A housing idea.

[Workingman]

Ah, a part of town not used apart from to get to the M6. My way home was on the Weston Rd out to Uttoxeter and Derby and then the M1.

To go for a yomp on the Chase we used to head to Shugborough - plenty of parking.

As for that car park, Jo, it and the shopping centre were an eyesore even back them and that was a shame because the old town just round the back is full of character and olde worlde pubs etc. - not quite York or Chester, but not bad. Returning it to housing seems like a good idea as would reestablishing the old open market.

[TheOstrich]

Our home town centre is in desperate need of .. something … anything to revitalise it.

The problem seems to be that much of it is owned by either or both of (a) the family of a well-known racehorse trainer, or (b) the family of a local heavy building materials supplier - I am unclear which or in what proportion. Both appear to have sufficient financial clout to merely sit back and do nothing. For example, the central Co-op suffered a fire about 5 years back and hasn't been used since. The building is still standing, it was the inside that suffered damage. Whoever owns it had tied down the Co-op in a long lease and the latter can't either sell it or wriggle out of it - the landlord is happy to sit back and collect the rents, and just leave the building as is. Last year, a local church which also operates the town food bank tried to take over the rent of part of that premises to use it as a community centre - that got nowhere.

A major bank closed its branch before we moved down here - that building also remains derelict, as do several more units bottom of town not far from the river which I think may be susceptible to flooding if things got really bad. We have at least 5 charity shops which must represent pushing 20% of the other shops that are open. A number of other small shops are empty, or can't sustain any business start-ups for more than a few months.

One of the big landlords owns a tract of land not far off the main street on which he wants to build more retail units. Access is tricky and plans he has put forward have been rejected by the Town Council, who also appear reluctant to re-designate any of the buildings in the town centre for residential use.

We soldier on but the whole thing is quite depressing really and I can't see it improving any time soon.

[Workingman]

Ossie, I am betting that yours and Cruiser's and Jo's tales could be told up and down the country. There must be thousands of semi-derelict properties of various types already connected to services that could be converted to help solve housing problems locally and in doing so go some way to help out the much larger nationwide one. "Look after the pennies", as the old saying goes.

Unfortunately the fact that they are only small scale means that they will never get done. I have a theory that all politicians (and many others in power) from the most lowly parish councillor all the way up to a PM - of any party - are only interested in 'big ticket' items to massage their own self-importance: HS2; Crossrail; Heathrow 3rd runway; the world's largest wind / solar farm etc. They should all have "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" stamped on their foreheads.

[cromwell]

Big money vanity projects.
Wakefield city centre has improved a bit over the last few years. A new shopping centre has been opened. Only trouble is it has affected the old shopping centre and the town centre itself. The new shopping centre was built on the site of the old outdoor market. I'd love to know who owns the land now. The new indoor market built to replace the old outdoor one shut after only six years.
New restaurants seem to be driving the comeback of the city centre but there's only so many you need.
There must be thousands of feet of empty space above the old city centre shops going unused. We've talked about this before, I remeber Aggers commenting on it.
But something as simple as opening up the space above shops for flats just doesn't seem to get done.

[JoM]

We've got this place opening this year https://www.mcarthurglen.com/en/outlets/uk/designer-outlet-west-midlands/
Unusually, it's not out of town and is a five minute walk from the town centre, the location was chosen by the company because of the M6 and the M6 Toll both being nearby and the railway station is also opposite. They've made money available to the council for improvements to the town centre.
Some people are for it (me, we can walk there and it'll save us driving up to Cheshire Oaks near Liverpool) and others are saying that it'll kill off the town centre. It won't, because it's a totally different shopping experience. Poundland and Home Bargains aren't suddenly going to become designer stores and relocate, and there's not a lot else in the town centre. Wilko went a few years ago when their landlord increased the rent, wouldn't negotiate a reduction and has now got a large empty unit earning nothing which no one is interested in taking on.

Cromwell, Lichfield is a good example of a place where restaurants and coffee shops, many independent, have replaced retail shops and it's thriving. Day or night, week or weekend it's always busy. City centre living, somwhere like that, would really appeal to the young.

[TheOstrich]

You can stick yer designer outlets ….

Down the Shaftesbury road, on the edge of town, there's a small business park cum garden centre, and they've recently built a brand new Aldi there. The next phase of the development apparently is a petrol station, and with it we will be getting ...... a SUBWAY, no less! Manna from heaven ....

(Personally I'd have preferred a Greggs)

[cromwell]

Cromwell, Lichfield is a good example of a place where restaurants and coffee shops, many independent, have replaced retail shops and it's thriving. Day or night, week or weekend it's always busy. City centre living, somwhere like that, would really appeal to the young.

I think you are right Jo.
Why more hasn't been done to turn spare retail capacity into flats I don't know.

[Kaz]

You've been waiting a while for that Jo, exciting I agree that these Outlets are a good thing, as they don't detract from (what's left of) the town centres - they are completely different shops! They provide much needed employment too.

The outlet here is only a step from the city centre, and it really has been very well done, and blends in nicely with the renovated docks area, with the water and the boats. To be honest, Gloucester doesn't have a great deal else going for it, apart from a very small area surrounding the cathedral

Lots of empty shop space in the city here would make ideal housing, but that would take imagination on the part of the council - 'nuff said