Is it me or is Sheffield getting left behind?

[Leeds Loiner 10]

Wow, how many failed projects and empty units does one city need.

Leeds city council really need their heads examining

 

They have failed to fill up the much publicised Trinity Centre, Clarence Dock with its strip of boutiques was a flop, the constantly renamed Core/Schofields/Headrow Centre is half empty - has been for years, Merrion Centre and St Johns are run down dumps and yet still they plough on building and building, spending and spending.

 

Way to go!

 

How about Leeds concentrate on making ONE shopping centre full occupancy and a success story before we start wetting ourselves over their retail power

 

In the city centre, Land Securities’ landmark £350m Trinity Leeds development is now 96 per cent let or in solicitors’ hands.

 

New entrants include upmarket US lingerie firm Victoria’s Secret, sports and leisure retailer Adidas, jeweller Rox and American lifestyle footware retailer Skechers - all of which are new to the city. For Skechers, the store is its first outside London. They have joined brands such as Apple, Mango, Hollister, Superdry, Topshop/Topman, H&M, Next and Marks & Spencer.

 

A new 107,000 sq ft Primark store is due to open early next month allowing it to cash in on the Christmas rush.

 

“The transformation that Trinity has brought to the prime retail core of Leeds has been tremendous,” said Mr Jennings.

 

Trinity Leeds has recorded footfall of more than 14 million since it opened on March 21.

 

“This is where we thought we’d be, particularly as Primark hasn’t opened yet,” said Mr Jennings.

 

---------- Post added 19-02-2014 at 00:42 ----------

 

Wow, how many failed projects and empty units does one city need.

Leeds city council really need their heads examining

 

They have failed to fill up the much publicised Trinity Centre, Clarence Dock with its strip of boutiques was a flop, the constantly renamed Core/Schofields/Headrow Centre is half empty - has been for years, Merrion Centre and St Johns are run down dumps and yet still they plough on building and building, spending and spending.

 

Way to go!

 

How about Leeds concentrate on making ONE shopping centre full occupancy and a success story before we start wetting ourselves over their retail power

 

Town Centre Securities PLC reported over 10.6 million visitors to the Merrion Centre last year. Thursday 19th December was the busiest day with 47,417 shoppers flocking through its doors.

 

Many of the Centre’s tenants have experienced growth over the last year. Costa on Woodhouse Lane, which has been a tenant in the Centre for seven years, and operates from 3,804 square foot store, is Leeds most popular Costa and experienced its busiest period week commencing 22nd November, benefitting from +double digit sales growth compared to 2012. Natural Born Cobblers, (shoe repairs, locks and keys) has seen revenue rise 25 % year on year and benefitted from an additional 200 customers between November and December.

 

The shopping centre as a whole recorded record footfall of 1.5 million people between 18th November and 31st. December. Sales started on Boxing Day with shops offering 50% off selected goods, stores included Superdrug, Boots, Shoe Zone, Yorkshire Linen Company, GNC & Peacocks. Claire’s Accessories is currently offering up to 75% off which makes them the largest discounter in the Centre.

 

---------- Post added 19-02-2014 at 00:49 ----------

 

Wow, how many failed projects and empty units does one city need.

Leeds city council really need their heads examining

 

They have failed to fill up the much publicised Trinity Centre, Clarence Dock with its strip of boutiques was a flop, the constantly renamed Core/Schofields/Headrow Centre is half empty - has been for years, Merrion Centre and St Johns are run down dumps and yet still they plough on building and building, spending and spending.

 

Way to go!

 

How about Leeds concentrate on making ONE shopping centre full occupancy and a success story before we start wetting ourselves over their retail power

 

It’s the missing piece of the Leeds city centre jigsaw puzzle and now after years of decline, the renamed Leeds Dock could be about to have its day.

 

It sounds almost too good to be true. A new shuttle bus service for the centre of Leeds connecting to Clarence Dock, water taxis ferrying customers, several major firms already signed up to move into The Engine (the building formerly occupied by Alea Casino) and two new colleges for the South Bank area.

 

But it all could happen and some of the plans are well under way.

 

Would water taxis and a cheap or free bus service encourage you to visit Leeds Dock more? Click here to register and have your say on the stories and issues that matter to you

 

Allied London, the firm which owns the 1.2m sq ft site, has told the Yorkshire Evening Post it is already in talks with a bus company to run the new shuttle bus service and two routes have already been agreed.

 

In addition to that, water taxis brought over specially from Holland will begin operating in June or July.
Michael Ingall, managing director of Allied London, is cautiously optimistic about the plans.

 

“I think there’s still quite a lot of momentum that needs to gather down there. It’s quite easy at this stage of any recovery, particularly in the property market, to get ahead of ourselves and I don’t want people to do that.

 

“The big thing for the South Bank is nothing is going to happen without the infrastructure. Schemes like Trinity, the Hammerson development on Eastgate [which will see John Lewis move to the city] and Leeds Arena are obvious choices for investors, because they’re in the centre but developers are less convinced about places on the edge, so what is needed is money. All the talking needs to be converted into cash.

[andyofborg 11]

I agree with alot of what you say but i strongly suspect that this post is politically motivated.

 

Do you work for the conservative party by any chance?

 

the op is nick clegg

 

so he does work for the conservative party

[Planner1 428]

My work takes me into many cities on most working days. The thing that stands out to me is that cities such as Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Derby, Nottingham, and Birmingham is that if you want to drive into these city centres to shop you can do.

Most of these places have parking available at a reasonable cost, even on city centre side streets.

Most also have park & ride which appear to be popular also.

But you have a choice & are able to access their city centres without a problem.

