BUSINESSES in Northallerton have a difficult choice to make. Shortly they will be approached to make up the £8,000 needed to ensure the appointment of a town centre manager.

Thanks to Yorkshire Forward and local authorities £22,000 is already in the pot, but that money will be lost if the remainder cannot be found from the local community and particularly those businesses likely to benefit.

Why should Northallerton have a town centre manager? Richmond has one, Darlington and Stockton have them too. Are they worth it?

None of the three towns above would claim their managers have brought about High Street heaven, but they have acted as a focus for regeneration efforts. As the town centre manager for Malton and Norton said at a meeting in Northallerton this week, successful managers bring together the disparate interest groups that have a stake in the average High Street to speak with one voice.

Certainly the days when our town centres could look after themselves are long gone. The threats are many and changing fashions in retailing threaten to marginalise the traditional High Street. And as our Market Town Revival campaign of three years ago illustrated, vibrant, successful town centres are essential for the future of towns and the rural hinterlands they serve.

There are, of course, no guarantees that a town centre manager will work miracles. But this surely is an opportunity which should not be missed. £8,000 is not a huge sum when shared among all the businesses in the town centre.