Fake shops

[susie123]

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

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.

 

[cashman]

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.

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

 

[Margaret Pilkington]

First ask why are the shops empty? ask why many have stopped frequenting town as much as they used.? Its not rocket science.

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.

 

[cashman]

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.

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,

 

[Wynonie Harris]

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,

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!

 

[cashman]

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.

 

[Guinness]

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?

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

 

[accyman]

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

 

[Barrie Yates]

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.

 

[Neil]

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!

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.

 

[jaysay]

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.

They don't need to falsify shop facades to stop it looking off putting Susie they just need to do something about the Maundy Army that make the centre such an unattractive place for people to come shopping, that costs nothing.

 

[jaysay]

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 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

Spot on Guinness, I've stated before that the Squire of Rishton, was a seven day a week member when he was slagging Britcliffe of every day, yet since being elected and his mob taking control he's been very conspicuous with his absence, mind you the appearances might just rise over the next few weeks, its the silly season, better known as vote for us time again

 

[jaysay]

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

Quite right accyman politics is about illusions better known in the trade as smoke and mirrors

 

[Wynonie Harris]

s

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.

Firstly, it's not just about budget alone. Go to Bury and, apart from the usual quota of chavs found in most towns, you will not find an assortment of deadbeats and junkies wandering around as you do in Accy.

Secondly, Bury's an extreme example. You can go to other towns, some of which are an equivalent size and they all seem to be busier. Why?

 

[jaysay]

s

Firstly, it's not just about budget alone. Go to Bury and, apart from the usual quota of chavs found in most towns, you will not find an assortment of deadbeats and junkies wandering around as you do in Accy.

Secondly, Bury's an extreme example. You can go to other towns, some of which are an equivalent size and they all seem to be busier. Why?

Take a look at Leigh, near Wigan, its as busy as a beehive in contrast to Accy

 

[Wynonie Harris]

Take a look at Leigh, near Wigan, its as busy as a beehive in contrast to Accy

Quite right. Same size as Accy, sandwiched between Wigan and Bolton like Accy is between Blackburn and Burnley. A distinctly undistinguished looking town centre - none of the superb Victorian buildings that Accy has. The market hall's a concrete shed. Yet it's far, far busier than Accy and, although there are empty shops, there's nowhere near the number you'll see in Accy.

Why?

 

[jaysay]

Quite right. Same size as Accy, sandwiched between Wigan and Bolton like Accy is between Blackburn and Burnley. A distinctly undistinguished looking town centre - none of the superb Victorian buildings that Accy has. The market hall's a concrete shed. Yet it's far, far busier than Accy and, although there are empty shops, there's nowhere near the number you'll see in Accy.

Why?

Maybe the Squire of Rishton, can persuade Myles, oops sorry Miles to commission a report as to why this is, after all it would appear that the only requisite one needs to be a councilor in Hyndburn these days is to be totally deaf and walk about with blinkers on when in the town centre

 

[Less]

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?

We already know about Jays spelling and enjoy the fact that he has a natural talent to screw it up, no harm done there really is there?

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.

A 100k pot for what? Has a full 100k been put to one side for doing up all of our empty shops? Or is it part of a squanderlust fund that can be dipped into for just about any hairbrained schemes someone comes up with?

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

From what I understand this story broke in the Obbo, perhaps they thought it important enough to sensationalise this ridiculous state of affairs, money that could be better spent during these austere times on real projects that would actually help the community of Hyndburn.

As Marge P said, just papering over the cracks, or would you prefer the tale of the emperors clothes? Spend plenty and get nothing?

 

[Margaret Pilkington]

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.

Neil, I take your point about Bury having a bigger budget, but it isn't just about budgets, it is about the way the town markets itself.

Bury cannot compete with Manchester and its variety of big name shops...though to be fair Bury does have its share of those........I don't think that is what draws the people to it.
So what does draw the people into this town?

It has a vast and thriving traditional market. Something that Manchester, as a city, does not have....so it not only draws people from the small towns around it....it draws from the city too.

I have rarely seen this market quiet.....and if you go midweek, it is still thronged with people....because the coaches that bring people to the coastal towns of the northwest, make it one of their excursions.

Ramsbottom is another very small town. In the shadow of Manchester and Bury....but this little town always seems to have a good footfall.....why?
Because it has something to bring the people from outside the region in....the railway and the diverse independent little shops.

There are lessons to be learned, but it appears that HBC don't really want to learn them...they want to extract business rates from empty shops....they want to allow the detritus of society to drive would be visitors away from the town...and are happily supporting the building of a new bus station which will do exactly that for them.......for a back hander from TESCO.....Well done Tesco. That is another town you have helped to ruin.

 

[jaysay]

Wonder why when Councillor's, are elected they get the weeeeeeeee factor, that's the noise they make when throwing rate payers money about like confetti, its like its not ours we'll spend it as we want, wonderful