It is a shame that the clock on Shipley's landmark market tower has broken down. As town centre manager Yvonne Crossley says, time standing still is not the impression Shipley wants to give people. Yet the estimated £50,000 cost of repairing the clock in compliance with health and safety regulations is frighteningly high.

It is clearly a clock that is much-loved by local people, although it is now generally acknowledged that the building it is part of is past its best and isn't the most attractive legacy of the 1960s. The Airedale Masterplan recognises that the market building is in a poor state and not particularly adequate for modern needs, and proposes a replacement.

Change is always difficult for some people to consider, but if it is possible to imagine a much more attractive building in place of the market - modern, perhaps, or a Victorian-style pastiche - wouldn't that be likely to create a completely different image for Shipley and help to bring in the shoppers and tourists it needs to survive and thrive? It would give it back some of the character it lost through the redevelopment of more than 40 years ago and might lead to some of the charity shops being replaced by the type of retail businesses residents are crying out for.

And wouldn't it be wonderful if the centrepiece of the new development was a striking new clock tower of at least the same height which could dominate the Shipley skyline and give the town's image a tremendous boost? Given that prospect, would it be worth spending £30,000 just to keep the old clock going for a while?