shops

[grumpy]

heard 2 antique shops are closing down in bridge street

also heard the old quick save is opening but as what i don't know

[boozysuzi]

its no before time that something happened at kwik save-what a waste of a building . someone told me that the building actually belongs to Prudential and the rent they wanted was astronomical ,but maybe theyve had to drop it a bit !!
hope it does get something done to it tho !!

[birdsworth]

Berwick needs to assess its priorities. The people of the town all have gripes and concerns, and rightfully so. However, not everyone can be happy all the time. As I see it, the council is too pedestrian in addressing little issues, and claim incapacity when faced with bigger problems. What they seem to overlook is the fact that by solving little issues, bigger ones solve themselves.

We complain about parking fees, and about no one coming to the town. Is it the fees that's the problem, or the town? Sure, other towns don't have fees, and do alright, but some do and do alright as well. Of course, it is also vice versa.

The council can argue and debate all the want about the fees, and the people are happy because their worries are being addresses. But what if it's the town itself? The council will say that that is too much of an all encompassing issue. I say bollocks to them...

If a task is too hard to take on, move over and let someone else do it. The town has a few entry points where traffic is thickest. Start there. Make people welcome. Put up signs. Say hello. Plant nice flowers, paint the benches. The town has sites and sights that people want to see. Go there next. Same as before, paint, clean, say hello. ignore pubs and shops and market for now. Concentrate entirely on the things the town is responsible for up-keeping. The New Road, castle, gardens etc. As the town gets busier, the commerce will come back.

Don't then get complacent and greedy. Raising parking, prices and entry fees. Keep it simple, simple. and the people will come back, adn then we have money to fix potholes, and Christmas lights and fancy Dickinson Markets.

Think of it this way. We were all shocked that 2 people were sleeping rough in this weather, but we live in a town where 2 homeless people make headline news. 2 people!! Is our town that bad? I say no. How many other places of our size have only two people on the streets. We always look to drag ourselves down, but never rationally look at our situation and say, "hang on, this place is alright really". Sure we should try and make it better. But we do not need to run it down all the time, just so we can make the faults bigger.

Sorry, rant over. Fingers ran away.

[grumpy]

i know the town could be lovely i used to work in the barracks for 3 years and the amount of folk who used to visit was unreal and do you know what they used to ask for...... a cafe in the barracks complex just to sit and have a rest after looking around and we had to send them away to the nearest one, i worked in the art gallery and was quite happy to give them a coffee and a scone but would endlish heritage do it would they hell it could have made a small fortune in there alone, as you say it's the little things that matter but see there's more money wasted on consultants according to the tiser

[boozysuzi]

see theyve had yet another consultant working on a report for Berwick . "no quick fix " he said !!!!
wonder how much he gets by the hour ?/

[grumpy]

how can they just listen to the locals it would save a fortune

[tweedsider]

Re consultant - I hear a sizeable part of the Mary Portas money may be spent on consultants; at least it won't be wasted then.

Locals are unlikely to be "on message" with their reply, and will blurt out the truth.

Incomers know best.

I agree with a lot of Birdsworths comments - it's not just Berwick that has changed, our whole way of life has changed, and is changing.
We all want a good mix of shops in town, but we want the convenience of supermarket shopping and (perceived) low prices that supermarkets and retail parks offer.

Was interested to hear about possible Ratings review, Higher rates for supermarkets and Retail Parks, to allow for lower rates on Town Centre shops.

Old Kwik Save shop has been sold by what was One North East to an off shoot of Northumberland County Council responsible for "regeneration" (a word that has worked wonders for Berwick). Plan short term is to leave it as it is, I am told the building has had it's day and is beyond economical repair. Cost of demolition and removal cannot be justified, and an empty plot would be less attractive than current building (think of former Playhouse site).

[jj]

If rates are cheaper on retail parks why dont small shops move there? if they all moved it would just be like moving the High street to somewhere with loads of parking..............on another note, has the council tripled the rates for the golf club in the hope that it folds because they wish to sell the land to the holiday park?

[grumpy]

i'm just back from keswick where we spent the new year and the little market place was full of shops ( all busy) even open new years day there was only 1 empty shop and that was under offer, if keswick can do it how comes berwick can't mind the parking wasn't cheap but it was still thriving, they have the lakes but we have the beautiful northumbrian coast and the cheviots but try to get a decent meal in berwick and you would struggle a bit, went out to redhall restaurant last night for a meal it was nice food but you didnt get much of it, my hubby had fillet steak and he got about 10/12 chips and the peppercorn sauce was £2.00 extra
i'm getting off the subject lol but if keswick can do it so can berwick the one thing i did notice there was only 1 supermarket on the outskirts but was berwick no declining long before the supermarkets came
oh and divn't mention regeneration all the done was regenerate their own pockets see shona alexander is in the citizens advice bureau now on tyneside

[grumpy]

oh and the golf club jj i didn't know it was to expand the holiday camp coz sir alan is or was a consultant for the camp, just to boost his salary you understand think he got about £30.000 a year from the camp

mere small change compared to an mp's salary

[grumpy]

it runs in my mind part of the land on the golf course belongs to the freeman no too sure but think the top end belongs the freemen

[boozysuzi]

the pine shop in Bridge street closes tomorrow and the shop that used to be "theos " empty and up for rent !!!

[tweedsider]

Squirrels going too..

[boozysuzi]

so soon bridge street gonna be like the high street--too many empty shops !!!

[grumpy]

nice little area bridge st