Retail revival strategy

[The Great Dictator]

You said pedestrianise it, that means stop all traffic.
A high street is different from a shopping mall, you go to a shopping mall for a specific reason, the high street is different.

[steveL]

I think we're up against the drivers here.

Hartlepool seems to be alone in the area for not having pedestrianised shopping streets. Redcar's High street was made so a long time ago, then there's Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough and big chunks of Darlington, Stockton and Sunderland too. I'm sure in all cases there were similar protests at the very idea but I doubt if any of them, given the chance to turn back the clock, would do so now.

Personally, I would pedestrianise York Road between Victoria Road and Villiers Street

[The Great Dictator]

Steve L, if you mean stop all traffic permanently then say so.

Perseus, £90000 is peanuts, they should repair the potholes and offer free parking for a year, that would invite people back and blow the £90000.

[no6bus]

really bad idea as it is the main access into the shopping centre and it backs up now imagine what it would be like with all other traffic diverted down there

If you divert all traffic Victoria Rd-Stockton Rd-Park Rd then you  make The 'Clansman' and Park Rd the main entrances to the Shopping centre. Is that a real problem?
Years ago the Boro bus (227) used to use Stockton Rd rather than York Rd.

PS.
Tell your Bunker mates the best way to get value on your train tickets is to 'split' the journey.
Example:
A Hartlepool to Manchester journey  is 50 quid return.
You can use the exact same train but buy a ticket to York return for 12 quid and then York to Manchester return  for 25.40 saving 12 quid.
A return to Scarborough is 50 quid from 'Pool but 30-37 if you split your ticket at York.
Never buy a ticket from Hartlepool to anywhere (apart from London) beyond York as a single ticket.
Get a seperate ticket for the journey from York and you always save money.
The ticket selling staff are forbidden from  telling  you about 'split tickets'!

should have made my point clearer i meant park road is the main vehicle access into the shopping centre and to make buses turn down park road would simply compound the traffic situation not to mention the fact that anyone from the headland wanting the bus home would have to go to park road or the clansman instead of carlton street or the grand.

[no6bus]

Did you even read my post testicles? I'm talking about a specific SECTION of york road, not all of it .I've driven down the section of york road im talking about a million times and not ONCE have i gotten out  of the car on THAT SECTION of york road to go in a shop. You cant bloody stop anywhere for one thing. Also, i've already said simply put the bus stops from THAT SECTION of york road round the corner (opposite loons at one end and outside 5th avenue at the other).
If you pedestrianise an area (and give people something to SEE there) you increase footfall, not reduce it. How many cars do you see driving down the middle of a shopping mall?

N.b given stagecoaches utter contempt for the people of our town if it means they have to re plan thier routes a little, then i'd say that in itself is a reason to do it.

or the councils anti stagecoach policy, stagecoach is a private company out to make a profit, if you owned a shop and after 7pm you had very few or even no customers would you stay open until 11pm of course you wouldnt.
mind in some cases they make mistakes and the service 1 could possibly be making a return on sundays.

[Julie noted]

Know what I think? 
The shopping experience in Hartlepool is too fragmented.
We have supermarkets selling a vast range of goods spread right across the town.
We have shopping parades selling virtually all you require for the home spread right across the town.
We have 'retail parks' from one end of the town to the other.
On top of that, why would anyone want to pay ££s to park and shop in or around the town centre when there are alternatives elsewhere within the town?

The council dimwits even tried to spread the 'shopping experience' even further when they allowed Jacksons Landing to open, with its vast range of goods. 
How much money do they think is floating about in a town of 85,000 people, a large proportion of which are unemployed?!!! 

Just like most of the decisions of this council, they don't think ahead. It is all short term decisions and not the 'bigger picture'.

A little bit like spending all that money on the tall stories and now they are strapped for cash.
What happened to all of the people and money that was going to flow into the town due to the tall stories?
The town is in financial dire straits, the council is in financial dire straits and they are paying off employees left, right and centre.
drummond and the councillors should be held responsible for the risible situation the town is in due to their financial mis-management. 
Shopping in Hartlepool? It will be too little too late.

[rabbit]

And all that`s before we consider Internet Shopping!

[The Great Dictator]

I can tell you in 2 seconds how to solve the problem......................Start using your local shops and stop buying off the internet. 

[steveL]

I think there's a tendency for HBC to say 'yes' to most anything and as a result things like retail parks are scattered without any real overall plan being in place. You could say the same for the landfill sites, rubbish tips and tyre dumps. This is supposed to be the role of the Strategic Plan but the SP is designed to be so vague that it leaves copious amounts of wiggle room. That's why 'industrial areas' find themselves being used as dumps.

The original reasons for town centre parking charges were that:
1: The overnment assumed parking charges were made when formulating the grant money to HBC
2: It would encourage the use of public transport and discourage the use of private cars (ironic)

Nowadays it's simply viewed as an essential supplement to an already exhorbitant level of council tax.

[The Great Dictator]

Car parking like Council tax is just another form of taxation and it ain't going away.

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

"Car parking" is going away ...as the purse gets no bigger and bills go up we get less lazy about chucking a quid plus in the machine and make the effort not to shop there at the times you have to pay.

Plus I know somebody that hasn't bought a ticket in 4 years and never been caught. Her logic is a fine works out cheaper than paying the machine.

Here is how our town doesn't work for me (just this week).
Went to reserve a steam cleaner at ARGOS.COM ...googled it at the same time and found it £60 cheaper with free next day delivery.

I can't afford to give away £60.

[The Great Dictator]

In that case why are you crying about empty shops, your disloyalty is to blame.
When your wife has nowhere to shop she'll make your life a fu**ing misery.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Pretty damning statistics...

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9911117.One_in_five_shops_are_empty__says_survey/


Is it only me, or do others find the comparison between SBC's comments and those of our very own Mr D. somewhat telling!

'Councillor Mike Smith, Stockton Borough Council's cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said: "We are at the very start of our ambitious £38m investment programme through both council funding or private sector money and grants. "This huge investment is being complemented by the fact Stockton was chosen as one of the initial 12 Portas Pilot schemes, and the newly formed Stockton Town Team are working with the council, businesses and retailers to boost the town centre economy."

'Hartlepool mayor Stuart Drummond said: "We are looking at putting together a retail strategy, perhaps involving some data and analysis from one of the universities. We have got £100,000 from a recent bid and we have a group who are looking at pro-active ideas about how we can improve the town centre. "We should also remember that the area around the marina is thriving – it is not all doom and gloom."'

Hmmm...notes on the back of an envelope perchance? 

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

Hartlepool attracting £100K against Stockton attracting £38 million.

Just reiterates that he is not up for the job.

[steveL]

"We should also remember that the area around the marina is thriving – it is not all doom and gloom."'"

Strewth, did he really say this? The Marina is a stalled development as Mark's videos showed pretty well, I think. Relocating the Church Street winebars so that the binge drinkers can throw up and urinate in a new location is hardly something that can be described as a success story.

Actually, I'm probably being a bit harsh there as it's quite pleasant during the day especially when the sun is out and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to relax with a cup of coffee for a while. That said, it becomes pretty much a no go area on weekend evenings to anyone who doesn't like to be subject to foul language, having their clothes soaked in lager spills or peppered with accidental cigarette burns.