Town wants council to move in
Tuesday 13th October 2009, 9:11AM BST.
Renewed calls have been made to relocate Telford & Wrekin Council’s head office from the town centre into Dawley.
Great Dawley Parish Council member Councillor Shaun Davies has called for a detailed report to be drawn up on the benefits of relocation.
The current site of the civic offices has been sold to supermarket giant Asda and will be developed in the near future, with a range of options open to council bosses regarding where to move.
Councillor Davies said: “I would like the council to look in detail at the possibility of moving to Dawley.
“At present regeneration plans are largely dependent on building hundreds of homes in the area. But with the housing market as it is, I feel that moving the offices could bring a boost to the local economy.
“With officers and visitors attending the building everyday, and hopefully going into Dawley High Street for lunch or a look around, I am hopeful that around £1 million a year could be boosted into the local area.
“You only need to look at Wellington, with the colleges and Princess Royal Hospital, to see how people working in a locality can boost a local area.”
Councillor Davies first called for the council to consider relocating out of the centre of Telford and into a district earlier this year.
He has been backed by Telford MP David Wright.
The offices were originally in Dawley before moving to the present location.
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At last a sensible suggestion to support the much needed regeneration programme, this is something that would bring huge benefits to Dawley
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What a load of rubbish, if it was such a lucrative idea then surely the Telford Town Centre would be screaming to keep the civic centre close to their centre, they have not even made a whisper.
Cllr S Davies and MP David Wright love the sound of their own voices too much to engage brain and see the bigger picture.
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There needs something as i think the current plans do not help the high street in dawley, through traffic and market being moved ar enot going to encourage people to shop in the high street. The proposals for a new supermarket at one end and a few more shops will not bring a flow of customers into the high street either, what it need sis people and the movment of the civic office would bring a flood of workers daily
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Won’t happen. What do you think the offices shown in the Southwater plans are for?
Also planning policy wouldn’t really support it. It calls for major office development to be located at the top of the hierarchy of centres which in this case would be Telford.
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“The offices were originally in Dawley before moving to the present location.”
No they weren’t – the offices of the former Dawley Urban District Council were in Dawley (where else?!).
For some years after the formation of Wrekin District Council in 1974 the planning and chief executives departments were located in the prefabricated buildings at Paddock Mount (recently demolished).
I am just curious WHERE in Dawley they’re thinking this might be located – the offices and associated car parking will cover quite a large area.
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So Cllr Davies and MP David Wright both think it’s a wonderful idea do they? In my opinion they are totally wrong and as a GDPC constituent I, along with the rest of Dawley, should have been involved in any consultation. Just as a matter of interest, when was this discussed at Parish or Borough level?
Bemused of Dawley I am sorry but I think your bemusement has clouded your judgement. Richard, with the High Street being opened up to traffic then of course more people will travel along it, see the shops there and even if they park by the new supermarket they are more likely to then walk into the High Street to see the historical part and do some shopping.
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One other point, the headline in the paper is incorrect. “Town wants council to move in” should read “Cllr Shaun Davies and MP David Wright want council to move in”
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I’m not really for or against, but just on Grace’s dismissive comment – ‘if it was such a lucrative idea then surely the Telford Town Centre would be screaming to keep the civic centre close to their centre’ – there’s an issue of scale. Council staff represent a drop in the ocean for Telford Centre, but proportionately would be much more important for Dawley, where daytime footfall is much much lower. It’s not difficult maths.
On the up side, it would show a genuine, concrete commitment to regeneration of a declining part of the borough and have more impact than any existing regen proposals. On the downside, there’s a question of why Dawley and not another smaller town – and in an age when we’re hopefully going to give Telford a civic heart and identity, wouldn’t it be nice to have local government located there? Also, many people visiting councils from other agencies use the train, and Telford has a station, whilst Dawley doesn’t – so there could be a lot of reliance on taxis, if anyone’s interested in that sort of thing.
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Do you think they would all fit in the Lord Hill Pub, that seems to be looking for a new purpose?
IMO it would be a nice idea but practically it just isn’t ever going to happen.
And Jemima please don’t talk like you represent ALL Dawley people because you dont! Exactly which historical parts of Dawley were you talking about, because I can count the high street buildings with any kind of history on one hand!
