Town Centre Changes

[US Angel]

Will there even be an Accrington next time I visit?

[Judith Addison]

The Great Harwood Farmers' Market is now held on Town Gate, the main square in the centre of Great Harwood, on the first Sunday morning of the month - there's one this Sunday. I haven't had chance to go yet but I believe it's very popular! As Gayle says, it isn't a Council initiative although they now have some involvement. There are some residents pressing for a Farmers' Market in Oswaldtwistle but we would have to find a site and it would need someone to back it in the way that Gaskell Motorbodies do in Great Harwood.

[Judith Addison]

Was the mill facing the Pickups Arms not Clifton Mill? Where Ossy Mills Conference Centre is now?

[Judith Addison]

People have been enquiring whether the Accrington Town Team is an open forum. Rob Grigorjevs, the Town Centre Manager, said that it included representatives from town centre businesses but that if members of the public had concerns they were better contacting him by phone or e-mail and he would give an individual reply. However, yesterday a local business woman told me she had gone to the recent meeting and - shall we say? - expressed her opinions in a forthright manner!

[GEaston]

As promised I'd like to update folk on the discussions I have had with the council on the Town Plan.

Firstly I had an excellent exchange with the guy in charge of the town plan Rob Grigorjevs. Unlike some other council contacts I've had he responded immediately and fully to the questions I posed, and we had a good debate about the town's issues. This is positive because it is important that the town's leaders do all they can to attract investment into the town, and part of that is creating an environment conducive to doing so.

Rob was open about the challenges facing the town given the size of the problem and budgetary constraints that economic realities pose. Half the problem it seems to me is the fact that hard up commercial enterprises in many cases own the historic or important real estate (thinking Arndale, Warner St Arcade, Conservative Club and doubtless many others) but where that is not the case the council is able to make more of a direct impact - such as the Market Hall upgrades, Railway Station/Tesco infrastructure upgrades, St James Churchyard upgrade, Bus station and Blackburn Road improvements.

I know the location of the new Bus Station is a contentious issue, but I leave that aside for the purposes of this post which is about what the council can do and is/has done in relation to the former Accrington Town Centre plan.

No doubt people will want to shoot me down for saying this but I call it as I see it based on my own experiences. I like what I see from Rob so far, and I have an open invitation to meet with him and other council leaders to discuss town improvement. Opportunities for me are not at all out of line with what the council seeks which is private help to improve the town, so I will take up the offers I have to meet with a range of council folk when I'm next in the UK in early August.

I also think it is encouraging that the council's leaders are genuinely interested in feedback on the experiences we have with the many parts of the council. I have many of these both positive and negative and a frank assessment of these will be passed to the councils leaders when I get the chance to meet with them.

Summary (entirely from my perspective which is the only perspective I have) would be so far so good.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Gayle

The reason the farmers market is in Great Harwood is because it was started by local business man Nick (might be Neil sorry) Gaskell from Gaskell motors. It was originally on their land but it started to get quite decent so they then had words with the council who supported the move to town gate and who now work on it as a joint initiative.

I already knew how it started but you didn't need to spoil my rant

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Neil

I already knew how it started but you didn't need to spoil my rant

Somebody has too, it just happened to be Gayle's turn

[lancsdave]

Update on Arndale shops. Textile Direct eventually closed down a few weeks ago. One that suprised me this morning is the Gold shop next door has also closed, apparently a couple of weeks ago.

[magpie]

The Market Hall and Market is getting more footflow... in fact the Market hall is almost full

[cashman]

Originally Posted by magpie

The Market Hall and Market is getting more footflow... in fact the Market hall is almost full

Can yeh explain that please magpie? Almost full of what? There are much less stalls than ever there was, a large space fer people to sit around, were i have seen odd displays put on, a museum of accy (very welcome it is, but still aint stalls) If also its getting more footflow, i am glad, But my question would be,Are the traders noticing n increase?

[Wynonie Harris]

The market hall's an empty, echoing shell, a mere shadow of the lively, bustling place it once was. Like the open market, the council decided to meddle with predictably disastrous results.

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by magpie

The Market Hall and Market is getting more footflow... in fact the Market hall is almost full

The Market has more occupied stalls on "Tat Days" than on Market days.

[smiley face]

Shopping in Accy is like shopping in a ghost town. Cannot believe what is happening to the Arndale.

[Less]

Originally Posted by smiley face

Shopping in Accy is like shopping in a ghost town. Cannot believe what is happening to the Arndale.

Why not? It's only an upmarket distributer of tat.
We need to be back to basics, all in it together, starting at grass roots, finding the right mix, willing to join in, less selfish and wanting to improve our lot, before anything useful can ever be done.

I'd help but I'm tired from trying to think of all the phrases that supposedly would get us enthused about the situation.

[Margaret Pilkington]

and when all is said and done...there is more said, than done!