The Forest of Dean without doubt is one of the most beautiful places to live in the UK, with unrivalled forests, breathtaking views, rivers, beauty spots and tourist attractions that have improved so much over the past few years they are actually worth going to see!
So why is the Forest of Dean not as affluent as it should be? Well I guess the job situation is pretty p**s poor at the moment, with the manufacturing industry in decline (as usual) , The minimum wage is rife and seems to apply to even management positions in some cases (oh yes this IS true).
Yet there's a golden opportunity for us here in the Forest in the form of tourism. Thousands of people flood to the Forest everyday, staying in hotels, b&b's, lodges and tents, whether its cyclist, walkers, family picnics, adventure activities, or holiday makers. They all have money to spend! and we could and should have more of it! I attended a meeting at the Lydney Traders Association a couple of weeks ago, a positive group, searching for cost effective and efficient ways to move the town forward. Now lets be absolutely honest here, as things are, if you were visiting the Forest and decided to visit Lydney, how impessed would you be?...How much time would you spend there? .Get what I'm saying? We need a reason to stay in town longer and thats a tricky one to deal with, espiecially when we have no pedestrianised areas. In my view that in itself is a great shame. Anyway we can only work with what we have, so there's no easy quick fix, no magic wand stuff here, we need new ideas to make our town centres more vibrant and give the tourists (and locals) somewhere extra special to visit so they stay longer, spend more money and most importantly come back! The beauty spots and tourist attractions thoughout the Forest have just about got it bang on and continue to grow from strenth to strenth. If we do the same for the towns, and villages, the local economy would benefit tremendously.
If you have any suggestions for improvements in our Forest towns then why not tell us at the Bestof the Forest of Dean.or contact us for further information on action groups such as the Lydney Traders Assosiation
