Letter - Do we need new builds
I READ with great interest the letter from Peter Box (13/1/12). In it he defends his councils record on spending, regeneration and public consultation while pushing some blame towards the Tory goverment. At a time of cuts and hardship lets look at some spending.
Trinity Walk - did we need a second shopping centre while we are flanked by Meadowhall and the White Rose and despite the spin is killing trade in the Ridings and giving profits to national companies rather than local shops?
Hepworth - nice in theory but now the buzz has died does it pay for itself and when we have a train station two minutes away where people get attacked and raped was it a correct use of public money?
Wakefield Market - we had one, ok it needed a facelift but a town (or city) market is a key element of its character and building a new one while pushing out local traders that had been on the site for decades with massive rent and rate hikes plus the hire of expensive consultation groups when it fails is just stupid.
I’m 51, and Wakefield was a nice tidy middle size town when I was a kid with many local shops and firms and we more than held our own in exporting goods out of the area, yet now the place is like a building site with badly planned roadworks that at any given teatime bring Wakefield into a gridlock situation.
Public consultation? Ask the people of Wrenthorpe that are having green belt land built on without the impact considered or the folks of Wakefield that found they were earmarked for housing travellers in the area?
The sad fact is because of the historic “vote Labour because my mum and dad did” culture of Wakefield, a local party with such a bad record can stay in office forever.
Del Milburn
Bradford Road
Wakefield
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Comments
There are 9 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Darren Moffatt
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 08:43 AMWakefield Council began building retail and residential developments at least ten years after most similar sized English cities. This tells you all you need to know about Wakefield Council.
bobbybeethoven
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 01:15 PMGlobal recession? fully understand that but my main interest regarding this subject is Wakefield and what should or should not have money spent on it at this time. so money was swimming about when the trinity walk was been built? a company from outside the area built it using contractors from all over the uk so i dont see money coming in . Regarding your points over why a shop would choose the walk over the ridings i quite agree but dont recall that been a point i questioned anyway. I say again that a great number of staff in units in the walk have transfered from within so the new local jobs figure is not quite that rosey is it?Im glad we agree the ridings has suffered as a result and of course it would be great if local retail firms were given a reasonable chance but rent & rates that are not affordable if your a small trader stops this. As for the Hepworth i concede some like it and within the industry it is well thought of by people way above my humble existance however i would stress many none industy types like me (thats the people that live in Wakefield) dont like it and our opinions are as valid as anyones. The main point i make is many basic areas of Wakefields budget suffer during this global recession (see? i remember) and try telling a man laid off from his council job that money spent on luxury projects are worth it .Over the years i have been part of many good causes in this town such as the wakefield arts network, been on the council of local sports bodies, boards of local schools & worked for wakefield samaritans . i have put on music events in Wakey and written for local magazines so i think given my input into the development of Wakefield i can hold my head up and have a say on here Del Milburn
Optimus Prime
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 05:06 PMWell the fact that you can’t see progress pretty much says it all. You seem to think that Trinity Walk and Hepworth schemes are not progress but you don’t seem to realise that there is a global recession on at the moment. Global being the key word. But like some of the commentators on here, I don’t think your insular oriented mind fathoms the concept of global. So in difficult times – we had two schemes here which during construction employed various people in getting this up and running. Money moved around, contributing to the economy in a difficult time. Just on that fact alone, you can see progress. So people being employed on the two schemes are a bad thing how? But let’s not discount the fact that these were initiated before the recession – where money on the initial developments would have been committed. So had they been cancelled, where would the benefit in that be? That would have been the true waste of money since nothing would have come out it. Its points such as that, those living in the dark ages of Wakefield refuse to concede. So now we have a new retail build, that has opened a number of new stores. Which has in turn, employed people. But yet the miserable online community of the Wakefield express feel that this is a bad thing. So there’s a couple of empty retail units. Again I’ll remind you of the global recession point here. That is not exclusive to Wakefield. There are empty units on Oxford Street in London, despite the fact it’s one of the busiest shopping places in the world. So how would not having Trinity Walk be a better option? Image is part the selling point for many retails outlets. No matter how attractive you’d make the rental agreement in the Ridings, many still wouldn’t go there, why would they? It’s so much better for them to open a store in a new building like Trinity Walk, where the units are bigger and presents the stores with more options on store layouts – which is a key aspect to retail operations. So it’s not just a case of ‘Oh we got ridings – we can’t we get some shops in there’. I’m not aware of what the rates for rents in Ridings and Trinity Walk are, but I’d imagine Ridings was cheaper. But there have been empty units in the Ridings for some time. So the firms that opened stores in Wakefield for the first time in Trinity Walk, why didn’t they open them earlier when Ridings was there – they had the units there empty? It just wouldn’t be an ideal location for their image, as well as size like I mentioned before. What I would like to see now, is for more Independent, local retailers to be given a chance and opportunity to flourish in ridings. I’ve seen in other towns, especially in London, ‘pop-up’ projects were local arts and artists have been given the opportunity to showcase their works and projects which have proven to be popular. You talk about eye sore, well you have your opinion but then since you’re not an industry expert, I don’t really give much credibility to your opinion. You can whinge all you like about how ugly you find the Hepworth, but the fact remains – it is a multi award winning building and recognised by the industry, the experts and those who know. I left for University and then work, a few years back. Only now can I say Wakefield is making progress. I’ve seen billboards advertising Wakefield on underground stations in Central London. Just that fact alone shows Wakefield has made progress, no matter how much you complain and moan otherwise and the facts back that up.
Mrs Doyle
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 08:54 PMDon't forget the 40 million spent on the new building to house council employees - what a total waste of money.
bobbybeethoven
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 03:29 PMwell mr prime I can assure you im anything but in the dark ages and im very proactive in pushing wakefield forward . So this is progress? empty shop units, unsafe train stations and needless flagship buildings at a time when if we are after real progress we should start building from the bottom up. I have no rage at all, only sadness and if my "looking in the past" ismy way of wanting a town thats run well and enjoyable on the eye i make no apologies for that. I would welcome your thoughts on how Wakefield is in a good position because im sure you will have many examples that support your points.Im aware of the negative nature of my points but show me real progress and im a happy man. Just a further point, we are dealing with a leader so full of his own vanity he would even consider been the mayor of Wakefield. Del Milburn
Optimus Prime
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 02:04 PM'Wakefield was a nice tidy middle size town when I was a kid' - yes but fortunatley, times have changed and the town's moved on. It's the 21st Centuary now. Embrace change. Stop living in the past. As for other commentators, you've clealry taken to being able to use a computer and embraced the internet (albeit to vent your rage at the fact that we don't live in the dark ages no more). So there is hope for you guys to leave your medieval world behind and join the rest of society.
ManicManiac
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 12:15 PMI think Mr. Milburn is correct in his comments about people voting Labour because mum and dad did. I don't think many people in Wakefield care enough about politics to place their tick in a box that doesn't say Labour on it. I've always found it funny how people of all ages in Wakefield slate the Labour party, but yet they still manage to claw their way in every year in the locals.
npfiii
Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 11:09 PM"The sad fact is because of the historic “vote Labour because my mum and dad did” culture of Wakefield, a local party with such a bad record can stay in office forever." Truer words never spoken
Big Ian
Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 08:59 PMAs far as the politics in Wakefield goes,the saying "If you always do what you always did,you will always get what you always got" rings very true.
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