Roads being shut for the races Options

[Hugh Saskin]

I'd be interested to know where of similar size is better and still want to know what's "run down" in Newbury.

Seem to recall we had this sort of discussion some months back when I posed the question 'where, of a similar size and within a similar distance of London, is better than Newbury? Someone suggested Wokingham but few other takers. Anyone else suggest somewhere appreciably better than Newbury?

[Strafin]

Why does it have to be the same size? There are plenty of places that I would deem better, but you never know unless you actually live there. Winchester, Eastleigh, and Wokingham are three. Maidenhead seems nice too. And Windsor but that's probably a bit expensive. My family are here although I met my wife in Yorkshire. I brought her down here because it used to be so nice. If I were to move it would be to The States, which takes a bit more organising than just deciding to go on a whim.

[graham]

user23

have you driven down London rd ? there`s boards up where the garage use to be, drive on a bit further
and there is more rubble on the corner of park way which is going to be a hotel and then there`s the park way development which has run out of money again because there`s a lack of interest from new buisness`s and this info came from some one who works in Marks and spencer,

been in the town ? well the start of the town looks like a post card from Iraq with half a building on the left hand side and then in the middle of the town there boards and windows painted white where shops have closed and not been re opened by other buisness`s, oh but we do have x3 Tesco stores x4 if you include the one in thatcham now do we no why we needed another tesco ? surely we could have had Morrision`s or Asda but we ended up with another tesco so i wonder who took the back hander there!

Newbury used to be a really nice town with a good town centre and money put back in to it, but those days seem to be long gone, the council does nothing for the Newbury residents any more take friday they close roads for the races and simply red gig but still allow road work to continue on on major roads around the race course! now would`nt it make sense to carry out the road works at night ? it must be safer for the work men and less traffic.

west berks or Newbury council want people to come to Newbury and spend the day here shopping going to the cinema or looking around newbury that sort of thing like you would do in Swindon, Reading, basingstoke

point made !

[spartacus]

........now would`nt it make sense to carry out the road works at night ? it must be safer for the work men and less traffic.

Problem.....

Road works at night might be advisable for safety reasons on high speed/high volume roads like the A34. M4 or A4 outside of the towns....... But try carrying out roadworks at night on residential roads and you find that residents complain about the noise, the smell of tarmac, the floodlights, ummm. the noise, the inconvenience. Yes even though they might be tucked up in bed, they'll complain about the inconvenience...

And to top it all, it costs an awful lot more to get workmen to commit to working unsociable hours..... not a sensible use of limited funds.

[Andy]

user23

have you driven down London rd ? there`s boards up where the garage use to be, drive on a bit further
and there is more rubble on the corner of park way which is going to be a hotel and then there`s the park way development which has run out of money again because there`s a lack of interest from new buisness`s and this info came from some one who works in Marks and spencer,

been in the town ? well the start of the town looks like a post card from Iraq with half a building on the left hand side and then in the middle of the town there boards and windows painted white where shops have closed and not been re opened by other buisness`s, oh but we do have x3 Tesco stores x4 if you include the one in thatcham now do we no why we needed another tesco ?


Newbury used to be a really nice town with a good town centre and money put back in to it, but those days seem to be long gone, the council does nothing for the Newbury residents any more take friday they close roads for the races and simply red gig but still allow road work to continue on on major roads around the race course! now would`nt it make sense to carry out the road works at night ? it must be safer for the work men and less traffic.

west berks or Newbury council want people to come to Newbury and spend the day here shopping going to the cinema or looking around newbury that sort of thing like you would do in Swindon, Reading, basingstoke

point made !

Your obviously very naive and blinkered with your ideas of the definition of a poor place to live if that's the worst you can come up with.

Reason for edit: ADMIN: A sentence has been deleted because it contravenes the legal guidelines surrounding internet message board usage, and break the rules of this site.

[user23]

point made !

One the one hand you're complaining about the town being run town, then on the other you're complaining about all the road repairs and building work being done. You can't have it both ways. And as someone has said, it costs a lot more to work at night and people complain about the noise.

I was in the Market Place yesterday evening and I must say I think it looks very nice this time of year, surely you don't think it looks "run down"?

It's really up to Asda or Morrison whether open a shop round here, not the council, have you written to them asking why they haven't?

[graham]

One the one hand you're complaining about the town being run town, then on the other you're complaining about all the road repairs and building work being done. You can't have it both ways. And as someone has said, it costs a lot more to work at night and people complain about the noise.

I was in the Market Place yesterday evening and I must say I think it looks very nice this time of year, surely you don't think it looks "run down"?

It's really up to Asda or Morrison whether open a shop round here, not the council, have you written to them asking why they haven't?

User23

did Asda & Morrison have the chance to come to Newbury I know most people would have liked another food store other than tesco,
The market place yes you have mentioned this a number of times ? what do you want me to say ?

[Biker1]

been in the town ? well the start of the town looks like a post card from Iraq with half a building on the left hand side and then in the middle of the town there boards and windows painted white where shops have closed and not been re opened by other buisness`s,

The possible reason for this is the extortionate rent that is STILL being charged for shops in the town.

If you want profitable retail businesses in the town then they need to be charged a realistic rent.

[Rosewinelover]

I don't think Newbury is run down, but I do think it's going to end up like that. From what I have heard only Debenhams have signed up to the new shopping center. Any others? The Cinema ( I haven't been yet, but am planning to) is still awaiting food shops to go in. Where are they? Surely this should of been agreed and wrote into the contract before work started. People making the decisions about our town do it without thinking about what the people want. I for one do not want/like the new shopping center. We don't need it and I don't think people from other towns will use it. The Kennet Center (which i think is dyer apart from a few shops) just needed a re-vamp.
I love the park and want it to stay like that, the plans I have seen for it are dreadful.

