Revamp Stourport?
In response to a post on the WFA site I was going to discuss RFID tags, but discussions on revamping the area have tickled the old brain cells so that'll have to wait.
First off a quick update, the nasty hole in Bridge Street was filled in on Thursday afternoon as was the one at Areley Common, sadly they've missed this one which is getting much worse. The single carriageway across the bridge got narrowed down a couple of weeks ago with the result that traffic, especially the wider vehicles, are travelling much more slowly with traffic occasionally grinding to a halt between the signals. The effects of essentially double the traffic is also having an affect on the road surface and I can already detect pothole precursors as I drive along. The question of anyone will be bothered to look at these given that work will be done on both sides of the road at some point interests me; it's not as if we'll be able to drive around them when they form.
On to Stourport, Tavis points to the report here regarding plans towards the area, they do seem to be an odd mish-mash of broad strokes and minor detailing with little in between.
The basic finding is that more needs to be done to attract visitors into the town centres of the area, basically the big three - Kidderminster, Bewdley, and Stourport. I'll deal quickly with Kidderminster and Bewdley. Kidderminster has had its centre pulled out, Weavers Wharf (I still want to put an apostrophe there somewhere) has moved the focus from the top of the town to the bottom, while not catastrophic the added pull of Crossley Retail Park near to it makes the top half of the town strangely empty. It appears that little is being done to this area and it's slowly running down, both the old Waitrose, Marks and Spencer's, and Littlewoods buildings are vacant and while the Swan Centre has done much to revamp its central courtyard and entrance façades it only highlights how dark (and perhaps dingy) the actual entranceways are.
Bewdley, sigh, Bewdley's great except that it wasn't really designed for large amounts of people, at times I feel very thought was put into the town at all.
So on to Stourport, which will be the focus of my thoughts (completely selfish of me, but so what). The attraction to Stouport has always traditionally been thought to be the river and its amusements, which is highly accurate; unfortunately attracting people from this area into the town centre will require a little more then easily vandalised hanging baskets placed outside the stores.
First off - access. There are five main access points from the riverside into the centre of town. Starting from the river and working inwards these are:
- Spiral Stairs
- Standard Stairs
- Shipley's car-park
- Coopers Lane
- Raven Street
- New Street
Tavis has already dealt with the "investment in the basins" it requires reiteration, there has been no investment towards the basins, they're private housing developments hardly tourist attractions, and they'd still be pulling people away from the town centre even if they were handled in a more meaningful manner.
I'll move onto the town itself - "change the mindset of businesses in the town to encourage them to improve the town’s appearance as many premises are letting the town down" presumably they mean shops such as the boarded up market which is currently in a state of limbo, or the boarded up Job Centre that was moved over to the library on the outskirts of the town centre. Seeing that I believe several buildings are listed or at least restricted towards maintaining the character of the town it comes as little surprise that the Group suggests putting up "hanging baskets".
Perhaps instead of chastising the shop owners thoughts could be turned towards the state of High Street, state being the operative word; the road surface is wearing away and repair work done by the water board has left patches of mismatched brickwork on the pavements.
Finally that old bugbear the by-pass, or more precisely the bridge that would be required for one, now here's a off-beat thought - build a new bridge and pedestrianise Bridge Street, rework the Bridge or extend an opening to allow easy access from the town to the riverside, couple that with the planned extension into the basin alongside Engine Lane and you'll open up that entire section of the town to people. <sigh> never going to happen.
For more thoughts browse through the reports at Longhouse I particularity enjoyed Sabina's, Claire's and Ruth's suggestions.
4 comments:
Kidderminster: I think the only way Kidderminster can 're-vamp' itself is if all the retail centres (Rowland Hill, Crossley Park, Weavers Wharf (its not supposed to have a apostrophe?), and the Swan Centre) pull together and make their street furniture, theme, etc... consistent. Then a visitor wouldn't get that disappointment factor you used to get when you walked from the old part of Merry Hell into the new.
Bewdley: I disagree with you, a lot of thought has gone into it. Such as, every bench has the Bewdley Town shield forged on it. When they close the bridge or Load Street for special occasions you really get a buzz of community camaraderie.
Stourport: If you (and Chris Danks on the WFA) really think that the hanging baskets would be stolen (I doubt this) then they should be under the view of CCTV cameras (are there any?). Alternatively, the baskets could be removed at end of closing times and brought out the next morning.
'Cooper's Lane'? Is that what the locals call 'dog-mess alley' (that's the unabridged version!)?
You forgot the other staircase on the Areley side of the river. It would be great if a brick tiled footpath be built (with signposts) from the Leisure Centre car park along the river (back of the Boating Club) and up to the wide blue stairs (unfortunately no DDA)! A bit of a jaunt into town, but you get a pleasant walk along the river.
If you pedestrianise Bridge Street the congestion would shift to the new bridge and Relief Road, or are you being flippant? Or have I not understood. Hummm, I think I'll play Sim City Stourport with Google Maps.
Re. Longhouse: I visited this site over a year ago and there was nothing under the Stourport section (I think the project had only just started). However, the reports back are interesting. I haven't had time to read them all yet though, but thanks for the link.
Weavers Wharf: An obvious nod to the carpet industry so I keep thinking of it as a Wharf that belongs to Weavers, hence Weavers' Wharf. As to consistency, their is a minor match between the RHC and WW, but I agree the SC stands alone; although as I said though they've done some work on it. The approach to Weavers Wharf from the town over Hussum(?) Bridge is still shoddy and as the report mentioned little is being done in the open spaces.
Bewdley: Okay I'll admit some good work has been done, but I was referring more to historical thoughts, if you have to close off a major street to hold big occasions then this was something that wasn't thought of. And of course the entire let's build a town on a flood plain.
Stourport: Hanging baskets - so who's going to be responsible for this? You'll need someone to climb up every morning and evening to deal with them, there's an entire H&S matter to cope with there for every business. CCTV is pointless, it'll alert the police if someone's watching, but I don't think of it as a preventative measure.
Ah Cooper's Lane an area you do need to watch your step in.
I didn't mention the Areley side bridge, because I felt when it came to the majority of tourists it was inconsequential, they head straight for the attractions, also in the quest to draw more people into the town centre you don't want to encourage people to the wrong side of the river. I agree though that a path along the river would be a good thing, although as my photos show it wouldn't necessarily be a pleasant walk at the moment.
I did originally think my idea of pedestrianising Bridge Street as a sarcastic remark, but if you stop to think about it a lot of the congestion over the bridge is not just caused by the amount of traffic, but what that traffic is travelling through. Force any reasonable amount of traffic through the main roads of a town and you'll get problems, the relief road would take that problem away and may be able to cope with exactly the same level of traffic without the same amount of congestion.
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