Town Centre Changes

[jaysay]

RIP Dorothy

[BERNADETTE]

R.I.P. Dorothy, free from pain

[GEaston]

I was in Accrington yesterday, looking at a couple of places I'm renovating on Warner St. Was my fifth visit to the town, and I had the following outsiders perspective:

1) First visit to Warner St, and I really liked it. Nice shops and shopkeepers. Real character place. Town asset for sure.

2) Free parking in the town is great, but I had to move the car every couple of hours because of some dumb rule, combining with active traffic wardens. If people want to drive into the town, let them do that and stay, instead of moving them on!

3) Accrington strikes me as a dangerous place to walk around. Seems to be a magnet for groups of aggressive down and outs/ substance abusers. I am 6ft 10ins so rarely if ever feel threatened by anyone. I'm uncomfortable wandering around this town though because you never know what people high on something may do - logic and reason play no part so in their decision making process which combines with desperation to make them dangerous. A very high percentage of people I see in Accrington centre are like this relative to other places.

4) re 3) god only knows what drifts around the streets at night.

5) Made my first visit to the Victorian arcade bottom of Warner. What a shambles. Great potential, but ruined by abandoned shops (littered with the debris of former tenants), and what business does exist such as the furniture store seems to have to put up with damp and other building issues due to lack of landlord investment. I can see why no one will ever be drawn to this arcade other than as a shortcut to get from one part of the town to another. Pity because if properly sorted that arcade could be great, and a focal point for the town.

6) Didn't see any police presence anywhere.

7) Saw that ugly building that Pugh auctions sold. Like Arndale it should be demolished and turned into a park. Still amazed someone looked at it and thought "yeah, great potential", or for that matter the town planners who 30 years ago thought "yes, beautiful, really like small windows and slate tile on the building walls, this is the future.....approved".

So I agree with the comments made on this thread about the responsibility for a good chunk of the towns problems being with the council. They've done some things right like the Tesco near the railway and upgrading the infrastructure around that, but there is so much more they could and should do in the town.

On a positive note I met one of my tenants on a building I renovated on St James street. She said she had never considered moving her business into Accrington until she saw the quality of my building and its rental price. She moved her startup business in and is very happy (nice street, great Tesco etc), and has expanded to 4 local people. This is a good example of how creating a quality environment draws people and jobs into the town. Council can and should do this on a far larger scale than I can.

[Less]

I was in Accrington Yesterday,

1) 30 or so years ago plenty of Streets and shops similar to what you describe, all wasted by 'progress'.

2) When you get used to the centre you'll find the odd little oasis where you can still park all day without having to move, (or do what the majority seem to do, steal a blue badge and park where you want when you want).

3) Accrington isn't a dangerous place, however some of the human derelicts would have that potential if it wasn't that they seem to be tolerated by the authorities far more than an upright citizen.

4) Follow the Veg' trail that falls out of late night revelers kebabs and you will either find yourself in a doorway that has a multicoloured yawn or else a urine puddle in it, always an indication of the night life's sophistication, though to be fair there seem to be fer-rel folk that aren't house trained all over the Country.

5) Yes the Arcade is a mess, perhaps this could be improved by hiding the empty shops behind the giant posters the Council was proposing?

6) Only time you don't see them driving up and down with their blues & twos going would be when they wander from pub to pub on a Saturday afternoon giving a warm welcome to away fans coming for a Stanley match.

7) Yes it is ugly, perhaps yes, it should be knocked down, but we don't need another park we need either retail or industrial units at a low rent.

You never know you may be the start of an upturn, if others have realised the potential of the town maybe we will get some further investment? The real people of the town would enjoy that.

