Stafford shops closing - Turning into a ghost town?

[Trumpet]

Especially as it appears that cycling will be allowed.

 

[kyoto49]

I doubt if an extra "15,000 square feet of retail and leisure space" is what Stafford needs now

Multi-million pound plans for 900 homes, hotel, shops and offices unveiled

The land around Stafford Railway Station is set to be transformed

www.stokesentinel.co.uk

Or a hotel

I love how they group retail and leisure into one, I'd like to know the split as it appears retail is the only leisure we're allowed nowadays. Getting people into town won't be achieved by selling stuff they can already get online cheaper, it's by giving them things they can't get elsewhere and actual leisure is one of those things. Our problem is nothing is deemed important unless someone makes a few quid, whereas adding some free things that people want to do would increase footfall to the businesses around it.

Whatever happened to the old Victorians, where a show of how wealthy you were was making a public park not flying into space for a few seconds.

I've been banging on about this (and other things I know ). More and more building of various shit designs but never more outdoor sports facilities or a park or just general green space for recreational time. I can't see a positive in this new development. Can anyone?

 

[Cue]

I love how they group retail and leisure into one, I'd like to know the split as it appears retail is the only leisure we're allowed nowadays. Getting people into town won't be achieved by selling stuff they can already get online cheaper, it's by giving them things they can't get elsewhere and actual leisure is one of those things. Our problem is nothing is deemed important unless someone makes a few quid, whereas adding some free things that people want to do would increase footfall to the businesses around it.

Whatever happened to the old Victorians, where a show of how wealthy you were was making a public park not flying into space for a few seconds.

There’s also very little support to get leisure into high streets either.

 

[gilesjuk]

Or a hotel
I've been banging on about this (and other things I know ). More and more building of various shit designs but never more outdoor sports facilities or a park or just general green space for recreational time. I can't see a positive in this new development. Can anyone?

Yep. Controversial, but Stafford park is rubbish. I don't mean the actual aesthetics, but the fact it is tiny and extremely noisy as it has a railway station and busy roads by it. Cannock park is much better and if you go to Lichfield that's even better. Even Tamworth has more to offer, although rather less attractive. But when you go to Walsall Arboretum it makes you realise how tiny Stafford park is.

 

[Mudgie]

Yep. Controversial, but Stafford park is rubbish. I don't mean the actual aesthetics, but the fact it is tiny and extremely noisy as it has a railway station and busy roads by it. Cannock park is much better and if you go to Lichfield that's even better. Even Tamworth has more to offer, although rather less attractive. But when you go to Walsall Arboretum it makes you realise how tiny Stafford park is.

Cannock Chase Country Park is the second biggest park in the country, after Windsor Great Park, but unfortunately all those buildings on the Lichfield and Cannock Roads have kept out out of our town centre.

 

[gilesjuk]

Cannock Chase Country Park is the second biggest park in the country, after Windsor Great Park, but unfortunately all those buildings on the Lichfield and Cannock Roads have kept out out of our town centre.

Yeah well I'm talking about an urban park. If you live in the town centre then having green spaces to walk around is handy. Even Wildwood park has more space then the town park, although no cafe. Cannock has a decent park, Shoal Hill common and is near the chase. Plus people in Cannock don't drive so slow.

 

[basil]

The branded bargains behind Lloyds has closed

Now trading from the old argos in the sheridangate place......

 

[Jonah]

Victoria Park - that is it's correct name not Stafford Park - was built in 1908 and I am guessing that when it opened, there were far less cars about and that the railway station being so close was a major draw for visitors. It covers nearly 5 acres. For a town centre green space, I think that is a decent size.

 

[Gramaisc]

Victoria Park - that is it's correct name not Stafford Park - was built in 1908 and I am guessing that when it opened, there were far less cars about and that the railway station being so close was a major draw for visitors. It covers nearly 5 acres. For a town centre green space, I think that is a decent size.

The original 1908 park was just the land between the "waterwheels", Victoria Road, the river and Tenterbanks.

It was extended across the river in 1911, when the George V coronation bridge was built, to give access to the new area - bounded by Newport Road, the river, Station Road and Victoria Road.

it was extended again in 1930, to create the play area opposite the college, beyond Victoria Road, up towards the windmill.

i have an old map which states "exercise apparatus" in the current grass area between Castle Street, South Street and the river, off Doxey Road, but no other evidence of it's existence.

 

[Jonah]

The original 1908 park was just the land between the "waterwheels", Victoria Road, the river and Tenterbanks.

It was extended across the river in 1911, when the George V coronation bridge was built, to give access to the new area - bounded by Newport Road, the river, Station Road and Victoria Road.

it was extended again in 1930, to create the play area opposite the college, beyond Victoria Road, up towards the windmill.

i have an old map which states "exercise apparatus" in the current grass area between Castle Street, South Street and the river, off Doxey Road, but no other evidence of it's existence.

I got my information from here.... https://www.staffordbc.gov.uk/victoriapark so you'd better have a word with them if it's wrong

 

[Gramaisc]

I got my information from here.... https://www.staffordbc.gov.uk/victoriapark so you'd better have a word with them if it's wrong

I'll leave them to it - people who talk of a "bird aviary" are probably best left alone.

There are pictures of the area showing the 'station side' extension in progress.

 

[BobClay]

Could it be confirmation that Stafford is now a commuter town, and it's once mighty industrial base (as I remember it as a kid) is now a distant memory. It's right by the station ... although they might want to think of building another entrance to that on the west side.

 

[Gramaisc]

I've often wondered if the Coton Hill asylum area could have been made into an amenity, along the lines of Woollaton Park in Nottingham?

I was never inside it (despite what some might think), so I don't know how 'usable' the building would have been.

The 'new' hospital could easily have been sited somewhere else, as the plethora of tin sheds has shown us since.

 

[gilesjuk]

Could it be confirmation that Stafford is now a commuter town, and it's once mighty industrial base (as I remember it as a kid) is now a distant memory. It's right by the station ... although they might want to think of building another entrance to that on the west side.

It is, a soul-less commuter town at this point. Friend of mine wants to leave ASAP as the traffic levels are dire on the northside of town. All the new homes up there aren't helping, plus industrial units. Seems that's how Stafford solves its problems, build more out of town on green belt.

 

[Manorboy]

Now trading from the old argos in the sheridangate place......

Soon to be Stafford Aquatics.

 

[tek-monkey]

It is, a soul-less commuter town at this point. Friend of mine wants to leave ASAP as the traffic levels are dire on the northside of town. All the new homes up there aren't helping, plus industrial units. Seems that's how Stafford solves its problems, build more out of town on green belt.

I don't find traffic too bad up here, as long as you don't try to go towards town!

 

[Gramaisc]

Victoria Park - that is it's correct name not Stafford Park

If you wait long enough, someone will ask you for directions to it - and you can send them to Telford, with a little laugh and a clear conscience.

 

[Mudgie]

It is, a soul-less commuter town at this point. Friend of mine wants to leave ASAP as the traffic levels are dire on the northside of town. All the new homes up there aren't helping, plus industrial units. Seems that's how Stafford solves its problems, build more out of town on green belt.

I wasn't aware that any Green Belt land had been built on.

 

[gilesjuk]

I wasn't aware that any Green Belt land had been built on.

Yeah, I meant green field sites not green belt. But still, if green fields around a town aren't considered to be worthy of green belt status then I don't know what is.

 

[Mudgie]

Yeah, I meant green field sites not green belt. But still, if green fields around a town aren't considered to be worthy of green belt status then I don't know what is.

A tiny proportion of green fields are designated Green Belt.