Re: Fake shops
 

Oh no Barrie, he will be instructed to pop on here and put the record straight, can't have the plebs thinking Myles and his dedicated team are wasting council tax payers cash can we:rolleyes:

Re: Fake shops
 

Chip shop Less:confused: what's one of them:rolleyes:

Re: Fake shops
 

A place where you could get a battered plaice, good wholesome grub that filled you up without emptying your pocket and if you really wanted to go daft you could have a bit of gravy but don't ask for owt' else, they think you're a bit above yourself just asking for gravy.
:)

Re: Fake shops
 

Miles. It's spelled MILES. It's printed in The Accrington Observer at least once a week, please don't tell me it needs to be on every page in every story for ten years before you get this one right?

No I haven't been 'instructed' as I knew nothing about this until today but my interest was piqued by another ludicrous sum being bandied about without anyone bothering to do their research. The shop frontage is not costing £100k, it is being paid for out of a £100k pot.

Why let facts get in the way of a sensational Accyweb thread, eh?

Re: Fake shops
 

£100K, or 100 Pence the whole charades a sodding joke.:rolleyes:

Re: Fake shops
 

Actualy I'd rather have a bright fake shop front than one that is boarded up or otherwise looks empty. It helps to make the streets a bit less off-putting to people which is surely not a bad thing.

Re: Fake shops
 

Why if its costing our money? which i'm sure could be much better spent.:rolleyes: First ask why are the shops empty? ask why many have stopped frequenting town as much as they used.? Its not rocket science.

Re: Fake shops
 

I think that is the crux of the matter.
We have a market that is more empty stalls than occupied ones.
We have an Arndale shopping centre that is almost the same...full of vacant shops...Broadway too is losing shops.

There really needs to be a concerted effort into getting the rents and the rates for the shops to a reasonable level...one where a trader stands a decent chance of making a living.The place is an embarrassment......and fake shops will cure that?
Even if they cost nothing to fabricate, they do nothing to bring people into the town......it is just another lunatic scheme to paper over the cracks.

Re: Fake shops
 

Spot on, i have visited many towns, all have closed shops, Accrington in my opinion has many more than anywhere else we have visited. Which i find disgraceful,when it used to be a vibrant little town,:eek:

Re: Fake shops
 

Exactly. Most towns are suffering from the effects of the recession, the rise of internet shopping etc. However, I defy anyone to show me a centre as dead as Accrington's. I've said it till I'm blue in the face - go and look at Bury town centre - it's thriving and it's a 20 minute tram ride from the biggest shopping centre in the North of England!

Re: Fake shops
 

What i found ironic this lunch time in the Arndale, was Thomas Cook had a sign in the window telling customers they are not closing. If that aint a sign of the times, don't know what is.

Re: Fake shops
 

Yeah..let's pick on spelling, much easier than explaining why Rishton keeps getting allocated money over other areas much more in need...20k for planning cafes, supermarkets and shops in a village with 2 supermarkets, a spar, 2 cafes, a restaurant and umpteen shops, 10k for allotments and 5k for looking at unadopted roads.

But hey, coming from a guy who has probably made more sensational posts about the former council (before he was elected) than an amalgam of any 5 other members of this forum..why let facts get in the way!

You and Graham Jones exemplify what is wrong with the politics of this country...when you were looking for votes you were all over this forum, since you both have been accountable you have been conspicuous by your absence, chipping in occasionally usually to bemoan that you are misunderstood or that you know better than us plebs. (And in Graham Jones's case it's probably because some unpaid intern has copy/pasted the info from Google for him beforehand)

I don't like Jay's political stance, but I would never stoop so low as to use spelling or grammar as an argument against his political leanings. How far has the socialist ideal fallen that it attempts to make political gain over spelling....pathetic

Re: Fake shops
 

these fake shops give the illusion of a prosperous property

why not do more than provide illusions

mind you politics is all about illusions i suppose

seriously before i got struck with a very serious illness i was about to start my own buisness in accrington which i am extreemly good at but now with no funds i cant get a foothold and to see money blown on making a property appear prosperous instead of helping someone do something with that property really get on my tits no matter how little or large the amount be

Re: Fake shops
 

I understand that the lady who owns the now defunct Baxenden Post Office Building still has to pay Business Rates even though the PO is closed and the property for sale - are all the "shops" on Blackburn Rd which are permanently shuttered also paying the full Business Rate or have they received change of use status?
Perhaps one of our elected members can advise, although I won't hold my breath awaiting a response - I have tried not to make any spelling mistakes in order that I do not fall foul of the new Spelling Commisar.:rolleyes:

Re: Fake shops
 

Bury is much bigger than Accrington and its Council has a much bigger budget than Hyndburns. As usual HBC's website is not easy to fins information on and I could not find the full budget figures except for them having a capital program of £6.3 million which includes over £4 million for Woodnook. Take the £4 million for the questionable Woodnook scheme off and you have £2.3 million capital for everything else.

Bury's website has figures for 2012/13 as being a capital program of £15 million, a housing revenue budget of £30 million and a revenue budget of £130 million.