Thing is, the new supermarket is another nail in the coffin for the old town centre.
If money was available (and it isn't at the moment), I would wipe the town centre and market off the map and rebuild them completely.
The market building is awful. It's not a market, it's market stalls shoved into an industrial unit. Markets should have atmosphere with fat butchers shouting stuff like "2 pound of best sirloin missus, and I'll chuck you a couple of breasts in "
The town centre is what it is...dated..1980s
I recently went to Liverpool with the other moderator Gues Who, on the annual moderators convention
and it was amazing to see the thought that had gone into regenerating the centre there. New building dovetailed into the old City seamlessly.
I'm not for one minute suggesting we're on the scale of Liverpool, but there is a masterplan for the town which I bet most folk on here never even look at, but should be pushing forward.
The town centre needs opening up.
Sure, we have a new college, but we now have 2 old buildings that will be sat going derelict. I recently read a proposal that these could be used for retail ?!??! Are they serious?
And another thing, the Liverpool centre was litter and chewing gum free. Our new Bus station was covered in gum and Greggs wrappers in about 3 months flat. Scuffers.