COUNCILLOR Alan Pemberton has issued a clarion call that Barrow’s community leaders unite behind the bay barrage.

The message is that we should not let our scepticism or pessimism get in the way and if we end up talking it down, it will never happen.

He has a point of sorts. No-one ever achieved anything by declaring it’s too big, would cost too much or would never happen.

We’re sure our friends across the bay never imagined that sunny Morecambe would be chosen as the base for a northern Eden project.

But councillor Wendy Maddox also makes a factual intervention, reminding us that traffic could use the barrage to leave Barrow, just as easily as it comes in.

That’s not a negative - it’s a fact.

And she goes further, saying it has the potential to kill off the town centre.

It’s a fair point. Would a bridge make companies such as Marks & Spencer view Barrow more attractively - given the potential for more trade and reduced transport costs to deliver fresh goods?

Or would company bosses, forever looking at the bottom line, use it as an excuse to withdraw completely from the town - telling us that we have a choice just across the bay!

Until some of these issues are addressed, the town may well remain split on whether it's a good or bad idea.