Debenhams pull out of the Barnsley town centre regeneration scheme

Debenhams was supposed to be the 'anchor' shop of the regeneration with the hope that other big names currently not in Barnsley town centre would follow but that probably won't happen now.

It's been going on for years the talk about this town centre/markets regeneration but nothing seems to have happened and Barnsley town centre seems to be getting worse as the years go on.

I work in Rotherham and the town centre there has been awful for years now and Barnsley isn't far behind it at the moment.

 

Free parking, more parking, better access roads, knock Meadowhall down. Encourage employers into town rather than the large developments such as Manvers etc... difficult.

I think the ship has sailed

 

Well played Barnsley council, they probably have got fed up of the delays.

This regeneration has been a farce from start to present.

Just do it BMBC, you'll get nowhere with present shops pulling out because of the uncertainty like HMV did.

 

Most towns and cities are finished in the mass retail imo and retail centres such as meadowhall have a tough battle on with the internet etc.
The thing we could help is the market and the maret traders but to d that in my opinion is an attractive town centre with excellent transport links community friendy spaces eg the fountains near town hall child/disabled and elderly friendly recreation areas and local/visitor entertainment and interest.
How this is achieved should be a project or the think tanks that earn hundreds of thousands a year to actually earn it.

 

Thoughts about it have gone through.

As a council they just have to man up and sort out progression.

 

Whose money would you use? Given the council are having to make cutbacks on top of cutbacks, where would the money to rebuild the town centre come from ??
Also HMV went tits up and had to close most of their stores.

 

They've been looking for the funding to start the regeneration for the last two years, struggling to find it. Yet millions is wasted on toss holes like Sheffield.

There's no announcement on their website

http://www.marketplacebarnsley.co.uk/news/index.html

 

Good place to have recouped some of the money would have been the parking charges at Morrisons! For the 2 busiest weeks of the year ie Christmas period, the parking machines were out of order and FREE PARKING in town centre was the order of the day - effectively for as long as you wanted too!!! Well done BMBC in getting it fixed in the New Year(presumably when Mr Fixer returned from his hoilday!!).
Never mind - we can introduce Fracking soon (well we are an old mining town!) and we can then truly refer to our council as Barnsley Fracking Council

 

It's on the BMBC website

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Re: It's on the BMBC website

big retailers are never going to pitch up in Barnsley town centre,there just isn't the footfall and trade to sustain concerns of that size.Small retailers cant afford the rent,rates and other running costs.
meadowhall initially,followed by all the other out of town developments knackered Barnsley up.

 

Re: It's on the BMBC website

I don't buy that Meadowhall has had the impact that many claim. I went into town this morning, to nip to the bank. It's grim to be fair. And which dullard thought it would be a good idea to put traffic lights on the Alhambra roundabout? You can't blame Debenhams really. Rent rates are just ridiculous, too.

 

So by your reckoning we could have started the work if the parking machines at Morrisons had worked for 2 weeks ? Seriously ?

Some people in Barnsley will find any excuse to have a pop at the Council !!

 

HMV closed because of the store lease and confusion over if they took on another year lease will they get to fulfil it before they works started. Well one of the reasons anyway but was one if there busier stores.

A lot of money had gone into planning and surveys. Money is surely available, I work in town planning and surely to do all of what they have done and spent money with tenders etc they will have to have money in place.

 

I am led to belive that only about 85% of the funding required is in place -----bit like being nearly a virgin then eh!

 

to be honest thats no great loss

their prices are stupid. Online shopping and out of town malls are the reasons many town centers are becoming Ghost towns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WhhSBgd3KI

 

I might be really stupid here but wouldn't the parking money in morrisons' carpark go to erm morrisons?

 

In an ideal world Debenhams wouldn't be there and rents would be low enough for small, locally owned and sourced businesses to set up in Barnsley town centre.
It would be nice to go somewhere that doesn't have the usual high street suspects - every town centre is the same these days.

 

The town centre is a disgrace and desperately needs investment and a facelift but business seems unwilling to invest because its so bad. It simply can't compete with Meadowhell and the other local shopping centres or the internet. I can't see anything but further decline.

 

What I don't understand is how spectacularly they appear to have failed to get the funding whilst other local councils have successfully got the funding and actually started or even finished their developments. Rotherham got millions of funding just for a shopping precinct in rawmarsh but we're struggling for the town centre?

Perhaps if they hadn't *****ed money up the wall giving it to that clown Alsop then there'd be more to build with

 

Excuses....Excuses....Excuses.Barnsley council are a disgrace, always blaming the cut backs of the current goverment.We have a great town with a country wide historically great market.But instead of re-building the market they spend millions on architects, and never lay a brick in anger.I work out of town and people always say oh ! Barnsley ! they used to have a great market !.Its so simple its embarrassing.