Stockport Reality

Merseyway Update

2009-12-10T18:05:00.011Z

The former Woolworths unit, one of the largest and most prominent in Stockport is still vacant, after almost a year.

We wonder if this is now the last former Woolworths in the area not to be taken over by another retailer - so far there seems to have been no interest in it at all. Certainly it leaves a void on both Merseyway and Princes Street, really dragging the area down.

The only response from the rulling Lib Dems has been a rather curious recent interview with the Stockport Express, in which the Executive Councillor for Regeneration reminded us of his last brainwave, which was to ask Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver to open restuarants here. Although these optimistic approaches were predictably rebuffed, the councillor concerned has now had another idea - he would like the former Woolworths to be turned into "food court" along the lines of the one at the Trafford Centre (an assortment of fast food takeaways with some chairs and tables in the middle).

This is a highly questionable idea on a number of levels (althought the Trafford Centre food court is styled on the Titanic, which may be an appropriate metaphor where the Lib Dems are concerned) and there is no indication of who would pay for it, but the main thing it shows is that our Lib Dem council does not, and cannot deliver. Articles like the one in the Express are intended to give the impression (at least to the untrained eye) that the Council is busy doing things, but it isn't the Council's job just to say what should happen in cases like this - the Council's job is to make these things happen. After all, they have had nearly twelve months where Woolworths in concerned, and there hasn't even been an attempt to tidy up the empty and broken shopfront.

Further underlining Stockport's decline as a shopping centre is the news that Starbucks, further down Merseyway (pictured above), has closed down, presumably to be followed by the in-store branch at Borders in the Peel Centre, which is holding a closing-down sale. Could this be a sign that the kind of customer who is prepared to pay for expensive coffee no longer bothers to come into Stockport? If Stockport is to regain its place as a major shopping centre for the surrounding area (something which it has largely lost over the past decade), these are customers we must win back - otherwise we will be left just with pound shops and takeaways.

It is time for some action from our Lib Dem council - not just more talk, and expensive consultants' reports which never seem to come to anything

More thoughts on the Stockport Station investment boost...

2009-11-20T18:38:00.018Z

http://www.stockportexpress.co.uk/news/s/1182896_station_among_worst_in_the_country

Much of the media coverage of the £50 million funding boost (see previous post) focused on the fact that Stockport has been officially branded as one of the ten worst major stations in the country.

Having mulled this over, we can't help thinking that this is another glaring example of Lib Dem ineptitude and inaction - none of us can remember any calls from the Council's leadership for the sorts of improvements that the Labour Government is now going to pay for.

To be fair, the Lib Dems have made noises about train services using the station (not to very much effect, though), but they have been very quiet on the grotty state of the station itself. Presumably they think it looks fine - this poor judgement possibly explains why the Lib Dem-run Council is so tolerant of the many grot-spots elsewhere in the town centre, and right across our Borough.

Also highlighted by the funding boost are the limitations of operating in a fantasy world of artists' impressions and planning applications that never seem to come to anything. For example, the need for much more parking at the station has been obvious for years, but all the Council has done is point to plans for a new multi-story car park as part of the stalled Grand Central re-development (see below). The drawback with this approach is that at some point you actually have to do something to solve the problem , or as in this case, the Government has to step in where the Council has failed.

Fortunately, in Ann Coffey and Andrew Gwynne, we have two excellent Labour MPs who put our case to the Government when the Lib Dems can't, or won't.

Labour's funding boost for Stockport Station will give travellers a much better first impression of our town

2009-11-17T15:46:00.001Z

The Leader of Stockport’s Labour Group has welcomed today’s announcement of Government funding for a major revamp of the town’s railway station.

The Government’s Station Champions report, published today, has named Stockport as one of the ten major railway stations most in need of improvement, and in response, the Government has made up to £50 million of funding available so that an early start can be made on this work. In particular, the report calls for a major extension to the ticket hall at Stockport, and the doubling in size of the current station car park, which is frequently full to capacity. The report also acknowledges the status of Stockport as a major interchange, only one step down in importance from the major city centre termini, and suggests that there is further scope for retail facilities to serve passengers.

The Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Adonis, visited Stockport Station this lunchtime (pictured above, centre and below) as part of a whistle-stop national tour of the ten major stations found to be most in need of this funding, to see for himself the work that needs to be done, and to underline his commitment to seeing these improvements through.

Lord Adonis blogged after the visit:

“Stockport is a partially modernised station, with a superb new entrance and ticket hall but most of the platforms and other facilities are in poor condition - a particular contrast to the modern trains which pass through. The station is very close to the M60 and could become a significant park-and-ride location, but the car park is inadequate both in the number of places and the quality of facilities. We need to promote park-and-ride much more strongly, to encourage people to get out of their cars and onto trains - which they will do in much larger numbers if the car parking spaces are there.”

Labour Group Leader Councillor Peter Scott, who is also a member of the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority, commented:

“This funding from the Labour Government is a major boost for Stockport, and will bring real benefits to passengers. The station serves not only our Borough, but the entire southern part of Greater Manchester and large parts of Cheshire and this funding will reinforce Stockport’s status as a major hub, with exceptionally good transport links. I’m grateful to Lord Adonis for finding the time to come and see the problems at Stockport for himself.

“The work that has previously been carried out at Stockport has already made a big difference, particularly around the main entrance, and after some delay, the new Platform 0 is now in use. However, the refurbishment must now spread to the other platforms, which are somewhat down at heel, and something must be done to ease the chronic overcrowding in the station car park, where visitors are frequently greeted by ‘Car Park Full’ signs.

“I hope that work on these improvements will get underway as soon as possible, and I call on Stockport Council to start working with the Government, Network Rail, and Virgin Trains, who operate the station, to ensure that we get the best possible outcome for station users.”

Further information on the Department for Transport funding announcement, Lord Adonis’s visit, and the Station Champions report are available from here: http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/railstations

Grand Central

2009-11-02T14:03:00.001Z

Unlike most of the visions for Stockport Town Centre, Grand Central did actually get built. On the positive side, Grand Central Pools is a first-class facility, both for the people of the Borough, and those from further away. A town centre cinema is always a good thing, and the bowling alley is a good place for families, family leisure facilities being something we are quite short of.

On the downside, Grand Central has never worked as a whole. Partly this was down to poor planning - the blank back of it is the first thing most people see when they leave Stockport Railway Station. The access into the development isn't clear, so most visitors walk round it.

Perhaps this is just as well - particularly during the day, the main walkway resembles a ghost town, lined as it is with boarded-up bars and nightclubs and empty shops. The licensed premises of Grand Central became a magnet for anti-social behaviour before they were finally closed down.

The vision for Grand Central includes:

New restaurants and cafes
200 new homes
A new hotel
New offices
New shops
A 1,500 space car park.

You can read more about the developer's vision for the site (with pictures) here: http://www.grandcentralstockport.com/index.asp

Construction was supposed to have started in Autumn 2007 (i.e well before the current recession started). According to the developer's website, it is supposed to be finished by "Autumn 2009/Spring 2010" which is odd, because as you can see in the picture below, nothing has happened!

There is some good news - in July 2009, Travelodge announced that they will run the much-needed hotel at the site, when it actually gets built. However, there is no indication of when building will start, or whether occupiers can be found for the rest of the site, which is looking increasingly bleak as tenants continue to move out.

Stockport Labour councillors are fully behind the redevelopment of Grand Central, but we need to see some action. The owners of the site have recently stuck pictures of the proposed development over the windows of some of the empty shops but this isn't a substitute for action. Like the ill-fated Bridgefield scheme, the Grand Central re-development involves building around 200 flats. We aren't convinced that there is the demand for this sort of city-centre flat, and demand for office space in the Town Centre continues to be linited.

The Lib Dems need to stop trying to take credit for things that haven't even been built yet, and start working with the developers to bring forward more realistic proposals, so that something can finally be done with this grot spot at a key gateway to Stockport.

Stockport welcomes careful cyclists!

2009-11-02T13:54:00.000Z

Spotted near the source of the River Mersey at Portwood!

