Kidderminster...be part of it
| RAFT RACE SUCCESS |  | | | | | | | REGENERATING KIDDERMINSTER | | | | | | HARRIERS LATEST | | | | | | | | SPORT LATEST | | | | | | | | LETTERS | | | | | | LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULT | |
|
|
|
Keeping the town ticking
 |
| Home from home: After spending a number of years managing top stores in the Midlands, Jackie Roberts is determined to improve the centre of her home town. |
KIDDERMINSTER is recognised by the West Midlands Regional Assembly as one of just 25 strategic shopping centres across the region.
The town continues to attract new business. With the introduction of modern retail floorspace, a new Morrisons store under construction, proposals to extend Marks and Spencer and the announcement that Debenhams are set to open a department store, things are on the up, but there is much to do.
It is 15 years since Kidderminster Town Centre Partnership was established to work towards improving the town centre experience. The partnership brings together local businesses, interest groups and other relevant organisations including the district and county councils.
Over the years it has been responsible for funding the town's Christmas lights, a number of environmental enhancements and for co-ordinating specialist markets and other events.
A milestone was reached in March this year with the appointment of Jackie Roberts, Kidderminster's first town centre manager.
Maintaining a vibrant town centre is the mission driving Jackie, who is a former pupil of King Charles 1 High School in Kidderminster. This appointment brings the town in line with most other strategic centres.
Jackie manages Weavers Wharf and the wider town centre in a joint venture between Henderson Global Investors and Wyre Forest District Council. She brings a wealth of experience in retail management to the town centre partnership.
Over the next 12 months she will be looking to refresh and re-launch the organisation. She said: "One of my first priorities has been to look at empty shops, particularly in the Worcester Street area.
 |
| Good for business: The waterside environments of the canal and river can be good for business and a focus for the wider community. |
"I know that a number of businesses are looking for space in Kidderminster and during May I will be meeting property agents from Kidderminster and further a field to understand how we can work together to get these units back in use.
" The former Littlewoods store is a cause for concern and may need a radical redevelopment, but there are also positive signs, as many of the smaller shops are on the verge of finding new businesses."
Jackie is set to tackle a wide range of issues, from working with the council's street cleansing team to hire a chewing gum removal machine to creating a new website dedicated to promoting Kidderminster town centre.
This will be in addition to co-ordinating events, car parking issues, environmental improvements, town centre opening hours and the markets.
She went on: "We have to pull together to make sure we are co-ordinated in everything we do. That way Kidderminster can attract higher levels of spending from regular shoppers and new visitors.
"I'm sure many of our shoppers are familiar with the brand, brochures and store guides for Merry Hill. We need to be doing the same."
Last week this series of articles looked at the image of Kidderminster. The town centre plays a key role in the identity of the wider town by providing the shops, leisure, cultural and business opportunities and as a meeting place. It is the one place where the whole town and surrounding communities come together.
Making more of the town's key assets including the canal and river through waterside regeneration and the introduction of festivals and events also looks set to be explored.
The work of the town centre manager will be showcased in a new brochure being prepared by the district council and partners to promote the town to potential investors.
What do you think are the key opportunities and challenges facing the new town centre manager?
1:11pm Tuesday 29th April 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: Compo, Kidderminster on 5:19am Sat 3 May 08
Some thought on Kidderminster Developments:
Start with the old Marks and Spencer in High Street. Make it into a mall from the Roland Hill Centre to the High Street. Cover the High Street in "tenting" (see note below) and spread the tenting to cover Worcester Street and Vicar Street. Turn the centre of the Bullring into a Bandstand covered by tenting. Use the site of the Crown House by making a multistorey carpark on the lines of CrownGate in Worcester with covered access to M&S and round into Weaver's Wharf, perhaps using tenting along the shop fronts to create a Market in the first lines of parking and creating a covered walkthrough to Debenhams and the rest of the access to Weavers Wharf from Vicar Street. (CrownGate in Worcester has an outdoor Market too)
A second storey on the Bromsgrove Street Car Park with proper lifts to access Worcester St - again at the standard of CrownGate Worcester, perhaps using the old Littlewoods building to provide the lift facilities as well as Merry Hill standard toilets.
The street surfaces would need to be upgraded - walking round in Telford or Redditch - or Merry Hill - is uninterrupted by poor footways.
Plans are already afoot for the development of the Morgan Timber Yard. These need to be extended to include the Matalan site by turning it into a marina area overlooked by apartments in the derelict factory on Park Lane and including a footway across into Weaver's Wharf.
"Tenting" means something on the lines of the roof in the Swan Centre - and there are several examples at Merry Hill - one by the Argos shop and another round the Abraham Darby public house.
Vic Morgan
Some thought on Kidderminster Developments:
Start with the old Marks and Spencer in High Street. Make it into a mall from the Roland Hill Centre to the High Street. Cover the High Street in "tenting" (see note below) and spread the tenting to cover Worcester Street and Vicar Street. Turn the centre of the Bullring into a Bandstand covered by tenting. Use the site of the Crown House by making a multistorey carpark on the lines of CrownGate in Worcester with covered access to M&S and round into Weaver's Wharf, perhaps using tenting along the shop fronts to create a Market in the first lines of parking and creating a covered walkthrough to Debenhams and the rest of the access to Weavers Wharf from Vicar Street. (CrownGate in Worcester has an outdoor Market too)
A second storey on the Bromsgrove Street Car Park with proper lifts to access Worcester St - again at the standard of CrownGate Worcester, perhaps using the old Littlewoods building to provide the lift facilities as well as Merry Hill standard toilets.
The street surfaces would need to be upgraded - walking round in Telford or Redditch - or Merry Hill - is uninterrupted by poor footways.
Plans are already afoot for the development of the Morgan Timber Yard. These need to be extended to include the Matalan site by turning it into a marina area overlooked by apartments in the derelict factory on Park Lane and including a footway across into Weaver's Wharf.
"Tenting" means something on the lines of the roof in the Swan Centre - and there are several examples at Merry Hill - one by the Argos shop and another round the Abraham Darby public house.
Vic Morgan
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
