WITH reference to the article ‘As a place to live? It’s the last resort’ and found within the Voices page of the Echo recently.

I think the author, Rebecca Adams, has grasped the situation within the Weymouth area very astutely and to a great extent has summed up, in a nutshell, the problems of a seasonal tourist destination such as Weymouth i.e. low wages, limited career opportunities, the need for very basic skill requirements and job insecurity.

It is no wonder that Rebecca states that “I cannot count a single person who I have studied with or worked with who does not want to move out of Weymouth”. This is a very insightful remark and if allowed to continue will only exacerbate the decline of the area.

This area needs the young, able and ambitious to drive the area forward.

Unfortunately this is not a new problem and mirrors my own thoughts and actions, such that even as far back as 1980 I had to move out of the area to pursue my own career aspirations and profession.

So this is not a short-term issue and has been allowed to continue without correction for far too long. It certainly did not help when the Royal Navy, various research establishments, various long-term industries and the harbour trade started shutting down, or moving out, in the 1980s and 90s.

Recent debacles such as the Condor moment and the council having to vacate the town, it is supposed to serve, are examples of the way things are down this way at the moment.

So what is to be done? To my own mind I would certainly place less emphasis upon the tourism trade and stop obsessing about the beach (which paradoxically is both a blessing and a hindrance).

I would certainly embrace the opportunities forthcoming from the creative industries and digital evolution; and I would get the dual harbours of Weymouth and Portland working to their full potential.

In Portland’s case this obviously requires better transport access e.g. Western Route. But the biggest single event I believe would boost the prospects of this area would be the foundation of a proper, fully-fledged university; offering courses in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

This would surely entice students into the area (hence contributing to a dynamic and year- long economy) but also persuade the more ambitious locals to stay within the area and develop their own careers and entrepreneurial ideas.

Hopefully it would also entice inward investment and various leading employers into the area; possibly in areas such as software engineering, cyber security etc. And which do not require excellent transport links to prosper, rather excellent minds.

I applaud the local council for coming up with a masterplan for the central Weymouth area, and my goodness it needs it, but much more needs to be done to arrest the decline.

This area has fantastic potential, but it is now time to realise this potential and bring it into fruition. There is life beyond the beach.

Jeremy Bull Khartoum Road, Rodwell Weymouth