Town Progress Report...

The local free sheet for my town has a number of stories regarding where we are going and a local councillor is asking which of the remaining tasks left unfulfilled by the dissolving of the Borough Council(which is only 6 months away)should be given priority?

Going by the local free sheet it leads with that sculpture again that is known as the "Aycliffe Head" and again had pictures of how it is coming on and with children from local schools being brought o look at it and it is said that doubters are being won onside and that it is being well received...it has not won me over as yet and at a time where our council(who commissioned it)is being wound down, I still see it as a waste of public money.

In a smaller column someone who is involved in the retail area of the town has written a report as to when/if/who may be taking over the vacated supermarket retail unit and again the original retailer is still being linked to it but what we could do with is another food retailer and to perhaps counteract expensive foods being sold in the new supermarket I think the townsfolk would've welcomed another food outlet of a nationwide chain or a store that sells good quality food at discounted prices especially as we have the downturn in the economy and families are struggling with an ever decreasing disposable income.

I was thinking that an alternative idea for the retail unit could be a larger frozen foods retailer offering a larger choice of product even though this would mean competition for our one frozen foods retailer on the town. That retailer should've put in for it and transferred. Our current freezer shop is pretty small for a town this size. I had a flyer come through the door today and the freezer shop featured offered high quality food and also well known brands at prices much less than I am paying at present which would be welcomed by families and to be honest single people on a limited budget.

And if you do not own your own fridge/freezer and want to make a decision on what you buy/eat at the time you shop, you can treat such a shop as your own personal fridge/freezer without owning one.

Instead, we have the likelihood of a store selling household goods and do it yourself goods which are already available in at least two stores and both of these stores are in so close to this empty retail unit, they'll just be diluting the money available. If they are not careful, a retailer may arrive and the other two may disappear.

They seem to suggest this will happen soon in the New Year as they also suggest that our library will be relocated to it's new temporary home.

At present there is a survey being carried out to determine where all the drains, pipes and electrical systems are that carry all the essential services around the retail area and that is said to take up to 4 weeks to complete.

And a while back I mentioned that one block of what was shops and offices is to be demolished to make way for a more up to date set of shops and to be closed in so it's like a shopping mall and retailers already in that block have been told that they have to move out or find new premises(which will be difficult as all spare retail units have now been taken)

The last one to secure a spare unit moves soon...but when Mum was talking to someone who works there, she was told that this block that is coming down is not due for demolition for five years! So if that is true the revamp of our town is not exactly being rushed. And I haven't seen that in any press release.

Good to see them thinking so far ahead(I am being cynical of course)

It will be interesting to see if this is the final stage of the town's re-invention of itself as it would mean that most of the work will have been carried out, if this is the first then everything else would be held up.

The clues are out there amongst my blog as to where I am based but I do try to keep some of my anonymity and be fair when criticising but I have been looking at one of my links that tracks what my area's local MP is up to and the latest information says that so far he has always voted with his party/the Government when a vote is required and in the last few weeks any reference to his work for the area has gone quiet, no sign of his face in the local free sheet or any stories regarding his involvement in the progress of the town's retail plans. Until the last recess he was featured heavily so it will be interesting to see if the publicity machine swings into action or it now remains pretty quiet. No doubt the opposite could be shown to be true.

With the Global Economic climate and other major problems perhaps local issues will take a back seat again, also because local council machinery is being wound down as we come under the new unitary council rules and regulations...and for now the seat probably seems safe...until we head for another election.

I have one little bit of news that has come to light...things may seem quite static regarding the redevelopment of the retail area but once again Tesco's the new retailer in town seems to be trying to move things along. Within a couple of years they added a second floor to their property and increased their lines, now they are asking to add a multi storey car park and increase how many cars can use the land available and as it is based very close to a residential area and there were objections to the original plans of having a supermarket here in the first place, I suspect this will also result in some heated arguments for and against this proposal.

I am happy that I do not live close enough to have to look at the building even though I am very close indeed. I have to admit that I would not be happy. At least in the original retail plans of the town centre such amenities were self contained and less likely to have an affect on those living nearby. And having seen the property increase in height and also a large wind turbine next to it, this multi storey car park is just another thing that is likely to be given the go ahead.