Regular readers of this column may recall that over the past couple of years I've had a few things to say about the town centre Market/Time Square development.

Just to reiterate, I hope it is a huge success but I do have one or two reservations.

I look forward to the multi-screen cinema revitalising the town's evening economy, reclaiming it for families rather than the teenage binge drinkers we seem to have now.

I also look forward to the introduction of new family dining establishments (although I would be a little happier if we could be told that some of them had actually signed up for the project.

On the down side, I do question the sheer size and scale of the building work. It's massive and I can't help but wonder if it's actually too big. It's the sort of thing you would expect to see in a big city rather than a town.

(But given Warrington's previous failed attempt to get city status, perhaps this is all part of some cunning plan.

Why have I revisited this topic,you may ask.

It's in response to a succinct letter in the Guardian from reader Len Halliwell who is quite clear what lies in store for Warrington and the Time Square development.

He wrote: "The cinema industry is on its backside in the USA, never mind Warrington.

"The cinema is a great white elephant and so is this work in Warrington town.

"It’ll be a total failure. End of story."

I genuinely hope Len's somewhat pessimistic view is wrong.

Anyway, given his assertion that the cinema industry is 'on its backside' I decided to do a little research and here's what I found on the website cinemauk.org.uk.

Cinema attendance records have been kept since 1935.

The website says: "From an historic high immediately post-war of 1.64 billion in 1946, UK cinema admissions gradually declined to an all-time low of just 54 million in 1984.

"Since that time, the advent of the multiplex, and record levels of investment in improving the theatrical experience (still ongoing), have seen admissions recover such that since 2000, they have remained (sometimes significantly so) above 150 million."

Over the past three years, national attendances have been: 2015, 171.50million; 2016, 168.30million; 2017, 170.60million.

These figures have been achieved at a time when the variety of methods of viewing your entertainment – smart TVs, box sets, on line, Netflix etc – has never been greater.

And in 2017, box office revenue was £1,277.88million, the highest figure since records began and up 2.5 per cent on the previous year.

Now I'm not pretending that everything in the garden is rosy but those figures don't seem to quite match Mr Halliwell's prediction.

Let's leave the last word on this to another reader chrislee1275@aol.com who posted on the Guardian's website: "I really do hope you are wrong!

"There is a lot of public money riding on this project (and I suspect the £139million current estimate will not be the full cost).

"That's our money and if we are going to have any chance of it even breaking even it has to succeed."

Anyone driving around Warrington through Woolston or Penketh can't fail to notice the grey boxes planted with small trees and plants strategically placed in the middle of the dual carriageways that run through those parts of town.

Apparently, they were part of some kind of 'green' project to help combat pollution from cars on those roads.

It was a laudable sentiment but at the time, I did question if the money could have been better spent elsewhere.

And now what do I think about them?

I think they are a mess.

If they are meant to provide a green and pleasant gateway to the town, they are failing dismally.

One can only hope that come spring, they will get the care an attention they need.

If not, I suspect the best thing to do is scrap them altogether.