VIEWPOINT FOR 25 SEPTEMBER 2008
FROM DR RICHARD TAYLOR 

I am pleased that the leaders of all the parties on the District Council have agreed a statement about the proposed post office closures in Wyre Forest and that this shows unanimous support for our existing post offices. 
It also supports my own feeling that deciding on this round of closures before the future contract for the Post Office Card Account is decided, could risk another round of closures later. I will include this in my response to the consultation as well as the excellent points from the letters and verbal opinions that I have received.
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We have had marvellous news this week. 
The Carpet Museum Trust has achieved success in its application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £1.7 million. 

This is a huge step towards the goal of a Carpet Museum here in Kidderminster, the most appropriate town in which this unique museum could be situated. The dedicated members of the Carpet Museum Trust are to be congratulated for their vision, perseverance and sheer hard work that has led to this success. 
It is the crucial part of a personal dream that I have had since becoming the MP for Wyre Forest – the formation of an industrial heritage trail to attract more people as tourists to our area. 
We have_
... the Severn Valley Railway and its museum, 
... the canal system with the rejuvenated Stourport dock basins, 
... Bewdley Museum, 
... the Hartlebury County Museum, 
... the Churchill water-powered forge 
... and now the real prospect of a carpet museum. 
This idea started from thoughts of the original owners of the Weavers' Wharf shopping development as a means of attracting more shoppers to the area. They were prepared to invest in this as they felt that their potential customers needed extra attractions to bring them to Wyre Forest and that tourism could be the answer. Of course we will need budget hotel accommodation for busloads of shopper-tourists and a more inviting entrance to the town from the railway station but both of these are expected within current plans. For the Carpet Museum more funds will be required but the lottery has given us a splendid start and made my dream begin to look realisable. Kidderminster will then become, in addition to its important industry, businesses and retail outlets, a major tourist destination that will put Wyre Forest on the map. 
No longer will people have to ask me where Wyre Forest is or to call my constituency "Wyre Valley". They will know it comprises Kidderminster, the home of the carpet industry, Stourport, with its docks at the junction of the Midlands waterways with the Severn and Bewdley, the gorgeous Georgian town and ancient port, all in the loveliest north-west corner of Worcestershire.
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That we have interest in local history was amply demonstrated at last Saturday's History Day organised by the Wyre Forest Historical Research Group. 
Here local historians from Historical Research Groups and Societies from Bewdley, Chaddesley Corbett, Shrawley and District, Wolverley and Cookley, the Carpet Museum Trust and an expert on the Kidderminster and Stourport Electric Tramway met to describe their work and findings. 
What a wealth of knowledge we have here already!

R.T.

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