North East and Cumbria: Rural towns

Michael Wild
Editor, Politics Show, North East and Cumbria

Are market towns losing their character? Identikit housing estates, high streets filled with chain stores - the Politics Show investigates.

Alnwick appears to be bucking the trend

Are Northern towns a dull and lifeless experience for locals and visitors alike. The Campaign to Protect Rural England certainly thinks so.

It is so worried that it is launching its own survey to find out whether our country towns are still something that we cherish.

This week the Politics Show in the North East & Cumbria is live at Alnwick Fair, one town which appears to be bucking the trend.

Thanks to Harry Potter, which was filmed at Alnwick Castle, and to the Duchess of Northumberland's water gardens, the number of tourists is increasing.

Tourists numbers are increasing.

But even in Alnwick there are problems; just one supermarket, a poor bus service and worries over the price of houses.

As for other Northern market towns, many people would agree with the CRPE's comments.

The traditional market and high street is often struggling with the growth of charity shops just one outward sign of the problem.

The Market Town Initiative

"All it takes for blandness to triumph is to let events take their course. Miserably designed housing, futile attempts to build our way out of traffic congestion and inadequate attempts to give farming a purpose all contribute to the sense of anywhere and nowhere," says the CPRE report.

The Government's solution is the Market Town Initiative which covers a host of small towns from Berwick, Morpeth and Seahouses in the north to Barnard Castle, Guisborough and Thirsk to the south.

But there are mixed views about its success in revitalising communities and improving quality of life.

The Politics Show

So what do you think - watch the programme and give us your view. Send us your comments on the form below.

Join the Politics Show presenters Mary Askew and Tony Baker, on Sunday at 12 noon on BBC One.