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Serotonin – Does it make it easier using your hands to count? Just out of curiousity
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Serotonin, I take exception to the accusation that I talk like I represent all Dawley people. I am expressing a personal opinion and as a Constituent and not a Councillor I represent nobody but myself. However, I have a democratic right to ask questions and if necessary to demand answers. As to the historic parts of Dawley, well Serotonin I suggest that you go to the library and look in the Domesday Book (completed in 1086), personally I have my own copy in which to read about Dawley. I rest my case on whether or not Dawley is historical.
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its true the public sector does drive regeneration and is great for local economies, i would support the move to regenerate dawely
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r said:
“its true the public sector does drive regeneration and is great for local economies ”
Perhaps you’d like to give us a list of other successful “regeneration” projects?
The only thing they all seem to have in common is the pouring of millions of pounds of public (i.e. my and your) money into the pockets of developers, construction companies and middle class “professionals”.
Some areas seem to be in an almost perpetual state of regeneration – no sooner has the concrete dried than plans are being drawn up to rectify the errors.
Dawley’s problem is that it is just over a mile from Telford Town Centre – it’s going to take more than some new council offices (no doubt to be paid for several times over as part of some PFI scheme) and a couple of hideous murals to counter that.
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millenium dome
doing very well as O2
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a said:
“millenium dome
doing very well as O2 ”
Maybe, but only after hundreds of millions of lottery and public money had been sunk into it. It was eventually sold at a knock-down price.
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of course it would be good for the town
another good example is in Shrewsbury, look at the side of Frankwell, 5 years ago, rusting tin sheds and now shining new offices and theatre and some cafes and bars
PUBLIC SECTOR LED REGENERATION!!!!!! COUNCIL OFFICES LEADING TO SHOPS LEADING TO MORE OFFICES AND BUSINESSES AND BARS, FOOD AND NEWAGENTS FOLLOWED THEM IN
LOOKS GOOD TO ME ROB,
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Jemima, perhaps you should actually read your own comments? ‘“Town wants council to move in” should read “Cllr Shaun Davies and MP David Wright want council to move in”’ sounds very much like you think you speak for Dawley people to me?
As for the Domesday book I am well aware that Dawley is featured but I fail to see how this has any relevance to your comment on ‘historical parts of the High Street’. Dawley High Street itself was not developed until much later on (1851?) as a development of a road leading to what was originally called Dawley Green. So what historical parts of the High Street were you taking about?
The only high street buildings with any real historical interest that I am aware of are:
1) The Elephant & Castle Pub now mostly covered in modern graffiti.
2) The Chemist where Edith Pargeter (Ellis Peters) worked which from what I can work out is now either a kebab shop or an amusement arcade?
3) The facade of the old Market Hall.
…hardly going to get any pulses racing are they?
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of course they want the council to move in
it would be great for the local economy
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it would be a good thing for the town
dont care if its a council office or an office full of private workers they all need lunch, dry cleaning, newspapers, printing services etc etc etc and so they will be a massive boost to the local shops and area
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the public sector moving in would be a disaster, all they bring is tax and red tape, they would displace proper jobs in the private sector which would harm the economy, basic economic theory proves that more government is bad for the economy
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I’ll have some of what Tory Boy is on!
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I can see the new offices appearing on the Arena, but of course, all lone males walking to work will need to be CRb checked as they may need to walk past children in the park.
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You had better tell the ‘Dawley Regeneration Partnership’, that Dawley has no history as they plan to waste tens of thousands of pounds on it, of your mnoney.
Why are they not helping the current businesses in the street, encouraging new ones, promoting the area, funding shop fronts starting a chamber of commerce.
No because the Dawley Regeneration group is now a history group only and can not see past the easy options.
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I own what was formally the Royal Exchange and had to take the Heart Bracking decision to close this after trying to make a profit for 2 years as it was not just viable, i am also distressed to see the Dun cow demolished, lord hill closed, elephant and castle up for sale, and queeens up for lease.
I was fortunate to get permission to convert the exchange to a house and save the building (Built 1856) otherwise it would have been sold to developers as my only option.
Dawley high street may not be of hisstorical importance but at least it has charactor, somthing the town centre lacks.
I support any positive plans to bring business into the area.
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