Riverside development April start

Jade-clothing

Well-Known Forumite
But we were walking down form The Green, so would have had to walk all the way round to the Primark entrance, quite some detour given the bridge was accessible by stairs!

I get you missed the lift - I haven't seen it either, although I knew there was one. I just haven't needed to use it.
The thing is you CHOSE to go that way because it was more convenient than walking round to the Primark entrance - it doesn't mean the shopping centre is badly designed.
 

daz100

Well-Known Forumite
Given what was there and what we now have I think they made the best of what they had. What was the alternative? The existing units in town are not fit for purpose. The guildhall appears to be run by muppets. The increase in footfall has certainly been noticed. I have been asked for directions twice by out of towners in the last month. I have never been asked in the last 10 years!!
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
I get you missed the lift - I haven't seen it either, although I knew there was one. I just haven't needed to use it.
The thing is you CHOSE to go that way because it was more convenient than walking round to the Primark entrance - it doesn't mean the shopping centre is badly designed.

Why should users of the centre have to walk a quite significant distance fromn the route they are taking, along the side of the building all along Queensway round to the front to get step free access? There is plenty of space by the stairs to also put in a ramp, problem solved ), or just never have even put steps in and just put a ramp? I shall not make the same mistake again, I shall just not visit and will buy my products in the old town centre :). Maybe now we'll get our underwear from your store, rather than the new M&S. Are you bike freindly? :)
 

bunique

Well-Known Forumite
I moved here almost 8 years ago and am continually baffled by the negativity on here. Try living in the Medway Towns for comparison. Less than an hour from central London, bags of money, absolute shithole with very small pockets of pleasantness.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
Why should users of the centre have to walk a quite significant distance fromn the route they are taking, along the side of the building all along Queensway round to the front to get step free access? There is plenty of space by the stairs to also put in a ramp, problem solved ), or just never have even put steps in and just put a ramp? I shall not make the same mistake again, I shall just not visit and will buy my products in the old town centre :). Maybe now we'll get our underwear from your store, rather than the new M&S. Are you bike freindly? :)
Why should the designers have taken into account a rather particular requirement by some no mark on the internet?
 

PeterD

ST16 Represent.
I moved here almost 8 years ago and am continually baffled by the negativity on here. Try living in the Medway Towns for comparison. Less than an hour from central London, bags of money, absolute shithole with very small pockets of pleasantness.

I lived in Strood for a bit, it was fairly bad, I worked in Gravesend and my life that was depressing to say the least, I lived in Higham near Gravesend and really liked it there.
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
I moved here almost 8 years ago and am continually baffled by the negativity on here. Try living in the Medway Towns for comparison. Less than an hour from central London, bags of money, absolute shithole with very small pockets of pleasantness.

Too many people moving in from the medway towns is part of the issue :D

Being serious, each development our fine council get involved in make things worse would sum up my feelings! Massive old sports centre with diving pool, 4 squash courts and large extra sports hall for rollerskating/5 a-side, replaced with a tiny tin shed with no diving pool, 2 squash courts, (yes 2 for the whole of Stafford), and only 1 sports hall. Meanwhile the population of Stafford is rapidly increasing. It's that sort of short-sighted decisions over and over again that causes the issue.............oh, and houses built on every single bit of green space they can get their grubby hands on. Progress in Stafford seems to always be for the worse :(
 

bunique

Well-Known Forumite
I lived in Strood for a bit, it was fairly bad, I worked in Gravesend and my life that was depressing to say the least, I lived in Higham near Gravesend and really liked it there.
Strood is grim, Rochester is okay when there's something on but often has an air of menace at night. Chatham is, well... Less said the better. But some of the smaller villagey areas are nice and the wider county is beautiful, if a bit too posh for the likes of me!
 

