Where are all the people

[Mark2009]

Parked on Arndale car park this morning and walked via Broadway to Market Hall and back. We saw very few people and was able to park where we wanted on the car park. Not quite tumbleweed blowing on Broadway but not far off.
It is such a shame that Accrington has been allowed to sink to this level.
Mark

[Less]

By the sound of the above, it isn't often you come into Accy or it wouldn't be such a shock, been going downhill for years perhaps it's our own fault for not using it regularly? Or maybe too much council interference killed the golden goose that looked after the thriving centre of the past?

[Mark2009]

You are right we don't go into Accy a lot probably because there is so little to go for. It just seemed worse today.
Did people stop going as the town was so different to the past, or did the changes happen because people stopped going? The arndale seems to have little purpose now, we go to Oddies but very little else. Occasionally call in the museum. Once Woolworths went and then quite a bit later M and S, the town no longer had a main shopping area.
Can it be revived? I would hope so but not sure.
Mark

[Margaret Pilkington]

Mark, I think the time for rejuvenating Accrington is long gone.
The town has been allowed to slide down the slippery slope of previously individual Industrial towns.
Some of the blame can be laid at the door of successive councils in their apathetic(or maybe that should be pathetic) attempts at turning around the rot.
The latest one was the chopping down of two beautiful mature chestnut trees in order to make a town square(these were said to be diseased, but looked healthy enough)...and one which cost the taxpayers of this borugh 1.5 million quid...not that the square cost that..it cost 3 million, but the rest was coughed up by the Heritage Trust Fund.

It is a wasteland of paving stones punctuated by a few Duckboard seats...said to represent the towns First World war heritage( the cynical old baggage in me thinks it was designated thus so that we, the people of the town would feel bad if we said anything against it).

Moving the Bus Station has been the death to the market...but it still says on the planters 'Floral Market Town'

Today was probably busier than other days if you went round the market..it seems the flea market attracts more folk than the real market...that might have something to do with the number and variety of stalls.

So tell me why can't the council put two and two together and make four...if variety and number of stalls equals a better footfall then why can't measures be put in place that would ensure market days were the same? A good footfall to the market usually will benefit other retailers too.
You tell me...because I don't know.

Some of the blame has to go to the folk who go out of town to shop to the retail parks..but even they are having a toughish time of it...or shop on the internet for convenience...but other towns manage to have a vibrant centre....markets that are well patronised(bury for instance)...close proxomity to Manchester should be a drawback, but it clearly isn't.

The Arndale is one of the most depressing places to visit(I usually hurry through it...there is little to make me stop and look around
The swish new bus station doesn't bring people in...it takes them away from what is a dire place to visit.

Accrington has absolutely nothing noteworthy to bring people into town.
I can't see that changing anytime soon.

[Margaret Pilkington]

One council( in the not so dim and distant past) spent a quarter of a million pounds on resurfacing Broadway with a few millimetres of resin surface.
This surface attracted dirt and chewing gum...it broke up leaving bald patches, the company who laid it were brought back to make good, but the finish is poor quality and has broken up still further and looks very shabby.
This is a main thoroughfare....and one which you have to cross if you come into town on the bus.
It adds to the raggedy, 'down at heel' look of the town.

It would have been far better to move the market onto Broadway and use the current market space as a bus station.
People would get off their bus in Peel street.....go into the market hall - possibly spend money in there....then go to the market on Broadway and maybe even to the Arndale.

The rental price of market stalls should be cut to the bone...far better economic sense to have a stall selling something and bringing in some revenue, than empty and deterring people from coming to the market.

It is just basic common sense, but then common sense is not that common.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I REALLY, REALLY should listen to cashy.
He is always telling me that you cannot put sense where there is none

[cashman]

Theres only one thing wrong with Accrington, has been for years, "The COUNCIL" couple of decent shops on warner st these days little else.

[MoreJoe]

Some years ago I returned to Accrington for a family funeral. I was shocked but not surprised at the dilapidated state of the retail shops in this once thriving market town.
The root cause was bloody obvious in that all the arteries into the town had been cut, constricted, redirected or generally screwed up. A town that could once be approached from all points of the compass had been cut off. Now you could only sneak up into it by circuitous route then wander around to find the least convenient parking space to access the place you really wanted to visit.
I hate to say it but you could see it coming. I put pen to paper and wrote to the Observer to give them my forecast of the dim future along with a "Cunning Plan" to restore the town arteries and invigorate the retail operations. I know what works and have seen successful implementations on five continents. It all hinges on accessibility and traffic. People who shop for essentials will spend considerable amounts on non essentials if they are marketed in the correct manner and are part of a vibrant pleasant shopping experience.
Sadly that no longer sounds like Accrington either now or ever again.
What a waste.
-Joe

[cashman]

hey joe thats correct, thing that happens these days though is if anyone says anything, people jump and say your running the town down, instead of accepting whats happened to our town, to me its as if they are brainwashed.

[Margaret Pilkington]

That is exactly what they are.
Few people these days want to think for themselves.
They are happy to be spoonfed media pap...they swallow it without a second thought.
That is a very sad fact of life

[monkey hanger]

being an out of towner with no agenda regarding the town centre all i can say is that my visits there get rarer and rarer as the years go on and its straight up to the wham for the match and straight home again. might stop off in colne if we need something on my way back. think those last few words tell it all.

[kestrelx]

Amazon - online shopping replacing the trip to the shops are there any big superstores around there?

[kestrelx]

That's happening all round the country now - and more noticeable in small place like Accy not to mention people ordering food shopping on line etc

[Frank T]

The changes I have seen on the odd visit (weddings/funerals)remind me that Accrington is going down the gurgler. I prefer to stay away and remember Accy as it was in the 50/60s. If you blame the council, think, who voted them into power? Sadly most cities and towns are going the same way.

[cashman]

I dont honestly think its anything to do with who voted em in Frank, Both Labour and Torys have been in, none of em really have been anything to write home about, as for the market hall and outside market its always been balloons running it, it was in mid 60s when i worked on it. and nothings changed no matter who is running the show.