Stafford shops opening - Turning into a boom town?

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
Edinburgh wool is now 'bed factory '. But it just looks like a front, probably another grow farm upstairs
I was going to post something similar when I went past the other day.

IMG-20230317-WA0000.jpg
 

Len's Lens

Well-Known Forumite
That place was selling some end of the pier "Test Your Love" machines a few months ago, as well as some classic comedian's audio CD's neatly presented from a shoebox in the window. I see second-hand beds are now the order of the day.
 
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Manorboy

Well-Known Forumite
The picture would seem to imply that not only will the new building be much, much closer to the balancing lake than the existing one but also that all the trees and shrubs around the balancing lake will be removed.
They are going to demolish the existing buildings which are in very good condition, why they cannot alter the existing building is beyond me. At the bottom end where we have our business it is going to be car parking, they have offered the landlord of our building way more than even he dreamed he would get in order to kick us out. We have been lucky to find another unit which is not too far away but the cost of moving plus security alarms and cameras is something we could do without in the current climate.
 

gon2seed

(and me! - Ed)
Can't believe I'm alone in seeing this as promising, and a good news story? Along with the redevelopment of the Earl Street College, it certainly seems to be Stafford living up to its 'County Town' name; an image not helped by the closure of the Uni'! It's a small step, but for me its light at the end of a tunnel, filled with empty shops, business closures, people living on the street and and the false dawns, of promised redevelopment! So forgive me at getting slightly more optimistic about this development. Of course this building will sit across the balancing lake from the new hotel! ......... 🤔 What that has never materialised ...... but it was announced 3 years ago with press releases :- https://www.theconstructionindex.co...d-hotel-planned-for-old-stafford-rugby-ground BUT, the old Rugby pitch is still sitting there with its non operational floodlights!

Oh sh*t am feeling gloomy again! Can anyone cheer me up? ............ PLEASE!
 

ben0239

Well-Known Forumite
28 Million on Earl Street, 18 Million down at Palmborne.

No shortage of cash here.

Why not buy the impending refuge centre on the Weston Road instead?

Probably not boujee enough when you can build new, even if it is an unsuitable location.
With all the colleges expansion plans they probably should have purchased the old university site.

Personally I never understood why staffs county council didn’t but it and create a Stafford 6th form centre. The current situation for a level provision isn’t great.
 
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ben0239

Well-Known Forumite
Can't believe I'm alone in seeing this as promising, and a good news story? Along with the redevelopment of the Earl Street College, it certainly seems to be Stafford living up to its 'County Town' name; an image not helped by the closure of the Uni'! It's a small step, but for me its light at the end of a tunnel, filled with empty shops, business closures, people living on the street and and the false dawns, of promised redevelopment! So forgive me at getting slightly more optimistic about this development. Of course this building will sit across the balancing lake from the new hotel! ......... 🤔 What that has never materialised ...... but it was announced 3 years ago with press releases :- https://www.theconstructionindex.co...d-hotel-planned-for-old-stafford-rugby-ground BUT, the old Rugby pitch is still sitting there with its non operational floodlights!

Oh sh*t am feeling gloomy again! Can anyone cheer me up? ............ PLEASE!
Personally I think the old rugby club should be retained for sport. In 2003 the borough council commissioned a report which highlighted a number of areas where Stafford was lacking.

Most notably in the number of 4g football and grass pitches available and the inadequate state of hockey provision.

In 2019 the bc again commissioned the same authors to write another playing pitch strategy which states that the situation in Stafford had deteriorated with the only notable exception was with the rugby provision.

Since that report was released we now have no suitable hockey pitches in Stafford. It can’t be right that our local teams are forced to play in nearby towns.

For me the rugby club should be turned into a hockey stadium so we can have hockey back in Stafford.
 

Cue

Well-Known Forumite
With all the colleges expansion plans they probably should have purchased the old university site.

Personally I never understood why staffs county council didn’t but it and create a Stafford 6th form centre. The current situation for a level provision isn’t great.

Doubt either had the money for it tbh.

They’re trying to shift the Octagon now as they haven’t a clue what to do with it
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Borrowed money that will never be paid back. The tax payer will bail them out. Not just Stafford college mind, they're all at it.
The reason Stafford got taken over merged with Newcastle was that, since they are now run as businesses, Newcastle were very good with money but Stafford briefly had a parasitic leech as it's principal. Anyway, the building work for these things was half money from the college itself and half from bids for government funding, from what I remember. College money is pretty much from bums on seats, hence why it's so hard to fail a course now if your survive the first 2 months (cut off period).
 

Noah

Well-Known Forumite
it's so hard to fail a course now if your survive the first 2 months (cut off period).
Someone I knew got to Cambridge in the early '60s, pissed around a lot and at the end of the first year got a "special pass" - ie a fail in anyone else's language. Wrote to the firm who was sponsoring him saying he'd got a special and they replied that that was wonderful and they were near doubling his grant for doing so well.
 

Tumble weed

Well-Known Forumite
I was going to post something similar when I went past the other day.

View attachment 13736
This is definitely a front for something, a few old mattresses and junk in the window is not a "bed factory". Ironically, the landlord has a note in the window saying the previous occupants were kicked out for a "grow", and the police didn't care even after he warned them and is waiting an apology or something.

Either way, we don't need this junk on the high street.
 

Cue

Well-Known Forumite
This is definitely a front for something, a few old mattresses and junk in the window is not a "bed factory". Ironically, the landlord has a note in the window saying the previous occupants were kicked out for a "grow", and the police didn't care even after he warned them and is waiting an apology or something.

Either way, we don't need this junk on the high street.

Agreed, it does look hella suspicious, or at the very least “bargain bin”

A proper sign is not going to break the bank
 

Feed The Goat

Well-Known Forumite
"All the wickedness you do, the herb reveal itself to yourself, your conscience, show up yourself clear, because herb make you meditate. Is only a natural t’ing and it grow like a tree.”

is too much to get on a sign. A roll out banner is much better
 

Bodger

Well-Known Forumite
This is definitely a front for something, a few old mattresses and junk in the window is not a "bed factory". Ironically, the landlord has a note in the window saying the previous occupants were kicked out for a "grow", and the police didn't care even after he warned them and is waiting an apology or something.

Either way, we don't need this junk on the high street.
If you use an empty shop for storage then you are exempt from Business Rates for a period hence this one, Millets and the old Carpet Shop down Salter Street. Just a fiddle that needs stopping!
 

Tumble weed

Well-Known Forumite
If you use an empty shop for storage then you are exempt from Business Rates for a period hence this one, Millets and the old Carpet Shop down Salter Street. Just a fiddle that needs stopping!
The old Millet's started being turned into apartments, I can only assume just like the old library , and the old cinema, the developers ran out of money. All being left in a much worse state I might add.
 
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