A number of people have expressed a wish for an out-of-town shopping mall … ‘like at West Auckland’.
In fact, we already have in Newton Aycliffe most of what there is at West Auckland: supermarkets, a fabulous coffee shop (plus ours is a local shop, not a chain), wonderful card shops, a pet shop, a shoe shop and a number of chemists.  We may not have KFC or Subway, but we do have a Macdonald’s, plus Greggs and a couple of great fish-and-chip shops.
In fact, although we don’t have Next or Poundland, for every other shop in the West Auckland shopping centre we have something that is at least as good if not better.
In addition we have Argos, a sell-everything hardware shop, a good restaurant, the MP’s office, a top-quality optician, a high-class hairdresser, a recreation centre, four banks, a Post Office, and many other shops which together give a retail offer way beyond what you get at West Auckland.
And finally, be grateful for what have very little of … those wall-to-wall takeaways, betting shops, amusement arcades and payday loan companies which fill many other town centres.
The town centre has been revamped to provide a much-improved retail environment … now we simply need the spending-power of the people of Aycliffe to encourage more shops to come to the town centre.
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