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1 week 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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2 weeks 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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2 weeks 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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4 weeks 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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1 month 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.
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1 month ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
"No wonder more and more people are coming to Weston-super-Mare where quality housing stock is on offer" (Image: Contributed) Through-the-roof house prices in cities like Bristol are forcing people out, writes Peter Archer. Million-pound-plus properties in previously affordable areas are no longer uncommon. For any number of reasons, but usually economic, house-hunters are moving on and despairing at how little their money can buy.
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2 months ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
"True, it may be hard to appreciate on a cold day when the tide is a mile out. But climate change and extreme weather events are as real as the economic and social inequality which threatens to divide our town" (Image: Contributed) Filming on Weston-super-Mare’s seafront of a dystopian TV drama is a wake-up call, writes Peter Archer. It’s a chilling reminder of the threat posed by soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, and a menacing social and political climate.
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2 months ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
"Tender in youth, trees reach up with the promise of growth. Roots form, bind the soil, and bring together the people who nurture them" (Image: Contributed) Planting a tree does more than help combat disastrous climate change, it can also create communities, writes Peter Archer. Tender in youth, trees reach up with the promise of growth. Roots form, bind the soil, and bring together the people who nurture them.
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2 months ago | 
thewestonmercury.co.uk | Peter Archer
"I had hoped the creation of the council-owned North Somerset Environment Company would improve the service by eliminating any disconnect with an outsourced agency. Apparently not" (Image: Peter Archer) Discarded cans, used vapes, and fast-food packaging are interrupting pavements and clogging gutters, writes Peter Archer. Unwanted litter is dumped in hedges and left on garden walls.
