THE chief executive of Darlington Borough Council has told traders in the town that the council is listening to their concerns.

In recent months a number of traders based in the town centre have accused the authority of riding roughshod over their needs and introducing policies that damage the retail offer in Darlington.

During a discussion about the proposed budget for 2015-16, as featured in The Northern Echo yesterday, Ms Burns was asked for her views on the situation with traders and the accusation that the council does not listen.

She said: “There are a lot of traders in the town – I talk to traders and I know the leader [Councillor Bill Dixon] does too.

“We have the town centre board which is a platform to talk to traders and we have a council representative on the board of the business improvement district (Bid).

“There was an event hosted by Marks and Spencers for traders too, which we attended. There’s a diversity of views but it is tough for town centres right across the country.

“In relative terms we are doing alright and that’s because of the great offer that our traders are putting out there.

“We [the council] do have a role to play and we do realise that.

“We do hear the messages coming from traders – we listened about the car parking charges and increased the range of offers.”

Ms Burns pointed to plans to spend £500,000 to refurbish Darlington’s historic indoor market as an example of where the council was listening to traders.

She added: “It’s not the full refurbishment that we all want but it will make a significant difference.”

The chief executive said she had been looking into the idea of a Buy Local scheme for Darlington and noted that 400 people moving into the new Department of Education building due to open in the town centre in February would be a boost to retailers.

She added: “Slinging mud around isn’t going to help at all. We’ve all got a job to talk up the town centre.

“I think Darlington is doing pretty well. It is tough out there but we do hear and we do listen.”