Thursday 2 April 2009

REGENERATION NOT POLITICAL GAIN.

Below is a copy of the proposal I put before the Town Council on Monday night. The proposal was rejected after Chris Hughes launched an attack on it calling it “Short-sighted”. I suspect but cannot prove that this was a politically motivated attack in that this is not a Labour backed proposal. Chris Hughes would not say what the Council have planned for the old market but rumour has it that it’s shops with flats above, just what we don’t need more of.
I do know there is a growing number of people concerned at this refusal, it is, after all, to regenerate Colwyn Bay that the grant was put in place and not for the County Council to make political headway with.
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A proposal that the following town centre improvements be put to the Regeneration Board with the full backing of this Council.1. Demolish and re-build the indoor market at the bottom of Penrhyn Road. The first floor to incorporate a drop-in style café with Council help and information office and a supervised Children’s adventure area.2. Pedestrianise Penrhyn Road in the same style as Station Road.3. Fit Victorian style covered walkways down both sides of Penrhyn Road, Station Road, the shopping areas of Sea view Road and both sides of Conwy Road between Hawarden Road and Woodland Road East.4. Replace all lampposts in the above mentioned areas with Victorian style cast-iron ones.My reason for the above proposal is not only as an enhancement to the Town Centre but to enable the Town to accommodate a week-end market the likes of which Tir Prince holds on Sundays. The market would run down Sea View Road, up and down Station and Penrhyn Road and cumulate with the Indoor Market which could remain open all week.A market attracts shoppers, both local and visitors, shoppers attract store traders, more shoppers attract a higher quality of store traders, higher quality shops introduce higher quality shoppers.At a time when we are seeing more and more shops closing in the Bay we have to think of ways in which to entice people back. We, as a Town, could never afford the above improvements so I believe we should take advantage of the Regeneration Grant whilst it is still available.Councillor John Oddy
MY REPLY
My proposal for regenerating the town centre with the Regeneration Grant was rejected by the Council at last nights meeting.
The main objector, Councillor Chris Hughes, stated that my proposal was very short sighted, the idea of the grant was to facilitate further employment within the town, the covered walkways would be unsafe and that the County Council was already about to spend nearly £1m on renewing the lamp posts. He went on to state that there were already plans put forward for the old indoor market but would not explain what they were, I can only presume that being a County Councillor he is privy to information that irks like myself are not.
My return argument was; if an indoor market doesn’t employ people then who runs the stalls, a drop-in centre and café do not run themselves and a supervised child’s adventure area means just that…supervised!. We already have covered walkways in town and they are perfectly safe so I cannot see why installing them further would not be.
The idea that the County Council are prepared to spend nearly £1m of taxpayer’s money on renewing the lamp posts is slightly worrying, why should this renewal cost come out of our funds when it could be enrolled within the regeneration grant and not cost the local taxpayers a penny, Cllr Hughes didn’t answer that nor would he furnish details of the plans laid out for the indoor market, obviously a need to know basis and, in his eyes, I didn’t need to know!.
Needless to say the vote went against me 9 to 5 although some Councillors did voice their opinion that the putting forward of ideas was limited and that I should not be dissuaded from continuing.
My concerns, and I did voice these in the meeting, is that we only have a limited time that this grant is available, if we do not spend it or another town comes up with an acceptable proposal then we will loose it, no if’s or but’s, no second bite of the cherry the money will go elsewhere and once again Colwyn Bay will lose out.

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