The 57-year-old former Britain’s Got Talent finalist has spoken out in support of a campaign hoping to save the Mill Centre in Blackburn, West Lothian, from being demolished. According to The Sun, the mall is due to be demolished in order to build housing. Reports said 200 protestors came together at a community meeting last week after shops in Susan Boyle’s hometown were given eviction notices. “It would be a crying shame to lose these shops. It’s the heart of our village,” the star told the publication.
“So many people depend on them. It will make life very difficult for the elderly or people who can’t drive,” she continued.
The I Dreamed a Dream singer said the shopping centre meant a lot to the people of the town.
“It’s where we meet to have a blether, something to eat and we should all stand together to ensure they don’t close,” she said.
The West Lothian Council told the publication it was “disappointed” by the move.
They have invested £8.2 million creating a Partnership Centre, which includes a range of council and health services, early years and young people’s spaces and a sports hall, to act as a community hub next to the mall.
A spokesperson told the publication: “We believe the additional footfall this will generate has created opportunities for business.
“We will engage with the developer and tenants to try to ensure a positive future for retail and services.”
The owner of the shopping centre, G. Dunbar & Sons, is reportedly planning to close it down in March 2020.
Express.co.uk has contacted G. Dunbar & Sons asking for comment.
Susan, who was the runner-up on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, grew up in West Lothian.
After shooting to global fame following her incredible stint on the ITV talent show, she bought the three-bedroom ex-council house in Blackburn where she was raised.
The following year, she treated herself to a new five-bedroom pad on the other side of the town, splashing out a modest £300,000.
However, she found it difficult settling in what she referred to as “The Posh House” and subsequently moved her niece in and relocated back to her childhood home.
Susan became a household name after blowing the judges away with her first audition, during which she sang I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables.
After her astounding performance, Piers Morgan, 53, announced: “When you stood there with that cheeky grin and said, ‘I want to be like Elaine Paige,’ everyone was laughing at you. No one is laughing now.”
In recent years, Susan has stepped away from the spotlight after revealing she had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.
She recently returned to the spotlight in order to take part in America’s Got Talent: The Champions.