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Authority should be prudent
Thursday 30th April 2009, 9:15AM BST.
LETTER: Why is Telford & Wrekin Council planning to spend £250 million on a revamp of the town centre?
I don’t understand the workings of local government but how can this possibly be sanctioned by central government when the country is up to its eyeballs in debt?
When families get into debt the first thing we have to do is cut expenditure and forego some of the luxuries in life otherwise things will only become worse.
I wonder how many schemes such as this are still going ahead countrywide, contributing to the country’s multi-billion pound borrowings that will eventually have to be paid for by those families who have been far more prudent than the Government.
K W Evans
Shrewsbury
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Well for a start only 50 million will be from the public sector. As well as the council Advantage West Midlands and the Homes and Communities Agency will contribute. I’d expect much of the money that the council will contribute will be from selling its civic offices to Asda. Their new store will be built by 2014 when their existing lease expires and I’d guess that the council will want new offices before its current ones are demolished and this is as likely a location as any.
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Oh come on!!
Telford is in desperate need of a revamp and we all know it. It needs somewhere to call a real TOWN centre, and this is what these plans are aiming to achieve.
This will surely bring more jobs to the area – initially in construction and later in retail etc.
I for one am glad that the council isn’t going to sit back and do nothing. Its about time we had a town we can be really proud of and can prove to all the non Telfordites that we live in a nice, up and coming area.
Bigger picture my friend, bigger picture.
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Firstly, do you have proof that further government borrowing is going to be necessary to fund this?
Secondly, in a similar vein to the response I made to Emma Suddaby’s comment on Shrewsbury’s Darwin project a couple of days ago, the money spent on projects like this will end up in the wage packets of hundreds (probably thousands in this case) of employees of the many companies which are involved in the project in one way or another. It’s better for the money to be there, back in circulation within the economy, than squirrelled away in government coffers.
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Its probably due the the fact that a revamp is actually needed.
Telford needs a town centre not just what it has now which is a shopping centre.
There is zero nightlife in the town and this needs to change.
Turn up at the town after 6pm and you will see what i mean. the place is a ghost town except for the few yobs hanging round the park and a few people going to the bingo.
Giving the town a social “heart” will pump more funds into local government and make the town more vibrant. With ironstone being created not far away too its a great opportunity to move telford forward.
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Mrs K W Evans,
We simply need a hub in Telford, Shrewsbury is a smaller town, yet it has a town centre. Speculate to accumulate. We need a thriving centre to bring in business to our town.
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The plan to revamp the Telford town centre was in place well before the “credit crunch” started to bite. This is one thing Telford needs to develop and one day become a city. Telford town centre currently has no identity and with The Round, you have new shops, businesses, bars and housing all in one place to build a community and make the centre fresh, new and creative. Telford has also initiated a policy that all new development should take place within the Telford boundaries before it extends it’s borders, so Telford can be nitt together and made into a thriving city rather than a town with loads of parishes dotted throughout. This policy should also preserve the green bands of land on the outskirts of the town where farming can continue to be a vital part of Shropshire. No i’m not an employee of T&W council or a developer. This is one thing which will benefit Telford and if you can’t see that then your blind!
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Shrewsbury is a lovely town with character. Telford centre is completely grey and soul less. Why is a resident of Shrewsbury asking such a silly question, anyway?
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You will notice that the letter-writer is a resident of Shrewsbury. No further comment is necessary.
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yes its true, the money should be used for tax cuts instead, its a disgrace only a socialist would saction such waste of public funds, get them out, we need conservatives with prudence to run things proper. the money is wasted on telford it should go to shrewsbury instead or better still tax cuts for married couples and small business owners, sack the council and get conservatives who care about keeping costs down not big eye catching spending plans
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At present Telford had almost Zero culture. Bring it on. Just wish they’d stop talking about it and start building.
This is going to create jobs and keep builders in business.
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It may have escaped Tory Boy’s notice that Telford & Wrekin Council is Tory-controlled!
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This is a fantastic project bringing new life to the centre of Telford and making it a town that everyone will be even prouder to live in. This venture will bring in more work whilst it’s being constructed, more businesses, both retail and commercial, new urban living that will attract fresh business talent to live in Telford and create more money and jobs.