I love living here, I just don't like how Newbury is becomming. If I could get a good job down in Weymouth then I would be there!

[graham]

[quote name='Andy' date='Jul 12 2010, 02:21 AM' post='20376']
Your obviously very naive and blinkered with your ideas of the definition of a poor place to live if that's the worst you can come up with.
[/quo

blinkered dont you get out ? if this is what you want to see when you come to a town
the we have different views, i would like to see more money put back in to newbury and make it a nice town again there enougfh of it around Newbury, look at the buisness`s we have.

how long you lived in Newbury ?

i love living in newbury and wouldnt live in a bigger town but it seems that not every one has the towns best interest at heart.

[JeffG]

On one of your points: the boarded up ex-Wheeler's garage is boarded up because it's being redeveloped as a site for a new Aldi supermarket. As far as I know, that's not a branch of Tesco.

[Andy]

Your obviously very naive and blinkered with your ideas of the definition of a poor place to live if that's the worst you can come up with.

blinkered dont you get out ? if this is what you want to see when you come to a town
the we have different views, i would like to see more money put back in to newbury and make it a nice town again there enougfh of it around Newbury, look at the buisness`s we have.

how long you lived in Newbury ?

i love living in newbury and wouldnt live in a bigger town but it seems that not every one has the towns best interest at heart.

Try living somewhere like here and then maybe you'll hopefully understand the point I'm trying to make.

We'd all like to see more money pumped into the town and more varied shops open, but I'm not naive or stupid enough to believe it will happen before the recession is well and truly passed and until that point I'm grateful for what we have.

Additionally comparing a few building works with Iraq and what they have to endure, in my opinion is frankly disgaceful and I for one would be thouroughly ashamed to even consider such an analogy.

P.S. 25 years

[Bloggo]

blinkered dont you get out ? if this is what you want to see when you come to a town
the we have different views, i would like to see more money put back in to newbury and make it a nice town again there enougfh of it around Newbury, look at the buisness`s we have.

how long you lived in Newbury ?

i love living in newbury and wouldnt live in a bigger town but it seems that not every one has the towns best interest at heart.


Try living somewhere like here and then maybe you'll hopefully understand the point I'm trying to make.

We'd all like to see more money pumped into the town and more varied shops open, but I'm not naive or stupid enough to believe it will happen before the recession is well and truly passed and until that point I'm grateful for what we have.

Additionally comparing a few building works with Iraq and what they have to endure, in my opinion is frankly disgaceful and I for one would be thouroughly ashamed to even consider such an analogy.

P.S. 25 years

You and Graham seem to be polarised to the point of hysteria.
There are too many unused retail premises in Newbury which does not create the right image. Couple this with the litter in Victoria park and the high incidence of street crime at the end of Bartholomew street and the drunks at St Nick's church then you do have to ask the question what can be done to improve this. Iraq it isn't and exagerating the situation does not help.
However i suspect that you do recognise the valid point being made.

[JeffG]

Try living somewhere like here and then maybe you'll hopefully understand the point I'm trying to make.

Not nice, but you don't have to leave the UK to find places a lot worse than Newbury:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kpmarek/4120236025/

[Iommi]

We're not a market town anymore, we are a 'supermarket' town. Surely that is progress?

[Bloggo]

We're not a market town anymore, we are a 'supermarket' town. Surely that is progress?

What seems to have happened over the last 30 years with Newbury and Thatcham is that continued house building for whatever reason, need, greed or accepted stratergy has attracted more people into the area and this in turn attracts the volume retail outlets to the detriment of the smaller and more personal retailers.
This has inevitably changed both towns beyond recognition.
Some would call this progress and in many ways it is but it is at the cost of the closer relationship that towns like Hungerford and Marlborough seem to maintain between residents themselves and the retail trade.
Newbury and Thatcham are turning into dormitory towns with little investment into local manufacturing opportunities. The vast majority of jobs just service the ever growing population.
Does seem a shame that the two towns have lost their identity. Once Parkway is occupied you could be in any town in the South.

[user23]

User23

did Asda & Morrison have the chance to come to Newbury I know most people would have liked another food store other than tesco,
The market place yes you have mentioned this a number of times ? what do you want me to say ?

Who should be offering Asda & Morrison "the chance" to open a shop in Newbury?

Surely they're able to submit a planning application to build a new shop any time they want?

[graham]

Andy

There`s mixed reviews on the forum about Newbury, i agree that this recession has`nt helped some of the retail buisness `s but its been going on long before the recession.

Newbury has allways been slow on the up. like the cinema how long did that take 12 years wasnt it, it would be nice for the council or board to to respect the residents ideas and look at what would benefit Newbury and move Newbury forward and this might attract different retail company`s and bring in new buisness.

[Iommi]

On topic, I wonder if this temporary road layout could be conceived as a 'dry run' for the new development in the race course. The ghost of Christmas future?

[Jayjay]

User23

did Asda & Morrison have the chance to come to Newbury I know most people would have liked another food store other than tesco,
The market place yes you have mentioned this a number of times ? what do you want me to say ?

Asda/Morisons could easily have come to Newbury. The old Woolworth would have been ideal, empty units at the retail park or they could have done a new build like Tesco and Waitrose did and Aldi are doing.