Alunh
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
This particular motion was just about optics, nothing more. No one wants to go into a vital negotiation process with aspects of the leverage cobbled for political reasons. Hardly surprisingly, the Wrexham MP stuck with the party line and by the look of the post so too did the wider party.
This looks like a nothing issue…….unless of course, you want to just play political games
Interesting
My understanding of these things (which is limited) is that the Government, indeed any Government, determines what elements of the NHS are open to the private sector. Accordingly, there has been since its inception a State/Private sector component of delivery. As you will be aware, Blair let elements of the NHS become open to private sector activity. The world of dentistry is an interesting one and Harold Wilson actually resigned from Atlee’s Government over the public-private split.
Which leads me on to the point. In a trade deal, which the UK is hoping to strike with a range of countries, one stumbling block (amongst many) is the refusal of the negotiating parties to allow their new found trade buddies access to that component of what is “private” and, in effect, exclude the partner from the “market” in such goods and services.
That does not mean that anyone is selling off anything to anybody, it just means that when a country is, will opportunities be open or closed.
The problem with these type of clauses is that they hack off negotiating parties and it doesn’t necessarily pay to over-burden the negotiations with such restrictions. Ultimately, if any Government is stupid enough to start pulling saleable NHS assets out of the hat, the electorate will punish them.
I happily stand to be corrected
Maureen (above) asks “Alunh, as much as I would welcome anything that improves the once thriving Town centre that I remember, but do you honestly believe cycling is the answer?”
Of course not. A scheme that places a bike hub in the centre of the town would never provide an answer to a big problem….and many are correct in the point about Wrexham’s terrain, the Wrexham “culture”, bike theft et al. All are barriers.
Times are different at the moment. We are going to have 12 months coming up when people will be nervous about buses (and similar) yet might want to venture into town. All I would say is that barriers and problems are merely things to be overcome if there is a will. The hub idea answers some of Matt’s points because a manned hub would make parking secure. I mention Queen’s Square because it is spacious and convenient (close to Cambria, the Library and town). Setting up a hub would be simple and merely be a question of the Council allowing a space and letting someone set up the business.
To me, if it brings in a few extra people per day, that will help. To rebuild the town which is already creaking will be very difficult, possibly impossible. To succeed won’t come courtesy of some big fat magic wand but lots of tiny steps all coming together
In another lifetime, I would have loved to have done this job. Whilst many people presume that reinvigorating the Secondary Schools in Wrexham will be a challenge, the real challenge is to go up against a system of Education that holds back the children of Wales before it begins.
Many will argue it’s about Resources. Of course, it’s always about Resources…..but that won’t sort out the problem. Others will argue that Wrexham has various social and economic problems that constrain success. That’s always the way……but constraints are there to be overcome.
The real challenge is to find a way of ensuring that each child of Secondary School age in Wrexham can fulfil his or her potential…..and in order to do that, that each and every child is placed in a school setting that matches the child’s ability, attitude, aspirations and endeavour. That is currently not occurring
Comparing towns is a problematic game but so too is comparing comparable towns. You have to factor in the nature of the infra-structure, the nature of the competition, the cultural variables in play, and so on. Oddly enough, WCBC did go to one group of “experts” Quarterbridge, but even there, many of the snippets of their report that emerged suggested an organisation that had a patchy understanding of the specifics of Wrexham.
Constructing the best Market structure in Wales should be the ambition of our Council, but if they (lazily) adopt wholesale a template from a successful town somewhere else (with differing factors in play), it might all be a waste.
Shops will come and go over the years….for a range of reasons. Mine is closing in two and a bit weeks. In my case, trade is not the reason for going as this has been my best trading year in this configuration. The real question is are the conditions good for fresh shops to enter the equation behind those leaving.
At the moment we have a mixed picture……but there are many positive signs in play as well as the negatives
I’m not going to pre-judge the ambition or the vision
BUT
You cannot just pluck a template out of the air without looking at all of the factors on the table that have shaped one town’s successful Market…………..and then compare the factors in play that you have yourself……and assess viability.
To give you an example. FOOD
I’ve seen various kinds of Food offers in various types of Market. Food is a Market pull. You will get the Food on Sale variety, the Food to eat variety, the Food to eat as part of the nightlife variety, etc. Once you say, for example, that Market A does Food selling and does well, it may well be the case that Market A is located next to a spacious Car Park or adjacent to a Bus Station. I mention this because in Truro the Market backs on to the Bus Station. In Wrexham, the Butcher’s Market is located away from a Car Park and a fair distance away from the Bus Station. Would a Wrexham template based upon Food Retail work with the town as presently configured in terms of Access?
Once you appreciate that the answer to the above is not necessarily Yes, that leads you onto the next question. Can we achieve an outcome by tweaking an Access factor. Could the High Street (for example) provide any kind of solution? Could Market Street Car Park be Short Stay free?
Unless whoever is projecting forward is shrewd where Retail is concerned, they will pour cash into an Abyss. Already many traders are concerned that they will be left dangling and perhaps squeezed out of the equation. Please convene some sort of meeting of people who understand the fine nuances in these sorts of developments and thrash out the fine detail
I’m a bit uncomfortable about commenting on a post that seems to judge WCBC as a landlord…….but I do think that this particular issue needs to be fully discussed in public.
There appears to be money available to redevelop the Markets…..which is good……yet I note that that the train is already on the tracks concerning the development. That seems strange. In particular, what I haven’t noticed is any explanation of what the Council are trying to do with the various Indoor and Outdoor Markets that we possess, and how the money that is about to be deployed might be used most effectively to enhance these facilities and benefit the town accordingly.
WCBC has had a considerable amount to do with the Manchester Metropolitan University over the last decade and this University has done some sterling work on the Market and Retail sector. Their various pieces of work all seem to indicate that towns like Wrexham really do prosper if they ensure that they possess excellent Markets and that, in turn, such Markets (and the Independent sector) are pressed forward as part of any marketing strategy.
Unfortunately, whilst money has been occasionally been thrown at the Markets, they have never had the type of root and branch rejigs that will make them fit for purpose. Living evidence of this can be seen with Ty Pawb with its many excellent bits but lack of coherent whole. Generally the main theme of academic work has been to make the Market offer coherent, logical, varied, exciting and, most of all, accessible. The naked eye does not lie where our Markets are concerned. It is an incoherent mish-mash with its topography all over the place.
The money sounds great…..but so too would an attempt to explain the template being followed
The ground’s been more than covered above but I would add one point.
Mold has decided to make the Market part of its identity and it runs right down the main street. When it rains or is cold, a main street will still have a foot-flow and the traders know it. The equivalent in Wrexham would be Regent Street or in the Hope Street/Queen Street part of town. Once traders knew that they were going to trade on the main artery of the town they would come back week after week, particularly if priority was given to those traders who were “loyal” attendees to the town’s market. Whitchurch has developed the main street theme even more and what they do would be a useful guide as well
Quite agree on all of the other comments that have been made
Eagles Meadow probably kept M & S in Wrexham. Whilst many people on social media harp on about M & S coming back into town, it would be hard to reconcile that fact with the M & S requirement of having an adjacent Car Park (or similar access).
Wrexham town centre is less accessible than the parade in Borras
