writes Peter Archer. No fear of being caught; no consequences. The well-dressed young woman walked into a mini-market, picked up a large pack of lager and left with it under her arm.
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1 month ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
"Surely, such a marketing opportunity would not have been overlooked for so long in a seaside town with greater ambition" (Image: Contributed) Now Birnbeck Pier is being renovated, there’s a rock’n’roll opportunity which so far seems to have missed a beat, writes Peter Archer. The nearby rocky outcrop at Anchor Head Cove, which was the backdrop for a 1963 Beatles photoshoot, surprisingly never became a major tourist attraction linked to the Fab Four.
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2 months ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
"The fact is the people of Weston and North Somerset who welcome law-abiding refugees and asylum seekers forced from their homes deserve high praise" (Image: Contributed) Walking in parts of the town, you’re more than likely to hear different languages and unfamiliar accents, writes Peter Archer. War in Ukraine and violent upheaval elsewhere in the world have shifted the tectonic plates of geopolitics, and shockwaves can be felt throughout the UK.
