Sir, – The proposal to spend £110m on the Oval project to build a shopping and leisure centre in Darlington is foolishness in the extreme. There are empty shops in the Cornmill centre and the town centre already and to expect this project to be filled with shops is pure pie in the sky. We are all undergoing a period of austerity, which is unlikely to ease for some considerable time.
If this money is partly coming from the ratepayers, I would suggest it would be better spent on more social housing and other infrastructure services.
Time for a serious rethink, I would suggest.
W ROBOTHAM Barton.
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