Bangor Empty Shops Rant the Death of our High Streets

City and town Councillors lament and 'wring their hands' about the falling shopping footfalls on the high street. Shop owners are alarmed as they see once profitable, long standing, family businesses fail with more closures imminent.
Councils make supportive noises but they refuse to lower rates and rents. They continue to give their blessing to higher parking fines and car parking fees. They appear naively ignorant of the ever increasing competition of, out of town shopping centres and booming internet shopping. Councils continue to 'milk ' shopkeepers of high rates and rental revenue. They are guilty of killing the goose that once laid the golden egg.
The Flagship Centre in Bangor is an empty shell. Five to ten years ago it was a bustling shopping centre. Many of the shops on Bangor main street are struggling to survive and many have already closed. Charity shops are everywhere. Shoppers will not come to an empty dead high street. Most of our town and city banks are now closed. Post offices have already disappeared. These are two more nails in the coffin of our towns and city streets. Have they to become ghost towns before our, greedy, head in the sand, councils give them financial relief?