Big step for town centre plans
Tuesday 21st April 2009, 9:00AM BST.
Telford & Wrekin Council is poised to make one of the most important decisions in its existence this week – pressing ahead with a multi-million plan to transform the town centre.
The Central Telford Area Action Plan outlines in detail the authority’s aim to create a 21st century heart for the borough, with dozens of new shops and offices and 2,500 homes being provided.
The plan is a scheme to give Telford a proper centre to replace the existing shopping malls surrounded by car parks.
It covers shopping, jobs, homes and leisure, outlining the vision of bringing life and vitality to the town centre day and night.
The planning blueprint also looks at ways of cutting the reliance on cars, following criticism that the existing shops are surrounded by a “racetrack” ring road in a sea of car parks.
It outlines ways in which people will be encouraged to get to and from the town centre on foot, by bike or public transport.
The plan also looks at the natural environment and how the town park can be protected for future generations as well as linking in more with the town centre.
And it examines ways in which the character of Old Park, Central Park, Malinslee and Hollinswood can be secured.
In his foreword to the plan, Councillor Stephen Bentley, cabinet member for the environment, says: “Over the last 40 years, Telford has grown from being a fledgling new town to become a successful and thriving town of 140,000 people.
“Now is the time to look again at what we want for the future of the borough as a whole and the important role central Telford plays.
“This plan sets a framework within which to bring forward proposals for major development.
“It will help to address the need for housing in the town centre, the limited opportunities for activity in the evening, the unfriendly environment for pedestrians and to improve and protect the town park.”
If the plan is backed at a meeting of the council on Thursday, it will be published, put out for consultation and submitted to the Secretary of State for approval.
By Peter Johnson
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ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN WHATS THERE AT THE MOMENT
GOOD LUCK WITH THE DEVELOPMENT
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“It outlines ways in which people will be encouraged to get to and from the town centre on foot, by bike or public transport.”
In other words: What some people really want is to drive in by car, load their shopping bags into the back and leave at their own convenience. We will do everything possible to discourage them from visiting the town centre.
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I’d rather see the T and W Council put more money into the market towns which are the core of the area. The Town Centre is artificial and plastic and continues to drain the life out of historic market towns.
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LOOKS LIKE A CONCRETE JUNGLE TO ME
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Get to the town centre on foot or bike?
Yep I can just see hordes of people cycling down the EP to the towncentre.
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great
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Got to agree with Dianna. lacks feeling and emotion.
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That is not what it will look like. Its a drawing to indicate the scale and massing of buildings that they are aiming for.
The images that you will see from Thursday will also not be the final designs, if they are only going to apply for outline permission then the they are just seeking approval for the principal of the scheme. The final designs will come later and be at the discretion of whoever wants to build them.
Asking to invest more in the old towns is all well and good. I’d love to see them all buzzing and vibrant but think about it, how many retailers want to go to them, which towns have a sufficient amounts of large floor plated buildings that modern town centre functions require and remember that anytime someone does want to build anything in the old towns the local NIMBY’s come out and complain about the loss of their precious parking etc.
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If T&W want to encourage pedestrians to the town centre why have they allowed a cycle track to be painted on the Hinksay road past the rugby club. Now walkers have to compete with cars or bikes. Where is the pedestrian track?
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Good grief !!!
In “Architectural Terms” the damn town centre has only been built 5 minutes!!
When I cam to Telford in 1973, it seemed like an endless series of roads leading nowhere, with only Carrefour in the “town centre”.
Now look at it! WHY should it need re-vamping after only 30 years or so? What If we’d built all our other great cities in the same way over the centuries? – WHY is nothing planned and built to last?
OR is it that “we” just CAN’T leave things ALONE?
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good to see TandW arefollowing gordons example!!Lets spend money its not ours!!says everything about todays politicians
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What an ugly mess it looks like it while turn out to be. I don’t visit the present town centre more than twice a year and I don’t think that I want to visit that eye sore at all.
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It looks to me like Birmingham and that’s definately a place to avoid.
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askeric dotcom – Why did you “cam” Telford? Is it a new hobby of yours?
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Y Mab Darogan.
Actually … it’s a typo of course !
it should read:
“came” to Telford.
And NO .. Telford is DEFINITELY NOT a hobby of mine!! – I actually HATE the place – It’s full of endless estates, roundabouts, and roads that go nowhere.
There is no “soul” to the place, and the shopping centre holds no interest for me at all.
OK if you want to do a bit of clothes shopping etc (fine for the Wife /girlfriend etc ) but NO use for anything else as far as I’m concerned.
Actually, I only lived in Telford for about 18 months, before thankfully, moving away to the relative sanity of Bridgnorth.
