PENSIONERS grilled politicians ahead of next month’s all-out Colchester Council elections.

A 40-strong audience posed questions to Gerard Oxford (Independent), Sue Lissimore (Conservatives), John Pitts (UKIP), Tim Young (Labour), Paul Smith (Liberal Democrats) and Mark Goacher (Green).

The hustings event was organised and hosted by Barbara Williamson, chairman of the Colchester Pensioners’ Action Group at Cardinal Bourne Hall, in Priory Street.

Betty Constable, 83, challenged the quality of the High Street and whether councillors were prioritising newer developments like Tollgate over the town centre.

She said: “I hope the council decide to sort out the town centre before they build more shops on Tollgate.

“It’s full of estate agents rather than shops. We want this taken care of before we spend a lot of money on Tollgate which already has adequate shops.”

Mr Goacher said: “Building huge out-of-town shopping centres means less money comes into Colchester and then you have to get to them so if you are someone who uses the buses, it will increase cars on the road.

“We need to incentivise small businesses to set up in Colchester and look at how as a council we can use some of the money we have to help shops set up.

Mr Pitts said: “As a businessman myself, high overheads will put you off to start and if you start with high overheads, it will take a business out from the beginning.

Mrs Lissimore said: “We envisage the town centre for leisure, entertainment and socialising.

“Let’s make it a town square or a French boulevard and have Roman soldiers entertaining everyone.”

Mr Oxford said: “Colchester is ranked 59th out of 5,000 towns in Britain for its shopping appeal and 4.7 per cent of our shops are empty compared with the national average of 13 per cent, and we’re in the top two per cent of places to eat and drink.”

Brian Light has been chairman of Balkerne Tower Trust for 10 years. He questioned the panel on why reports on the Jumbo water tower had not been released.

He said: “It’s the fourth major study done over the years but the first two sat gathering dust.

“I’m hoping all parties will encourage an informed debate without any back biting about what went on in the past.”

Mr Oxford: “I’m happy to look at it with an open mind when the report comes out in May.

Mrs Lissimore said: “I’ve seen the appraisal and I don’t think it’s commercially viable.”

Mr Young said: “The appraisal should be published before the local elections – I would release it as soon as we possibly can.”

Mr Smith said: “It’s not the borough council’s report which is why it’s not been released.

“Jumbo needs a cross-party approach. It’s something that’s good for the whole of the town which is why as a council we have put some money towards funding the project.”

Mr Goacher: “A restaurant would be great, where you could look out at a view of Colchester.”

A Castle ward resident, who preferred not to be named, raised concerns over council services in Colchester Library.

He asked how they would tackle disturbances to those wanting to study and a lack of privacy for the public.

Mr Goacher: “Libraries matter and we need to value them for what they are and not what things you can bung into them.”

Mr Smith said: “Libraries have had to evolve as a result of a decline in use, so it make sense to share buildings to save on bills but more could be done about privacy. “