wscommunityonline.com

Blackpool has been a family favourite for many years now, although recently its’ public image hasn’t been so good.

When they think of Blackpool, many people think of boarded up shops, an old fashioned pier and lager louts littering every street.

However, the seaside town has just received a £200,000 as part of plans to give the country’s seaside resorts a makeover.

I’m sure the money will be well spent, and Blackpool will look a damn sight better for it, but there’s not much you can do to deter yobbos from roaming the streets, which is one of the major reasons why people avoid the place altogether!!

Plans to forge ahead with new retail parks in Northern Ireland have come up against criticism, as more and more town centre stores are having to close down.

Better Deals supermarket in Strabane have been the latest victims, and the closure of the store means that around 100 jobs will be cut- another massive blow in such a fragile economic environment.

Supermarket giant Tescos recently came up against opposition when they tried to open a new store on the outskirts of a near by town, and many people are hoping that councils are finally starting to realise just how much town centre stores are suffering because of these new retail developments.

They can only hope…

Regeneration is a term that is bandied about often these days, and most people understand it to be the process of giving a specific area something of a facelift.

Regeneration has many benefits- not only can it make an area look more attractive, it can also help to boost trade in an area.

A boost in trade is then likely to lead to a boost in employment- which is essential in the current economic climate.

Through regeneration, an area can really revamp its image and give itself a whole new lease of life. Liverpool One is a fantastic example of this- and it’s little wonder that it wins so many awards.

An area of Lancashire town Leigh is set to undergo major regeneration. The Plank Lane area has been pencilled in for a £750,000 uplift, which will give the town a much needed boost.

Wigan Council will help to regenerate the area by investing in housing improvements, giving walls in the area a facelift and resurfacing walkways.

The move comes in an attempt to halt the downfall in conditions in the area, and bring it up to date with surrounding towns.

Plans for the regeneration are set to begin next month, and will be on-going throughout the coming months.

The facelift will no doubt be another massive step in improving the reputation of Leigh.

Liverpool One has just bagged itself another award, this time taking home the British Urban Regeneration Association Best Practise prize.
Liverpool One, which cost a whopping £1 billion pounds to create, has now won a grand total of 45 awards.

The development, which opened in spring 2008, has been a key factor in helping to cement Liverpool’s reputation as a modern city- something that their City of Culture status, also in 2008, helped to create.

Although I haven’t yet visited Liverpool One myself, it looks as though it is definitely worth a visit, and draws in hoards week after week.
The centre is now firmly on my ‘must visit’ list!

Frank Haslam Milan a company who specialise in Regeneration has said they plan to double their workforce over the next two years.

The company that is based in Sunderland has created a new recruitment programme saying they want over 200 new staff for the north east of England and in the process because they have a lot more staff they will build a new regional presence.

If you want to be considered for one of the positions which include contract management, quantity surveying, site management they will be holding recruitment events on the 24 – 25 November in Middlesbrough and Newcastle.

Liverpool has been praised by an international delegation from Shanghai and highlighted and praised the changes in Liverpool that transformed it over the past 10 years.

The officials were in the city for 3 days ahead of the world expo which takes place next year and Liverpool was the only entry in the UK and 1 out of the 200 entries expected to take part and the regeneration of the city will be show cased there.

Guan Weiyong the deputy secretary general said

Coming to Liverpool was like coming to a second home. We are very keen to build on the friendships that we have established during our stay here and over the last ten years.”

Dorset has finally been able to open the first artificial surf reef after it has been over a year late in the making.
The project has cost over £3 Million and had an opening date of October last year but because of bad weather it was delayed until April of this year.

Bournemouth council has just completed all the safety checks with the approval of the RNLI lifeguards.

It has been created as part of a £11 million regeneration project of the seafront and is designed to improve surfing conditions and it is aimed more at the advanced surfers and also bringing the community closer and improve tourism in the area.

The regeneration plans for Rhyl seafront is in doubt at the moment as their has not been a buyer for it at the cost of around £85 Million.

The land used to be home to the famous fun fair which is owned by Modus who are currently in administration; there have been people interested in the plans but to date there is no buyer.

The plans consist of apartment comples a supermarket and a hotel and to top that off shops offices cafes and also for the green people 10 wind turbines.

Gyn Pickering the mayor has said

the development was an integral part of the future for Rhyl We cannot stand still on this – we’re going to have to find some way of continuing the redevelopment of Rhyl

Rochdale has received from GMPTE a application to build a £11.5 million interchange on smith street which is next to the river Roch in the town centre

Rochdale’s new transport interchange will be a vast improvement for both passengers and bus operators, who currently use a very outdated bus station built in the 1970s

. Said Michael Renshaw the director of GMPTE, he also added

The new interchange will provide improved passenger facilities such as a shop, a Travelshop and toilets, along with bus operator and supervisor facilities, and there will be electronic passenger information display. Bus passenger and driver safety is our highest priority and has been integral to the design of the new interchange. As with all our new stations, we are making sure that we keep passengers away from moving buses as much as possible.

They have worked closely with the council over the past 4 years to ensure that the project will be a success and subject to them getting planning permission they plan to start in 2010