I ALWAYS enjoy reading the “Back through the Pages” column as it often shows an excellent comparison of where Andover is now compared to where it was then.

A few weeks ago I was amazed at someone’s prophetic remarks 50 years back saying that Andover was about to be ruined forever (or along those lines) by just a small group of men.

Well, here we are now with their direct descendants, unfortunately of the same mindset, having continued those flawed ideas with, some say, a dictatorially-led party.

I am now dismayed to read that they think they are doing such a good job that same old, same old is proposed for the next four years.

My own humble opinion is that the current lot in charge have shown us what they can do but it isn’t enough and it could be a lot better.

Yes, they have done some good things, but is that not why they were elected?

This shopping centre we have been saddled with is so badly designed that there just isn’t the space for the bigger shops with choice that so many have to travel to other towns for.

We are told that high rental puts off the businesses that would venture here – something which the council has no control over. Why not, I ask? If none of them have the business acumen to take back control and handle it themselves then surely we have elected the wrong people?

Look around, Andover does have the shops to create footfall. Take a trip to Trowbridge and you will see shops we already have in our town, the likes of Next, Peacocks, Asda, Paviers Shoes, Cotton Traders, Wilkinson, Bonmarche, Iceland, Thorntons, Poundland, Greggs, M&S, The Sweet Shop and others we already have in our under-used centre – not scattered up to two miles apart but all under the same roof, thus creating the necessary footfall for each other and to support the smaller shops, too.

The bigger shops do want to come here and as soon as out-of-town spaces like Harveys are free then someone wants to fill them rather than pay higher rent. Brainstorming thinking would be to follow the likes of Whiteley near Fareham and build a new town centre away from the listed buildings that cause so many planning problems.

We have heard what is promised for our town and it is obviously a time for change. Come the elections in May I will be looking at the potential of the person I vote for and not blindly putting a cross against the party I may have always preferred. I hope others will do likewise, but more than anything I would like them to just vote – and let’s really see what the people of Andover want.

Allan Pothecary, Eardley Avenue, Andover