Stephen Larcombe complains that only 13 per cent of Royston s small businesses have taken the trouble to reply to a questionnaire that he sent out earlier this year (Postbag, Crow July 2). Although some retailers may plead that they are too engrossed runn

Stephen Larcombe complains that only 13 per cent of Royston's small businesses have taken the trouble to reply to a questionnaire that he sent out earlier this year (Postbag, Crow July 2).

Although some retailers may plead that they are too engrossed running their own businesses to spend penning a few answers on a form, I find it hard to believe that they couldn't even allocate just ten minutes of their valuable time to fill in an important document that could have been beneficial to their future well being.

This paper also carried a fairly lengthy letter of mine, about the same time as Mr Larcombe sent out his form, in which I gave a warning regarding the future of Royston, and listed various opportunities for independent businesses to deploy.

To my knowledge, nothing transpired from the information I wrote, and there was no feedback from the shop owners regarding my proposals.

This degree of apathy is, unfortunately, mirrored across the UK, and retailers are playing right into the laps of the supermarkets and the councils.

Matt from the Crow appears to assume that the trading problems of the town will ease with the gradual revival of the economy, but, sadly, I very much doubt that this will be the case.

I counted four people in the High Street last Friday, while Tesco was heaving. Until such time as the traditional town centre, and the supermarkets are put on a level playing field, the woes of the independents will continue.

Clive Porter

John Impey Way

Melbourn