eyeman
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My 6th form Geography dissertation in 1996-97 was on diversification of industrial estates on Teesside, back then many older heavy industrial sites had been demolished & the sites were attracting light industries, technology companies, in Middlesbrough a football stadium & in Stockton on Tees, a University. That was over 20 years ago & a lot has changed since then with web commerce. If incentives aren’t there for at such companies & rates are too high then this is simply diversification again. I’d rather see houses on brownfield sites over greenfield.
Ioan y Ffin, my “anecdote” was not a “diss” of the survey results, simply trying to add some perspective here as from many comments in these forums it’s clear people aren’t coming in to town as they think it’s invaded by “spiced up zombies” (their descriptions not mine). There’s clearly an undeniable problem in Wrexham with the town having the 2nd highest number of “homeless rough sleepers” in Wales but the negativity here from residents is so over hyped.
What you acknowledge is people like me and my family (and many others) don’t just visit the town to shop in high street budget shops/national chains but for leisure & pleasure. We certainly enjoyed listening to the local choirs sing at the singing streets festival. And how is having lunch in the Nightingale hospice shop cafe, buying handmade items off a stall in Ty Pawb, food and drink from local suppliers at the food festival not spending money on our local economy?! The town centre groups and the many small local businesses are putting a lot of effort in to improving the town’s reputation and dispelling a lot of myths and fears. It’s great to see so many more than the 1300 people surveyed supporting the town attending these events or just popping in to buy from our local businesses as well as the dwindling high street chains.
We may not “need” to visit town centres today but would you rather see our town centre destroyed and left to ruin?
Matt thank you for such a well balanced comment that I completely agree with.
I moved my family here 4 years ago and we regularly visit the town with our children including today and last weekend for the singing streets and the food festival the weekend before. We’ve never felt unsafe at all or afraid for the kids’ safety. Yes there are undesirables just like in any other small town. I’ve lived and worked in comparable towns in Wales and England and it’s certainly no worse here.
I’ve lived in towns with dead centres because locals stopped coming in to town (Bridgend and Pontypridd). It will be so sad if all the effort that’s being made to improve the town’s reputation is lost by people not visiting as they think they’re unsafe just because they may see some drugged up homeless people/people suffering from serious mental health problems walking around or sitting on benches spaced out. Get a grip. Last time I was in Manchester City centre there were such people sprawled out in the middle of the pavement and the thousands of people walking by didn’t seem to be scared! And our capital Cardiff has the same issues! Yes Chester and other more desirable shopping destinations are just up the road but I’d rather pop in to OUR town any day and support OUR local economy to keep it alive and to improve it for us and our children’s generation.
I’ve just started working in the town recently so I do see the undesirables daily at all times of the day and never feel unsafe although admittedly it maybe unpleasant to see someone taking drugs from my office window it doesn’t stop me popping out at lunch time and why should it?
Haha the rare treat of an enforced lie in on a work day & I forgot my grammar.
Note to self to try harder to be bothered.
Apparently my current work town is now getting a second McDonalds where the Morrison’s petrol station is supposed to be. So that will be a car park full of boy racers close to the new housing estate on the grounds of the old mental hospital which closed resulting in lots of interesting characters on the streets. Really Wrexham isn’t that bad a place to live!
Agree wholeheartedly with Ioan. I work in a County town over the border where I think it’s around 20% of shops are vacant & the Council essentially killed off 1 end of the town by allowing a new multimillion pound shopping centre to be developed at a far end of the town, which is only about a third of the size of Eagles Meadow while their staff enjoy a new HQ building which itself had vacant retail units (built beneath the Council offices) for months/years after opening. At the other end of this town a new Morrison’s was built but they then pulled out & sold the site as the Council refused them planning for a petrol station?! The store sat empty with a huge car park that used to be Council owned closed off for months/a year? The store has now had to be split in to smaller units by the new owners & half are empty. So Wrexham Council aren’t any worse than others! Rondetta that kind of problem is not unique to Wrexham. Aggressive begging is this week reported to be the number 1 issue of concern in Cardiff city centre. Homelessness & drugged up zombies are in all towns and cities. I regularly see them in towns/cities I travel to with work & have visited previously more than I do in Wrexham. I have thankfully never experienced any such behaviour myself but acknowledge sadly it exists-that shouldn’t put people off coming in to town & spending money in our local economy, it’s no worse here than elsewhere but is certainly over exaggerated in Wrexham which is a real shame. We should be thankful for what we have which is more than in other comparable towns & improving the street scene & footfall can only be a positive to bring new tenants in to these vacant units.
As a Dad I’m not particularly happy about my children’s music services being cut, nor am I happy about my Council Tax going up in April or having to pay for parking every time we go to walk our dog in one of our fine Country Parks. However, austerity and cuts is.. sadly.. ongoing and it’s not just here in Wrexham, all Councils across the UK are in this position. Are people criticising the Council’s bravery in giving our town something different saying that the Council should just be focusing on savings and not investing in the town’s future? Forgive me if I am wrong but Ty Pawb is not just about the arts (nothing wrong with that by the way), it is described as “A new cultural community resource for Wrexham”. It is about bringing money and investment in to Wrexham as well as promoting the arts (and saving money by relocating the Oriel) whilst providing a community resource. Businesses are being encouraged to set up stalls on Chester Street for the launch and there will be businesses located inside Ty Pawb. I wish I could convince my boss to allow me to set up a branch of our family business in there as the redevelopment looks fantastic, it will be great leisure and working environment. I personally am looking forward to having a mooch around Ty Pawb when it opens, like we did as a family in the old market, spending some money in there having a bite to eat or a coffee, putting some money back in to the local economy supporting small businesses whilst at the same time dipping in to the arts and encouraging local artists. It’s time people stopped moaning and got behind this project which is not just for the privileged few but everyone.
Also commend the calls to reduce speeding but as a former Ruabon resident I too didn’t notice speeding being any worse than other parts of town TBH. I’ve spent 2 out of the last 3 years using Bangor Road on my daily commute and it has been traffic calmed with 2 new humped zebra crossings, a widened pavement and a flashing warning sign however I seemed to be the only driver who bothered to take note slowing down to 20mph with so many impatient drivers behind me siting on my rear bumper. One even overtook me once while I was sat waiting to let someone with the right of way to pass the parked cars, she then proceeded to give me the bird! I personally don’t see the problem in slowing down for a couple of minutes whilst driving past a school and people’s houses! Take a breather for minute before putting your foot down (legally) on the bypass! Stop for a minute and think if you’d like to see people speeding right outside your front door or as your children come and go for school?
