Skegness '˜on the up' not '˜washed up'
That is the message from the local business sector following a Mail Online article.
The article by Paddy Dinham reflects on how coastal towns such as Margate, Blackpool and Skegness “used to be jam-packed with tourists” in the summer.
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However it claims: “Over the last 30 years footfall has dropped sharply due to package holidays overseas. This has led to a crash in the tourist industry. Skegness was the picture of British seaside holidays in the mid-20th century.
“Nowadays, it is mainly seen as a place to retire, albeit many consider it to be a desirable place to do so.
“In 2008 a fire ripped through the Parade Complex and other popular seafront buildings.
“As the pictures demonstrate, where there used to be flocks of families, bags of litter can be seen sitting on the sand and many of the seafront’s buildings have been boarded up.”
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Tony Tye, chairman of the Skegness and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce, questions whether Mr Dinham has ever visited the resort. He said: “Has he visited our Town in resent months?, I think not. For a start he lists a building that not on the foreshore but on the Roman Bank, He then goes on to write about plastic bags and rubbish all over the foreshore, The photo shows three large bags of rubbish ready for collection!. The Team of ELDC Refuge Collection work extremely hard throughout the summer months keeping our town and foreshore very clean. “This past season our footfall increased by half a million visitors, to 4.5.million. Skegness moved up to third from ourth most visited coastal resort in the UK. He also wrote about the fire on the foreshore, if he had visited our Town he would have seen one completed, and the other near completion. Mr Dinham also writes about boarded shops. On our main shopping area “Lumley Road” we only have three empty shops.
“We have a lot going on over the next 18 months that will completely change our foreshore, and a new shopping complex on Lincoln Road.
Read the article here.