'We want to revive Ipswich and make it lively again'

George King - BBC News, in Ipswich and Alice Cunningham - BBC News, SuffolkJune 13, 2024 at 1:57 AM·5 min readThe future of town centres is a topic of conversation never far from the lips of local people, especially ahead of an election.In Ipswich, big-name retailers including BHS, Debenhams and Wilko have shut up shop in recent years.This week, the town's general election hopefuls offered some solutions, and some complained about anti-social behaviour.However, residents and traders - including one business which says it can "revive" the "dying" High Street - see some cause for optimism.'The older generation'Shopper Carol Smith, 76, from nearby Harkstead village, believes more variety for the older generation could be key to its survival."It’s not like it used to be and so many shops are shut now, which is a shame," she said."We miss a lot of our shops. I used to like the Co-op because it used to be a lovely big shop which sold a lot of things all in one area."We need some nice decent...