Re: Town Centre Changes
 

Would have to be far more than that if people have been out on the lash:D

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What Accrington Town Centre could do with is some form of masterplan to attract some of the bigger retailers. There seems to be permanent whispering going on about the Arndale Centre but no actual progress so that could do with sorting out. The odd 'big hitter' popping up for six months and then closing isn't going to be much good on its own so we need a few at once to try and get more people shopping there again.

I've spent a fair bit of time in Accy this past six months and as someone who hasn't grown up here I'm not as critical as those who have watched its decline. That isn't to say that there isn't room for plenty of improvement but it isn't quite the hole that some of you seem to think.

It always manages to get money out of me each time I visit, all that counts surely?

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always gets money outa me ken, trouble is wi that there aint enough of us, hence traders keep closing.:eek:

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Maybe, just maybe, if money had been spent on the Town Centre instead of the Globe Centre, things may not have been as bad as they are now, the demise of Accy town centre started long before 2000

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I can't really comment on that as it was long before my time but we've been told to stop parking on The Globe Centre car park because there isn't enough room for the new staff as well as HBC employees.

Can't be too bad an investment?

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Ken there was nothing wrong with the concept of the Globe Centre at all, my argument at the time was to use the money raised by the sale of council assets on the Town Centre and use private finance on the Globe Centre, I had many an argument with Nigel Rix on this front, but he wouldn't have it

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Never heard of the bloke until this morning, but the smallest amount of digging has given me another glimpse of Hyndburn's past.

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Look and learn Ken, look and learn:rolleyes:

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I seem to recall the Idiot in Chief splashing out oodles of cash on just such a plan a couple of years ago, commissioned from some flash Manchester agency. Can it be that it is out of date so soon?

One of the main problems is that the bog standard response of the council and private landlords to falling revenues is to raise rents. The creation of a trading zone in the centre of town where rents and business rates are limited would have a profound effect on the viability and longevity of business start-ups and make Accrington once more into an attractive business proposition. And don't tell me it can't be done, there are ways and means around every legal obstacle (rate holidays, rent holidays, rent subsidies, etc etc). The Council should be the primary enabler when it comes to business, not the major hurdle.

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Does anyone know what happened to the Supermarket that was going to be added on to the side of the Arndale? Or was that just another Pipe dream?

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They can do it, when they want to.

'Boyd Hargreaves, Oswaldtwistle Mills managing director, said: "The Woolworths deal has worked really well for both parties. We were given a fantastic deal and our occupancy over the last 18 months has been commercially profitable for us.'

Future looking brighter as new store moves into town - Accrington Observer

:rolleyes:

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Was going to be a Sainsburys A-B .. but once Tesco got planning permisson, they threw in the towel .. I thought this was a much better proposition to be honest. A different type to Asda and being attached to the Arndale, would at least encourage people into the Arndale and across to the market. :(

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Thanks for that Katex, I guess there really is a limit to how many supermarkets one town can support.

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I can imagine how the conversation went :rolleyes:

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I thought that had shut down now