[flashy]

I see Accy has yet another poundshop, a huge one, next door to The Calder, walked through the Arndale last week, it is a sad sad site, even the charity shop that was in there for a short time, has now gone, it won't be long before that place is totally empty, it was such a nice, busy place when it was first built, will The Arndale end up being knocked down? Maybe the shops will be turned into flats and we will end up with no town centre in Accrington, I hope not, I would rather shop in Accy than in the town where I have called home for the last 17 years

[cashman]

I would also prefer to shop in accy n still do virtually daily, but these days only fer certain things, cos theres sod all much apart from fruit n veg @ meat.

[Aussie Irene]

Originally Posted by cashman

I would also prefer to shop in accy n still do virtually daily, but these days only fer certain things, cos theres sod all much apart from fruit n veg @ meat.

Just remember everything gets closed down in the name of progress

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Aussie Irene

Just remember everything gets closed down in the name of progress

Not to the extent we got, Bury 10 miles down the road is still thriving in comparison.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by cashman

Not to the extent we got, Bury 10 miles down the road is still thriving in comparison.

Do they not have a higher population and more money to spend than Accrington has?

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Neil

Do they not have a higher population and more money to spend than Accrington has?

Yeh i would imagine they have a bigger population, but if yeh look around E.Lancs at other towns, many centres are doing far better n us. simple fact.

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by cashman

Yeh i would imagine they have a bigger population, but if yeh look around E.Lancs at other towns, many centres are doing far better n us. simple fact.

We are probably better than any of them for the percentage of closed shops - walked through the Arndale yesterday morning, didn't count but it looked as though there were as many vacant shops as open ones.
The more shops close the less attractive the town becomes to shoppers, they go somewhere else, more shops close - will the last one out switch off the lights.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Barrie Yates

We are probably better than any of them for the percentage of closed shops - walked through the Arndale yesterday morning, didn't count but it looked as though there were as many vacant shops as open ones.
The more shops close the less attractive the town becomes to shoppers, they go somewhere else, more shops close - will the last one out switch off the lights.

Thats me point we go quite a few different places n also know Wynonies been around different places to me, we both come to same conclusion i reckon.

[Mick]

There you go 1 new shop open

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by cashman

Thats me point we go quite a few different places n also know Wynonies been around different places to me, we both come to same conclusion i reckon.

I know I keep banging on about this, but quite often I go into Leigh for my daily brew and a spot of shopping with Mrs H. It's a similar-sized post-industrial town and like Accy, is sandwiched between two bigger towns - Wigan and Bolton. It has none of the fantastic Victorian architecture that we have or attractive little shopping streets like Warner Street. Despite that, it's always far, far busier than Accy. The market hall is a featureless concrete shed but it's usually packed because it's full of stalls selling things that folk want to buy - no empty spaces for "performance art" here! The shopping centre next door ("Spinningate") is similarly thriving with just one empty shop at the moment.

Leigh isn't just an isolated example either; there are many more similar-sized towns - Chorley's another one - that are all far busier than Accy.

Incidentally, Leigh bus station is smack dab in the middle of the town centre, right next to the market hall and shopping centre. Common sense really isn't it?

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

I know I keep banging on about this, but quite often I go into Leigh for my daily brew and a spot of shopping with Mrs H. It's a similar-sized post-industrial town and like Accy, is sandwiched between two bigger towns - Wigan and Bolton. It has none of the fantastic Victorian architecture that we have or attractive little shopping streets like Warner Street. Despite that, it's always far, far busier than Accy. The market hall is a featureless concrete shed but it's usually packed because it's full of stalls selling things that folk want to buy - no empty spaces for "performance art" here! The shopping centre next door ("Spinningate") is similarly thriving with just one empty shop at the moment.

Leigh isn't just an isolated example either; there are many more similar-sized towns - Chorley's another one - that are all far busier than Accy.

Incidentally, Leigh bus station is smack dab in the middle of the town centre, right next to the market hall and shopping centre. Common sense really isn't it?

Spot on about Leigh Wyn its like Regent Street compared to Accy, My other half lives in the next town and I often went shopping with here, in fact she won't even entertain shopping in Accy when she's over, the nearest to doing any shopping over here is Ossy Mills