HopesDad

Don't feed the troll
Stafford isn't a barren timewarp! Even before all the things in the last couple of years that have been done to improve it, it was still a lovely place to live. Before you say it, no I'm not going around with my rose tinted specs on and refusing to believe anything negative about Stafford. I'm well aware of any failings, I just choose not to bleat about them and to rejoice in the positive aspects.
Go out, take a look around at the lovely buildings, the beautiful park, the new shopping centre, the lovely countryside right on our doorstep, easy access to the motorway and all the new things still on the horizon. I think you will find that any negatives Stafford has are things that are common to every single town in the country.
I presume in your last paragraph you are referring to the 'beautiful park' which is about to be destroyed by the council as they have suddenly realised that there is a nice part of Stafford that they haven't meddled with. Or the 'new' shopping Centre that was built by an opportunistic developer a mile away from the 'old' shopping Centre, has no easy access and has taken half the shops from the old Centre leaving the former as a wasteland. Or the motorway that is so crowded and unfit for purpose that it often closed and its traffic diverted through the town's already crowded roads causing mayhem. You forgot to mention the market that has no stalls, the shopping precinct that has no shops, the car park that does not allow cars, the closed university, the half-closed hospital, the about-to-be-closed court, the soon-to-be-closed fire station, the never-even-opened empty supermarket, the derelict former library or the about-to-be-derelict shire hall. Then there is the high speed train line that has no local stations but will nevertheless rip through Stafford's countryside destroying everything in its path. Name me any other single town in the country that has got all that.
 
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kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
Yes, in some detail, as did many others. The council, having clearly already made its mind up how it was going to destroy the once-beautiful park, ignored virtually all the responses.


The park is too small, it was designed for a town with roughly 1/4 of the population of Stafford nowadays. It's no longer fit for purpose, as a glance in it's direction on nay sunny day will testify. Kids forced to play sardines, not a spare inch of spare space. Redeveloping it will not make any difference so it's size. Why don't the council build some more parks and insist the developers of all these new housing estates provide expansive top quality play parks and leisure areas for their inmates?? Town Park gets worse every time they redevelop it, like most things the council are involved with :(
 

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
There is Rowley Park, Wildwood Park, etc. Meadowcroft Park has 2 playparks in it. We've even go a playpark in our tiny village.
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
There is Rowley Park, Wildwood Park, etc. Meadowcroft Park has 2 playparks in it. We've even go a playpark in our tiny village.

So why do so many people go to town park for the kids area, despite it being near no housing as such? I'd argue it's because the provision elsewhere is substandard and lacking.
 

Carole

Well-Known Forumite
So why do so many people go to town park for the kids area, despite it being near no housing as such? I'd argue it's because the provision elsewhere is substandard and lacking.

I think that those using Wildwood Park would hardly describe it as substandard.

It's a fantastic park and not just for kids either.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
I think that those using Wildwood Park would hardly describe it as substandard.

It's a fantastic park and not just for kids either.
Wildwood Park is a great facility, for all age ranges that is certainly true.

Victoria Park is a small town centre Victorian park. As it was designed way back then, when the town was much smaller; it is no wonder that it is comparatively small. It cannot be made bigger because everything around it has been built on.

Should it then be removed and some town houses be built on it for the profit of a developer, or, as the Borough Council have done, be improved creating a great facility for kids with the slides etc and the skateboard/BMX bit? The plan to improve the more traditional part of the park and create a decent refreshments area so people can have a coffee etc. whilst enjoying the park can also only be to the good of park users, surely?

I really cannot fathom how there can be any meaningful criticism of the outdoor leasure facilities in Stafford as compared to many other towns we do really well. Sure, there will always be room for improvement, but with only limited funds the council can only do a bit at a time.
 
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Wormella

Well-Known Forumite
So why do so many people go to town park for the kids area, despite it being near no housing as such? I'd argue it's because the provision elsewhere is substandard and lacking.

Plenty of Parks in Stafford - https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1LIogLVDZMnXkmWJvm08OTiADm6g

But to town center park is a different thing, it's useful to pop into while in town or doing other things - and sometimes it's busy, and sometimes it's not - but that's a parks for you.
 
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