Bridgefield

2009-11-02T13:06:00.000Z

This is probably the best-known example of our Lib Dem council letting the people of Stockport down.

Over the past decade, town centres across Greater Manchester have been redeveloped and regenerated. For example, Wigan now has the Grand Arcade, the Market Place in Bolton has attracted major national retailers, and construction of the new Rock shopping centre at Bury is currently well underway.

The Lib Dem response to the success of our neighbouring councils was to promise us Bridgefield. What is currently, and has been for years, a windswept and desolate car park, was to be transformed into:

(picture credit: Stockport Express)

650,000 sq ft of new shops

80,000 sq ft of leisure and dining outlets

A multi-screen cinema

250 flats

1,750 car parking spaces

And what is the progress on this vision?

Unfortunately, the developers chosen by the Council, Lend Lease, pulled out in August 2008, after two years of not much happening. Both Lend Lease and the Council blamed the state of the economy. Lend Lease might have been able to justify their withdrawal in this way, but the fact is that the faliure of Bridgefield is largely down to the Lib Dems, and their record of apathy and inaction.

We believe that the main reason that the Bridgefield site is still a car park is that the Lib Dems missed the boat, a gross error which it will be very difficult to recover from. Wigan, Bolton, Bury & Manchester got going with their redevelopment plans several years ago while the economy was growing. They worked with developers to identify sites, worked with retailers, and started building, as a result of which, they have, or will soon have, Town Centres to be proud of. Meanwhile, Stockport's Lib Dems, who have never been terribly bothered about the state of the Town Centre, sat on their hands. When they finally did get around to doing something, years after everyone else, they came up with impressive, glossy, and expensive masterplans, but very little in the way of results. The problem now is that, even when the economy does recover, there is only so much demand for retail space within the region - because Stockport was not able to provide the kind of space that retailers need, they have gone elsewhere. They may now feel that there is no need to come to Stockport.

Stockport Labour councillors are committed to the regeneration of central Stockport -not just brining in new businesses, but also supporting those businesses already here. The doomed Bridgefield scheme assumed that there would be demand for 250 town centre apartments, which seems doubtful based on experience of other developments, and leisure developments (including bars and clubs) which never really worked at Grand Central. When the economy picks up, and retailers are ready to invest again, we need to be able to hit the ground running with schemes that are realistic and deliverable, not just about grabbing headlines.

Knightsbridge/Great Portwood Street

2009-10-30T17:00:00.000Z

How it was supposed to be, back in 2001 (granted outline planning permission):

A 100 bedroom, five storey hotel, including restaurant, bar and meeting rooms and parking for 67 vehicles (50 of them underground), accessed off Knightsbridge.

A 76,156 sq ft building with a mixture of open non-food shops and commercial leisure facilities on two floors. likely to consist of a department-style store and/or a health and fitness club.

Then, after years of nothing happening, the Council decided to put a supermarket there. In January 2008 (i.e. almost two years ago), they announced that Sainsburys would be moving to the site.

Two years later, and eight years after the original plans, what progress has been made?

No progress at all! But more dereliction!

Well done to our Lib Dem council!

Welcome to our new blog!

2009-10-30T16:23:00.000Z

Welcome to Stockport Reality!

Lib Dem-run Stockport Council spends hundreds of thousands of pounds of your money every year telling people what a good job it is doing. We believe that the best way to judge the Council is by its record - not by how good its PR machine is, or how glossy its leaflets are.

One area where the gulf between the hype and the reality is at its widest is in Stockport Town Centre. For years, we have been treated to artists' impressions, and weighty masterplans (all drawn up at huge expense) but nothing ever happens. And whenever nothing happens, our Lib Dem council always blames someone else. Meanwhile, other towns in the region have opened new shopping centres, built new town centre homes, and cleared derelict sites, as central Stockport has continued to decline.

Through this site, Stockport's Labour councillors aim to show the truth behind the Town Hall spin. We invite you to send us your own examples of where the reality isn't quite what the Lib Dems would want you to believe. Please email us at stockportlabour@googlemail.com, including a photograph if you have one.

With best wishes,

Stockport Labour Group