Town's identity being robbed
I was very sad to hear Bilston Town Football Club might be faced with closure. It will be a very sad end to the club's history, not to mention the history of the town.
Bilston has already lost its own college in a forced merger with Wolverhampton College, and, of course, nearly all of the town's High Street stores have disappeared.
I am concerned about Bilston's future – while the Urban Village could possibly bring new employment opportunities to the town, its completion is years away and Bilston has for quite a long time suffered from a lost of identity, due to Wolverhampton Council often ignoring the town's status and wanting to think of Bilston as just another part of Wolverhampton.
The council's neglect can be seen in the condition of many of the buildings in the town centre, some of which were once grand in appearance.
City of Wolverhampton College appears to be trying to rid Bilston of its identity in a similar way to to the council – already they have renamed what was the college's Bilston Campus to Westfield Road Campus, as if to imply that Westfield Road is in Wolverhampton and not Bilston.
The Robin 2 Club, while an excellent venue, promotes itself as being in Bilston, Wolverhampton – something I cannot understand as the previous Robin Club was always promoted as being in Merry Hill, Brierley Hill, rather than Merry Hill, Dudley.
Do people think Bilston is a name that is not recognised, or a name that people think is a suburb or district of Wolverhampton?
Willenhall and Darlaston both have signs in their town centres welcoming shoppers and visitors, so why doesn't Bilston have the same? Willenhall's lock making heritage is illustrated on its town centre signs, and Bilston really deserves something like this. Its industrial heritage is even bigger than Willenhall's.
It appears Wolverhampton City Council does not want to promote the town's identity and heritage in the same way as Walsall Council promotes its towns' identities.
M Mills, Dovedale Road, Wolverhampton.
