Do They Know Something We Dont!?

[Hillbilly]

After years of our town going down hill, dare we begin to be just a little bit optimistic about the prospects of Bedders!?

We have Wetherspoons working like Trojans to get the Red Lion open for November, Tesco have submitted their plans to transform the marketplace (Although I don't know the outcome of the application!) and now there are rumours that Elliot's Garage may well be a target for re-development at long last. I also think something may be happening at the Dun Cow!

Hooray for Wetherspoons, Tesco and whoever is looking at Elliot's!

The question is... why all of a sudden does little old Bedders appear so attractive to everyone!?

Just curious!? Do they know something we don't???

[toffo]

Hillbilly - Possibly because for the last few years Bedders has rapidly become a Commute Town to Newcastle due to improved housing thats still significantly cheaper also the proposal of opening up the Passenger Train Route once more could see a lot more interest in the place for folks who are always looking for easy commutes

[Merlin]

Hillbilly, This could also be something to do with our good friend (who resides on the Isle of Man) taking on the constrictive planning rules in Bedlington and winning! Once he got permission to build his flats on the old school site, well, this opened the flood gates to do just about anything you want on the Front Street. I look forward, with trepidation, to the high rise flats or whatever on the Elliots garage site.I also look forward to the court house being converted to an asylum seekers refuge I know! I know! :shutup:

One last one, how about Asda selling netto's to McDonalds or KFC now there's a thing!

[Mr Darn]

One last one, how about Asda selling netto's to McDonalds or KFC now there's a thing!

If you had mentioned Burger King, you'd be the 4th person i'd heard that little rumour from in the last 2 weeks!

And one of those people is an ASDA Regional Manager

[Hillbilly]

Merlin - I think this is a great debate and one where there probably is a good case to argue on both sides... And I do understand both sides of the arguement, but the harsh reality of the situation is that no one has been prepared to redevelop these buildings into anything else. Goodness knows they have had enough time to put forward their arguments and business cases - How long has Elliots and the Old School been empty?

I would like to see the character of the town conserved for my kids and future generations as much as the next man... And I think that the Tesco and Wetherspoons developments are certainly doing so.

However, I fear that our options beyond this (Elliots, Old School etc) are either to go with the flow and accept the changes, or, see the town deteriate further.

We may not consider the developments to be the 'ideal' outcome for the town, but I have to say, it's better than letting those places stand empty and rot and decaying so that they ultimtely end up being demolished as they become a danger to the public. There are many examples of where new and old developments have worked together and I think Bedlington could be another. I for one welcome the development, progress and the systematic re-generation of what we have to acknowledge was becoming a dump of a town!

As for Burger King/ Asda etc, I have learned that when it comes to this subject, there are more rumours than truth in peoples conversations... we will have to wait and see.

[Cympil]

If you had mentioned Burger King, you'd be the 4th person i'd heard that little rumour from in the last 2 weeks!

And one of those people is an ASDA Regional Manager

Considering Asda has to sell 47 Netto`s it could well happen!

[Malcolm Robinson]

I thought the initial talk about what Asda were going to do with Nettos was along the lines of some sort of home delivery business?

They bought Argos at the same time so could argue a completely different business model even if they had stores adjacent to existing supermarkets?

At the end of the day they have bought market share and taken out a competitor, both of which they probably need to do.

[Mr Darn]

There is talk of operating a warehouse-based Home Delivery service, but i was under the impression it would be a much bigger scale than the current Netto foodstores. Something along the lines of the old Ashington site was more the idea put forward to us.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Mr D,

That old site in Ashington is right in the middle of the £12 million town centre referb, don't know how high traffic volume would be considered there, especially as it looks to be the site for a proposed new sports centre!!!!!!

[Mr Darn]

Quite possibly, and in no way was i suggesting the Ashington site WAS to be used, just mentioning that was about the size of the site required by the home delivery team.

It was mentioned in passing that most Netto stores in the area would be too small to be used for this purpose, and would most probably be turned into ASDA Living stores, with the rest being sold off.

Burger King was mentioned for the Bedlington site and/or the Blyth and Ashington sites.

Again, this is total speculation and hear-say.

On another note, who was the first on this site to mention the Red Lion becoming a Wetherspoons?

[Cympil]

Quite possibly, and in no way was i suggesting the Ashington site WAS to be used, just mentioning that was about the size of the site required by the home delivery team.

It was mentioned in passing that most Netto stores in the area would be too small to be used for this purpose, and would most probably be turned into ASDA Living stores, with the rest being sold off.

Burger King was mentioned for the Bedlington site and/or the Blyth and Ashington sites.

Again, this is total speculation and hear-say.

On another note, who was the first on this site to mention the Red Lion becoming a Wetherspoons?

Top Club

I think

[Mr Darn]

Posted 04 January 2006 - 04:25 PM

Quite the informant there! almost 5 years in front of the curve!

