IN answer to the letter from Mrs C Kerr (HAS, Sept 19) can I point out that Jersey is a holiday destination.

Work is going on to make Bishop Auckland somewhere people will visit, by developing the unique historical buildings the town possesses to provide attractions and facilities that other towns don’t have.

If shops and pubs don’t get used, they close, simple as that, but the Market Place still has three bars and two independent cafes, plus the café in the Town Hall, while there are more bars, a café, and two restaurants in Bondgate, with others further up Newgate Street.

The reason there is no department store, and there are empty shops, is that people have decided to shop at the out-of-town facility at Tindale.

A restaurant is being built as part of the renovation and development of the walled garden in the grounds of the Bishop’s Palace, but as it will look a bit different, no doubt some will also call it a monstrosity.

Street-cleaners are in Newgate Street and the Market Place every morning picking up litter that the townsfolk can’t find the energy to put in the bins provided, but appear to be fighting a losing battle.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and good things are happening despite negative attitudes in the town.

P Dobson, Bishop Auckland