The meeting has been set up by the new Craigavon Retailing Forum, a council driven initiative to get traders from across the borough together and developing new ideas. One of the traders who has been a driving force behind the project said it was important as many traders as possible from Lurgan and Portadown attended. He said: "This is something new and something we have never thought of before and it needs to be supported by as many as possible." Traders said Lurgan and Portadown had existed in isolation from one another while central Craigavon at Rushmere flourished. At the forum's first meeting a number of new ideas were voiced, "some of them were very radical," said the trader. "Portadown should promote Lurgan and vice versa. This was something that hasn't been thought of before, uniting the two towns. "Some traders have a negative feeling toward the council because of the development of Rushmere and they feel Lurgan and Portadown have missed out. "But the council deserves a bit of credit, now we have to unite as traders and tell them what we want and how we move forward." The meeting of the Craigavon Retailing Forum takes place in the civic centre from 6pm tonight (Thursday), for further information and to register your interest contact Paul Kavanagh on 3831 2400.