Beauty surrounds, health abounds

I love Morecambe. For years the butt of everyone's jokes (such as: Morecambe props its dead people up in bus shelters to make the place look busy - hilarious), this summer the reopening of the blingtastic Midland Hotel has shunted Morecambe into the broadsheets and glossy magazines, in a good way, as never before.

What I admire about Morecambe is the way that it treasures its natural assets, understanding their value for everyone, resident or visitor. Since the arrival in 2001 of the statue by Graham Ibbeson of Eric Morecambe, the beautiful and thoughtful tern project has developed the promenade with the aim of encouraging people just to enjoy Morecambe's stunning seafront. Inspiration and life-affirming wellbeing for free.

Skirting over the teething problems of running The Midland (as I said, I love Morecambe), I hope the momentum for change that the revived hotel has brought to the town, won't turn the heads of those behind its regeneration and that they continue to cherish its unique, natural landscape above all.

Plans to build on the sea-side of the promenade are being hotly debated in The Visitor and the second English pier to be destroyed this year by fire highlights the problems of maintaining those coastal assets that no longer draw the crowds. Morecambe used to have two piers and a stunning lido, all of which provided great ways to take in the sea air. Instead of building a block of flats next to the Midland, where the relatively few people who live in them can grab some of the best views, can Morecambe find a way to make the views pay and benefit everyone?

What Southwold Pier has created is great but Morecambe doesn't yet attract the numbers of well-heeled visitors (or down-at-heel Prime Ministers) that would make a pier a good bet. But I for one would love to sit in an office on a pier - could Morecambe create a new workplace pier with public areas for everyone to enjoy too?

Or a marina that would attract sea-faring visitors to the town, revenue for local business owners and more reasons for Sandgrownuns to promenade along the promenade.