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Stafford shops closing - Turning into a ghost town?
- Thread starter Goldstyle Limousines
- Start date
Theresa Green
Well-Known Forumite
Commuting has actually reduced from Stafford station . The London commuters that I used to see from Monday to Thursday are not there in numbers. Work from home is real and semi permanent, maybe until folk can no longer afford to heat their houses 24/7. Who knows
Stafford’s transport links enable cost effective warehousing much like many other areas with quick access to a motorway
House building is still a considerable distance from house demand, as hard as it is to fathom out.
Population growth drives it, largely from within.
You elect counsellors
Only these people that you elect decide on where housing will go
Unless a decision is on appeal, in which case it is MPs who have assisted in providing the decision process, and you have elected a certain type of MP here in Stafford
Without a sole?
Of course it is
People complain the town is dead and then open their doors to their next Amazon delivery or Tesco van
They drink beer and wine in front of the tv and wait for the next take away
Work from home
Shop from home
Eat and drink and view from home
We have no need for anything central apart from a church to pray for forgiveness
Mudgie
Well-Known Forumite
I very much doubt if all that green is Green Belt.I'm not sure if these are still true, and it can be circumvented, anyway.
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
So do I, certainly in the true sense of the intention.
The Hawk
Well-Known Forumite
c0tt0nt0p
Well-Known Forumite
I went in today and it smelled like someone had died in there....I think that someone was the last person waiting for the Argos order before it closed....
gilbert grape
Well-Known Forumite
I knew a lad who was circumvented. Walked funny for a few weeks.
kyoto49
Well-Known Forumite
Me too. Its a grim place to live. Having good access out is the only positive. Narrow minded council doesn't help
airbusA346
Well-Known Forumite
Have you got first hand experience of living elsewhere to say that?
kyoto49
Well-Known Forumite
Well I spend a lot of time in Liverpool and for all its big city issue its a far more rewarding place to spend time and the things I rate as important its clear that the city is trying really hard. Some of the cycling infrastructure is really well thought out, tree planting is extensive, the parks are fantastic, the bus service great and so many community projects to get involved in.Have you got first hand experience of living elsewhere to say that?
It's clearly like any other city in that it has some issues but I can see a lot of thought and forward thinking things happening. Is any of that happening in Stafford?
kyoto49
Well-Known Forumite
Rated on what? Its grim if you want a focus on the environment, its grim if you are a cyclist. It's grim if you are looking for forward thinking council
Narrow minded 20th c backward car centric Town with a council who do their best to screw things up with their short termist thinking. Name something the council has done well?
Here's some they screwed up
Allowing the knocking down of BRC
The disgraceful way our library was shunted from pillar to post
Allowing the old cinema to rot while a new one was built which will now also probably go bust
I don't have all the details on how planning works but allowing a new shopping centre in the current climate was obviously gonna cause issue with the town centre
The backward move in demolishing Riverside and replacing it, sort of with a leisure centre that has only half the facilities
Allowing a new Council building to be built. A vanity project beset with issues and a waste of taxpayers money
Housing estate after housing estate with only car as a way of leaving them.
No new green space or sports facilities to cater for all the new residents
I could go on...
I mean imagine something like this happening in Stafford?
UK Town Becomes The First In Europe To Move Towards Veganism
Haywards Heath in West Sussex, UK, has just made history by becoming the first town in Europe to pledge to move towards veganism
plantbasednews.org
Jonah
Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
A few points.
The Council didn’t allow BRC to be knocked down. The developers demolished it one morning without permission. I think they were fined something like £10,000 for doing it.
The old Riverside Recreation Centre was an awful building with a multitude of problems. I have never been in the new one so can’t comment on what it is like.
The old cinema, despite being refurbished, was nowhere near fit for purpose in the modern age. Heating hardly worked, no lifts to get upstairs, poor quality seating with no leg room.
But yes, the Borough and County councils have both made a lot of mistakes over the years.
And as for veganism- surely that’s a personal choice and not one any government, local or national, should be pushing onto people?
The Council didn’t allow BRC to be knocked down. The developers demolished it one morning without permission. I think they were fined something like £10,000 for doing it.
The old Riverside Recreation Centre was an awful building with a multitude of problems. I have never been in the new one so can’t comment on what it is like.
The old cinema, despite being refurbished, was nowhere near fit for purpose in the modern age. Heating hardly worked, no lifts to get upstairs, poor quality seating with no leg room.
But yes, the Borough and County councils have both made a lot of mistakes over the years.
And as for veganism- surely that’s a personal choice and not one any government, local or national, should be pushing onto people?
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
Some of the 'public landscape' in Stafford can be very disappointing, particularly in terms of the resources consumed - like the Tixall Road 'cycle route', where it would genuinely have been better to just not do it, maybe just spent the money on beer and sandwiches for a free picnic in the park?
It seems likely to me that people who try to use Stafford's cycling provision are likely to have a lower opinion of the town than the general (non cycling) population.
Now and then, things like the Victoria park play area, can be quite good.
The general belief amongst people I knew, at the time, was that the fine for the Sunday morning demolition of the BRC offices was £200. There may be an actual record somewhere.
Also, the Wesleyan Chapel tower, by the Market, also had a very near miss for a Sunday morning demolition.
It seems likely to me that people who try to use Stafford's cycling provision are likely to have a lower opinion of the town than the general (non cycling) population.
Now and then, things like the Victoria park play area, can be quite good.
The general belief amongst people I knew, at the time, was that the fine for the Sunday morning demolition of the BRC offices was £200. There may be an actual record somewhere.
Also, the Wesleyan Chapel tower, by the Market, also had a very near miss for a Sunday morning demolition.
kyoto49
Well-Known Forumite
The old cinema. The money spent on the new one should have been used to improve the old one. Totally possible with the correct mindset and care for the environment given the impact of a new building and its needs for resources.
Old Riverside. It's the fact that we lost a very large well equipped centre, albeit poorly maintained by the council and in return got a pokey new one with half the facilities. When Riverside was built Stafford population was what C40k. Old Riverside had 4 squash courts, new place only 2 for double the population. We lost the diving pool, we lost the sports hall out the back, we lost that auxiliary space where the table tennis tables were, we lost the range area which was useful. The new place is all round smaller and with poorer facilities, despite them being newer. The car park also regularly floods cutting the place off.... Imagine my shock!
The imposition of anything that is for the greater good is justified. Its people selfish wants with no thought for the impact on others that have damaged this world probably beyond repair
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Mudgie
Well-Known Forumite
And the Eagle was a near miss with me 'phoning the Council on seeing demolition workers starting on the roof.
Obviously the building is still there but not much as no longer a pub.
Mudgie
Well-Known Forumite
Liverpool didn't try really hard to retain its World Heritage Site status which I would have thought was worth quite a lot to the city.
Nothing much against it though - or I wouldn't have spent a dozen nights and many days there.
kyoto49
Well-Known Forumite
I think they just realised that the city needed to do certain things for the residents rather than adhering to unescos demands. Its a tough balance for cities with social and economic problems. My understanding is that world heritage status has significant financial demands on the host location
c0tt0nt0p
Well-Known Forumite
My god, that made me laugh out loud....