Letter - A very expensive weekend.

A very expensive weekend.

As a former resident of Barnard Castle I do like to try and visit annually, mainly to visit my family but also to get my passport stamped. My partner and I have decided that we would like to visit for Easter.

So I set out to look for a holiday cottage in the local area for the Easter weekend. First port of call was to the tourist information office who were, in all honesty, not that informative and was given a website to visit.

There are some beautiful holiday cottages on offer but at £500 for a long weekend break we certainly will not be paying that kind of money. In comparison, I checked out similar accommodation in Dorset where I am currently living, and I can get a far nicer cottage for a week at half the price. Or we could have a two week all inclusive break in Egypt for £700.

How can a town that is in such dire straits and desperate to bring itself back to its former glory justify itself in allowing these rip-off prices to be charged?

I appreciate that the owners of these properties have overheads to cover, but £500 for a four day break isn’t making a living or making profit, it is pure greed.

My own mortgage isn’t that much more a month, and they are charging this every week in the holiday season. We have now found suitable accommodation at a fraction of the price in Catterick Garrison.

The town is out pricing itself, and instead of looking at the blatantly obvious raggy petty coats that need to be repaired the local council decide to cover them with a fur coat and make it look something it’s not, with the monstrosity of the public toilet in Galgate, the Gateway to the town, which is a glorified rumble strip, and the car park in Newgate.

Millions have been spent and not a great deal to show for it.

I’m sure I’m not alone in failing to understand why this is being allowed to happen in what was once such a beautiful town, but the way things are going I won’t be in much of a rush to come back.

Monica Jefferies,

Wareham, Dorset