The flat that I moved into (on the Brookside estate) in October 1973 was brand new then, but now look at (parts) of it!
We had the Woodside regneration, and so on … And now the Town Centre.
It’s an utter disgrace that nothing seems to be built to last
The point I’m making i’m sure is obvious.
How is it that our ancestors manged to design and build things to last – but we can’t manage any more than a couple of decades?
Thomas Telford really must be turning in his grave – I’m sure if he were alive, he would NOT have let his name be used for the place!
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Y Mab,
Firstly, there are far more pleasant areas to Telford than Brookside or Woodside – and even these are made out to be far worse than they are – both areas have many decent people living within them.
Secondly, as far as cycle routes to the town centre are to be concerned, the Silkin Way runs right through the Town Centre – so you can access it from both North and South Telford with little need to cycle on roads at all.
Admittedly the Silkin Way isn’t as clearly defined in North Telford as it might be, but it’s a pleasant cycle other than that.
I think it’s fantastic that I can cycle from the Town Centre all the way to Coalport without going on the road at all, and all without encountering any significant gradients.
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Well ToryDon, you will be pleased to hear that the T&W is run by Tories :)
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askperic dotcom: If you don’t live in Telford, and don’t visit Telford, then why don’t you mind your own business?
You cannot base your opinion on what Telford is like as a place based upon a living in Brookside for 18 months over THIRTY YEARS AGO!
The town centre requires improvement, period. Anyone would have thought they were asking you to fork out for it. The improvements will be good for the economy and good for people and will hopefully put some character in.
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Kay Why ..
WHY don’t you TRY reading my posts FIRST before replying?
WHERE did I say I didn’t VISIT Telford?
Sure, I don’t live there, but ….
1. I run my Business from Telford, and as such I provide valuable employment, and economic activity to the area.
(That’s something MUCH more valuable in the present economic circumstances than wasting yours (and my) money on rebuilding a town centre that should have been built properly in the FIRST place … don’t you think?
2. Many of my customers are in Telford
3. I am a Member of the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, which operates from Stafford Park, and regularly get involved in issues that concern Telford.
4. I conduct much of my business “banking” in Telford, which means incidentally, that I have to “waste valuable time” getting to my Bank Branch in the town centre to pay in cheques etc.
Yes- the shopping centre and its irritating car parks are fine when all you’ve got to to is go shopping …. but when time is valuable, i.e: you’ve a business to run … it’s a damn nuisance
So…. making it more pedestrianised isn’t going to benefit those of us that have to run businesses so far as I can see.
Just because I don’t live there, and also don’t happen to like the place, DOESN’T mean I don’t know about it (and can;t have a educated opinion about it), and CERTAINLY doesn’t mean I can’t criticise it – IN FACT I certainly DO think it is MY business to do so!
I would like to say that I could agree with you about funding “improvements” … but I happen to think it will be a waste of money, and “we” will be seeing all this happening again in another 30 or so years time when someone else happens to think ik can be improved .. again
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Is this tax payers money being used to benefit the Council. its partners and the private sector?
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Kay Why,
Did you actually read all of Askeric’s post before “going off on one”?
Firstly, it is his opinion, which anyone can have, despite where he happens to live now and secondly, he makes some very good points about how modern councils seem to be incapable of building or designing anything to last….wasting more and more taxpayers’ money.
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Ron is obviously a product of new education standards he cannot understand ex!!!
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Askeric dotcome – you will rough area’s in every city, town and village and you will also find rough area’s. To give Brookside as a example that Telford is a bad place to live is very misleading.
Parts of bridgnorh where you live are not in the best condition look at many housing estates in low town.
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The buildings of our ancestors were NOT built to last, and 99% of buildings over one hundred years old do not exist anymore. However, obviously some WERE built to last and it’s a no-brainer that they have. Saying that because some old buildings that are here now were built to last only really shows that those which WERE built to last have done so. But millions haven’t.
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And secondly, a lot of built to last buildings are now inapporpriate- old schools, hospitals, public buildings and many homes are no longer appropriate for modern use and NEED replacing- they might be lovely buildings but do not stand up to modern usage. The Southwater site of Telford may have been brilliant in the 70s, but now in 2009 something new IS needed, and surely it is brilliant that they are going ahead to provide it?
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Robbie, get real and take a look around the country.
Are you telling me that they have to pull down the houses of parliament every 30 years? Does the quenn have to rebuild Windsor castle and Buckingham palace every few years?
There are thousands of old buildings well over 100 years old all over the country and the world and the only reason that many were pulled down in the sixties, was the arrogance of planners who wanted to put up something “modern”, that would only last 30 years or so.
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