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Lets compare Telford vs Shrewsbury
Shopping
Telford has it
History – Blists Hill and Ironbridge
telford has it again
Schools
Thomas Telford and Wrekin College best in the county.
Hills – Wrekin far greater than Haughmond Hill
Telford wins hands down over Shrewsbury
Case closed
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So The Son of Destiny (Y Mab Darogan) agrees there’s no need to spend £250 Million on Telford.
The country is broke – a short period of austerity is required.
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Oh and by the way, the fact that I’m from Shrewsbury is irrelevant. I’d be asking the same question if this expenditure was planned for my own town.
I have nothing against Telford and actually like some aspects of the town.
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K.W. Evans. Actually I don’t agree with yourself. Telford as a up and coming area with a youthful population and vibrant industry SHOULD have 250 million pounds spent improving the town centre.
This will attract further industry to telford.
As for Shrewsbury I can only see it becoming a even smaller market town with a lack of facilities and employment opportunities
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Telford is already a good place to live and the plans for the town centre can’t be carried out soon enough. Southwaters’ redevelopement will be almost entirely funded by the International Centre and when complete will I’m sure add to its national prestige. Jobs, especially in the construction industry, are in desperate short supply so the sooner these plans get underway the better. The Town Centre shops and their planned alterations will be down to the owners Hark Apollo and the planning dept. of Telford and Wrekin and I feel confidant that great things will be achieved.
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Y Mab – it’s good to see someone sticking up for Telford – though I don’t see why it should be at the expense of putting Shrewsbury down – I like both places.
Telford is an easy place to live in. Despite our (justifiable) complaints about traffic lights on islands, you can still get to and from work easily, it’s a place with pleanty of trees and greenery, much of the housing is good, there are still a few good pubs and eateries, and it’s got good access to the countryside or to large cities should you want it.
The town centre’s current soulless nature, especially at night, doesn’t help the image of the place – something to make it bit more vibrant can only help.
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YMB – I know Telford SHOULD have £250M spent on it – my point is that the country as a whole can’t afford such schemes at the present time and this and many others like it should be shelved for the time being.
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investing in infrastructure is GOOD PRUDENT economics , ESPECIALLy in a recession, it will help ,well done telford council, only the tories think we should do nothing and ‘ride the storm’im glad the council has the sense to try and sail into the wind and help get our economy going again
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I disagree there, building right now is great idea. Prices of steel and costruction materials are low, there is no shortage of quality construction workers and the economy will be recovering just as the works are completed. It would be far cheaper to build now than at the height of the economic “boom”, the only question is whether or not they can secure any finance they may need at these difficult times.
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kw evans – youve had your say now go away you are plain wrong in terms of keynsian economics and you are not in agreement with the majority
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urban regenaration is fanstastic for city folk but its also hlping take development pressure off the countryside, so i applaud this scheme
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They are being prudent! they are getting private sector investment going in the middle of a recession, this is a great project for the town, well done, TWC, this letter is disgusting, its so uneducated and poorly argued, you are in a small minority Mr Evans, no doubt your a Conservative, who thinks we should ‘do nothing’ in the middle of a recession, thank god the council knows best and will build us out of this recession and create jobs in telford
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KW Evans – do you actually understand the dynamics of a recession? One aspect of it is that money is available, but ceases to flow. Having money available, but not spending it, is damaging to the economy. The money for this project is available, now it needs to be put into circulation for everyone’s benefit.
Also, projects like this take years to come to fruition, even longer to be delivered, and have a shelf life of many, many more years beyond that. During its useful life it will no doubt witness the coming and going of several more recessions – it’s far larger than any of them. You don’t just decide, on a whim, to shelve it in the same way you might decide against treating yourself to a visit to your favourite restaurant.
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clearly k evans opinion is wrong and in the minority – im glad people like him arent running the council, well done all involved in this wonderful regenration project, much needed and welcomed by all around, go telford, we’re on the up
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i totally disagree with the letter – i think we must build our way out of the recession, telford will be better for a proper centre, and this will be a great and prudent project
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