Town centre square

TGI’s would be great for the town. I strongly believe you need the big brands to attract the people, who will then discover the local places.

 

Agreed. Covid has really affected the casual dining sector though and some of the big names are closing restaurants to save money. I think the council desperately want two more big names for the restaurant units underneath the cinema.

 

For what its worth I think Barnsley council planners deserve some credit for trying to regenerate. One if the poorest, underfunded boroughs in the country and they have tried really hard to breathe new life in. Apologies if I'm talking ******** about funding (I usually talk ********) as I don't know all the specifics of the formula but I think its a good effort.

 

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

Any ideas what the upstairs unit L2 is going to be ? It’s one in solicitors hands and looks massive compared to the rest

 

The single problem for me, and the current planners are not to blame for this, but it all looks a bit too generic and 'vanilla. ' Barnsley Market was a magnet for people to visti far and wide, as was Barnsley itself, full of Victorian architecture and history from the prosperous era of mining and glassworks industry. The 70s saw it all ripped out in the name of modernism... Concrete monstrosities replacing grand stone buildings.
The characterless Odeon was preserved whils the magnificent Ritz with its sweeping staircase leading to the Circle was left abandoned, vandalised and demolished.
Don't get me wrong , the new town centre is a huge step forward and will hopefully attract the local people and satellite villages nearby to shop here rather than travel out of town. I do not see it attracting folk from far and wide unfortunately.

 

https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2021/...owing-barnsley-retail-and-hospitality-complex

it says that Black and White entrance is next to Coffee Boy but that spot on the leasing plan is tiny. Are they having some of the huge upstairs space?

Also, on the FB announcement there was a third bar, Long Island that isn't mentioned in terms of where in the Glassworks it is

 

They were desperately trying to fill L2 with a gym. The only 24 hour gym chain I can think of that we don’t have in town is PureGym. They might have scrapped that idea, but I guess time will tell. L3 was a late addition after all the units on that side were reduced to single storey.

 

Black and White is only going in that small unit. It looks tiny on the plans, but it is a bit bigger than you might think. I’m not sure how much roof space there is for a mezzanine floor, but it can’t go above as that’s Market Kitchen. The access to L2 is near JD so it’s not going in there either.

No confirmation/announcement yet on the Long Island unit.

 

You are talking about two different eras there "people travelling far and wide". They only need to attract the people who live in the borough back to the town centre, the ones who go to Meadowhall or Leeds drinking. The old buildings are the let down in the town, not council owned and falling into disrepair, next time I walk through I'll take a picture and post so you can see how they let the town down. I would have been happier if they had completely flattened the town centre and rebuilt it.

 

Out of interest GO which buildings are you talking about? I think there are a lot of beautiful old buildings in the town centre that just need sandblasting to be made to look really nice again. The ugliest buildings for me are the ones built in the last 50 years but before the glassworks, the worst section being from Lloyds Bank through to Topman. Basically everything opposite the glassworks. Either side of that most of the buildings are really nice underneath dodgy paint or dirt and budget looking signage. In fact signage is the main thing they need to enforce better rules on going forward. Only allow anything that's classy

 

Correct, Harrals is a disgrace, but I suspect the owners are waiting for a hand out from the Council before they do anything with it?

 

signage makes a massive difference- you see photos from a hundred years ago and then the same street now and think how much nicer it used to look - then realise it’s actually the same buildings. Trouble is the modern signage is that in your face it actually blinds you of the buildings underneath

 

The ones at the side of Frank Bird that sit between the opening at the far end of the new town square, anything built in the 60s/70s are also terrible. The whole length of shops from Boots to M&S barring the Barnsley Buikding Society would look better flattened.

 

Ironically they pulled the best looking 70's building down - the Library.

 

I would love it, LOVE IT, if one of the remaining units ended up being a five guys

 

It would probably do well too, not having a McDonalds or Burger King near by.

 

Agree with the whole length that you said, I think there's a couple more worth saving but the problem is how they've been added on to makes it impossible. It would be nice if they could clad the frontage of all those buildings at least to make them look better but at the very least the old BHS has to go, the overhang dominates cheapside.

Still not sure which ones you mean near Frank bird but it's funny you should mention birds itself because when I was in town I couldn't help but think that the arcade would be improved massively if they got rid of frank birds. It's a modernish building in an otherwise Victorian arcade and takes away from the architecture around it.

 

One of the letting agents for The Glassworks is Central Retail who work very closely with Five Guys. I think if we were getting one it would’ve probably been announced by now.

I’m still really keen to find out who has taken half of the old Pizza Hut on Peel Retail Park. Plans have gone in to add a drive thru.

 

Really, not a patch of the new one and l used them both regularly during my degree.