[Merlin]

Hillbilly, don't get the impression that I am against development in Bedlington. It is the manner of such development which concerns me! The flats on the old school site have thrown up so many problems that planners seem to have ignored,or not even considered in the first place.Access for one, I'm not going to go over old ground as this has already been discussed on here. Don't you think that instead of a block of flats, a few dwellings built of sandstone would have been better? I know that money is and always will be the major factor, but come on, do we need this on the Front St? Surely some compromise could have been met.

As for Elliots I can't comment as I don't know what is going to be put in its place, but I guarantee it will be something that Bedlington does not need on the Front St. I hope you see where I am coming from. Yes we need development but it should be, at least, considered development!

As for the fast food outlet idea on the Netto's site, I think this could work. As Cympil has mentioned Asda have been told that they have to sell 47 of the Netto premises. The one at Blyth must be a certainty! Will Asda want a small outlet in Bedlington having to compete with a large Tesco just a few hundred yards away? I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Hillbilly]

Merlin - I completely understand your point and I have to say I agree!! I also know from many of your previous posts that you are absolutely not against development.

I too wish they'd gone for something more sympathetic to the street, but at the end of the day, 'JR and Bobby' et al are only interested in the profit margin they can generate from these sorts of things.

So, I guess we are all in a position whereby we can adopt the changes or sit by while the sites simply get worse and worse as the type of development you mention is more expensive to build and will generate less in the final calculations.

[Malcolm Robinson]

I can understand the arguments for piecemeal development, it what we have had since………, but unless there is a specific overall plan in some cases development for its own sake might actually be less than beneficial.

For Bedlington to continue to be an independent a small town we need a commercial heart and that is one reason why the Tesco development is to be welcomed. However if there is no development plan for the town as a whole things like the outline planning for Elliotts which is for a care home or flats actually detracts from the overall need to keep trade outlets. Could be argued increased residential development might help footfall on Front Street, and it will certainly increase traffic problems, for the benefit of existing traders but that hasn't been true of the 'suburban' developments we already have. We are in danger of losing chunks of commercial possibilities which will impact onto the viability of Front Street to deliver its real duty and that is to provide the business heart the Town needs to start to be progressive.

[Merlin]

I agree that the proposed development of Tesco is much needed for Bedlington, the question is; Where are the hangers on that usually follow Tesco around, like bees around the honey pot? Are they waiting to see if the 'gamble' Tesco are taking in Bedlington pays off? Or do they see that Bedlington will be nothing more than a one horse town.

Elliots garage, I think, is ideally situated for some kind of retail outlet. The court house, if planned closure is implemented, with some vision or rebuild could be turned into some kind of shopping mall! I'm in cloud cuckoo land here, but we really need,as Malcolm says, some kind of business plan for Bedlington and not just redevelopment for the sake of it! Alright the place is a mess but do we need to replace one mess with another?

[Mr Darn]

Considering its taken almost a year for a simple case of will full damage to reach the court, i think there's a proven need for it to stay!

[Merlin]

Thats why it is in Bedlington so there is no prejudice to all the law breakers, they all have roughly the same distance to travel. With the exception of Newbiggin but who gives a damn about them anyway

Another reason its in Bedlington is because no other town wanted those who are summonsed to court roaming their Streets before going up in front of the Beak, but it's ok for them to roam Bedlington because we don't exist to anyone else in this county! So for that reason only I will say yes, it will remain open because if it closes it means they will have to transfer business to some other part of the county and we can't have that can we!!! ;)

[Hillbilly]

Thats why it is in Bedlington so there is no prejudice to all the law breakers, they all have roughly the same distance to travel. With the exception of Newbiggin but who gives a damn about them anyway

Another reason its in Bedlington is because no other town wanted those who are summonsed to court roaming their Streets before going up in front of the Beak, but it's ok for them to roam Bedlington because we don't exist to anyone else in this county! So for that reason only I will say yes, it will remain open because if it closes it means they will have to transfer business to some other part of the county and we can't have that can we!!! ;)

Ain't that the truth!!

Edited September 28, 2010 by Hillbilly

[Malcolm Robinson]

I would like to assume someone within the judicial system saw the relevance of Bedlington within an area where 50% of the population of the county resides! Being equidistant to Blyth, Ashington, Cramlington and Morpeth should have made it the best possible position for such a building. Seems to have taken the dinosaurs of the retailing world a bit longer to see the advantages, if they even have eventually!

[Merlin]

I'm sure that all the big retailers have someone on the judicial system So this means that they have the wrong people, if they have not reported this vital statistic back to their bosses Many in the judicial system are now looking elsewhere for a re-numeration package

[Monsta®]

has someone bought the shoe shop as there was a few suits with clip boards pointing at it the other day?

[Malcolm Robinson]

has someone bought the shoe shop as there was a few suits with clip boards pointing at it the other day?

Its getting a facelift along with tallyentyres and a few more.

[Mr Darn]

I was going to mention that the other day, as i had noticed the state of tallyentyres, as well as the top club and a few others.

For the sake of a face lift in the way of signage, it would give a better impression to passers by.

[Merlin]

You will find that the cooncil has some strict rules for signage on shops on the Front St. As found out by my previous employer when he wanted a new sign on the front of his shop!