Traders call for more parking and toilets
PUBLIC toilets and more parking spaces are on the wish list for traders calling for much-needed town centre improvements.
And assurances are also needed that 2m earmarked for a precinct refurbishment by Wakefield Council will still be spent on the town.
These are the demands, say traders, that need meeting to attract shoppers to the town as the Express Help Your High Street campaign moved into week three.
And we want to encourage more of you – our readers – to shop in your own town to help and support small businesses through the tricky economic climate.
This week, as part of Help Your High Street we asked traders what was most needed to attract people to do their shopping in Ossett.
They said public toilets and baby-changing facilities were badly needed in the town.
Coun Terry Brown, chairman of Ossett Town Centre Partnership, said toilets were available in the town's Dale Street Co-op store, but it was too far to walk for many elderly and disabled shoppers.
He said: "There is a real lack of public facilities. People who come here shopping have nowhere to go to the loo.
"There is free parking in Horbury and I'm sure we would be a lot better off with it here."
He also said the town needed more parking spaces.
Wakefield Council is currently looking into running a pilot scheme in Ossett to pay traders for letting people use their facilities.
Coun Elizabeth Knowles said the Help Your High Street campaign had highlighted the growing need for the refurbishment of the precinct, which could be a catalyst for a wider regeneration of the town centre.
But she was concerned that cash to refurbish the pedestrian area behind the town hall had not been made available by Wakefield Council until 2011.
And she said there was no guarantee it would materialise after it was first removed from the council's capital programme due to a cash crisis in 2004.
She said: "I would hope that the money will be made available, but it has been removed from the capital fund before. I also expected it to be in the budget next year, so it is disappointing that we are having to wait so long for the work to be done. I have asked for assurances about this. It doesn't fill you with confidence."
Wakefield Council said it was doing all it could to help traders in the town.
A spokesman said there was some free parking in Ossett and charges were kept low. They also said free parking could drive trade away from towns with people parking all day and communiting to nearby city centres.
The spokeman said Wakefield, like many other councils, was trying to find a solution to the national shortage of public toilets.
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Saturday 19 May 2012
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