Compare this to Sheffield where it is virtually impossible to drive through the centre.

I have lived Sheffield all my life and have to stop & think of how to access some parts of the city centre.

The point of my post is that others cities give you the choice of how to shop/visit their city centres, Sheffield usually dictate that you go round our city centre, not through it.

The car is here to stay and the quicker the powers that be in our city realise this, the quicker our city will prosper.

What is it that you think these cities have that we don't here?

 

You mention park and ride. We have it here, both tram and rail based park and ride.

 

Do you think parking is cheaper in these other places? It is not. Where in these places can you park in a council car park in the very centre of the city for £1 an hour or a fiver for the day? Where can you park on-street in the very centre of the city for as long as you like with no time limits? Where can you find a council car park within the city centre which charges £2 per full day? You can find all of them in Sheffield.

 

There is also plenty of parking in Sheffield (more than 10,00 spaces in the centre), more multi storey car parks than you can shake a stick at, plenty of surface level ones too, all easily accessible from the ring road.

[tinfoilhat 11]

What is it that you think these cities have that we don't here?

 

You mention park and ride. We have it here, both tram and rail based park and ride.

 

Do you think parking is cheaper in these other places? It is not. Where in these places can you park in a council car park in the very centre of the city for £1 an hour or a fiver for the day? Where can you park on-street in the very centre of the city for as long as you like with no time limits? Where can you find a council car park within the city centre which charges £2 per full day? You can find all of them in Sheffield.

 

There is also plenty of parking in Sheffield (more than 10,00 spaces in the centre), more multi storey car parks than you can shake a stick at, plenty of surface level ones too, all easily accessible from the ring road.

 

So is it job done then? Do you think Sheffield handles traffic better than every other city or do you think there are others that do it better?

[Allen 38]

What is it that you think these cities have that we don't here?

 

You mention park and ride. We have it here, both tram and rail based park and ride.

 

Do you think parking is cheaper in these other places? It is not. Where in these places can you park in a council car park in the very centre of the city for £1 an hour or a fiver for the day? Where can you park on-street in the very centre of the city for as long as you like with no time limits? Where can you find a council car park within the city centre which charges £2 per full day? You can find all of them in Sheffield.

 

There is also plenty of parking in Sheffield (more than 10,00 spaces in the centre), more multi storey car parks than you can shake a stick at, plenty of surface level ones too, all easily accessible from the ring road.

Please tell.

[mrplodge 10]

It always baffles me why people find it difficult to drive into the city and park. These people must live sheltered lives. Please have a day out in Nottingham, Leeds or Manchester and wake up and smell the coffee. Parking is not an issue it is so simple I am absolutely amazed at these clearly inept drivers

[metalman 21]

Please tell.

 

Don't get too excited, it'll be some car park half a mile away down the Wicker with about three spaces.

[smiggs 10]

The fact that we're actually discussing parking in a thread like just demonstrates how insular Sheffield is. To attract new employers, entrepreneurs and other investors we don't need to fix parking, Sheffield needs to demonstrate that it's open for business and investing in local people and skills. For instance if a company like Ikea or Next wants to open up in Sheffield then they should be welcomed with open arms, even if their proposal doesn't meet every criteria or coincide with the 'masterplan' of the politburo.

[Ridgewalk 97]

Harryh. Why don't you take your right wing libertarian views, entrepreneurship, low government involvement, and go and live in a place where your individualist, go-getting, globe trotting, dynamism is appreciated ? Better still what about the square mile where there are big bucks to be "earned" for minimal effort.

[brianthedog 10]

Harryh. Why don't you take your right wing libertarian views, entrepreneurship, low government involvement, and go and live in a place where your individualist, go-getting, globe trotting, dynamism is appreciated ? Better still what about the square mile where there are big bucks to be "earned" for minimal effort.

 

This succinctly explains why Sheffield is left behind.

[harryhw 10]

But you agree with the OP and suspect it's a post by a Tory supporter. Do you normally vote Tory?

 

This is what really frustrates me. It has nothing to with Labour, Tory, Ukip or whoever. Without going all Russel Brand and boring too many people on this I will outline the poltical/economic backdrop I see at the moment. I have no affinity to any party – both are rooted in confrontational arguments largely irrelevant to the modern world we are in and completely fluffing around the edges. They all want to increase their involvement in my and your life, even the tories. Look at the tax code, the numbers of laws created and the general level of forms you have to fill to do anything and you should realise how much the government are involved in your life – don’t get wrong we certainly need them to some extent, but things have certainly progressed in the near 50 years I have been in this world. The biggest cost you ever have will likely not be your house, it will be the money you have paid for government and the state which I think is absurd given the kind of world we are now in where you could probably teach yourself how to code and how to speak Mandarin over the internet – ask yourself why given all of the technological advances the microchip has given us, the availability of oil, and the various other inventions that have made our life better that many people seem to have to work longer, harder and often both parents work in order to support a relatively modest lifestyle? Debt is enormous and has never been on this scale ever, and it’s only been since government money was introduced based on nothing but faith (i.e. FIAT MONEY) which is then used in order to stuff the self-interested lobby groups and get votes so the government can grab power, whoever they are tory, labour, lib dem, etc. It’s not sustainable and it’s not how mankind should operate. Debt has been used to keep people happy for the last 30-50 years essentially in order to promise us all the things we come to expect as standard without any consideration for long term stability.

 

it’s quite clear to me and many respected people I know that the current system will radically change in the next 25-50 years by itself organically if not done by force and that will revert any argument about cutting 0.5% instead of 0.6% public spending and whether we give benefits and tax credits to John and Jill, or bedroom tax irrelevant. The political debate is a complete con – anyone with any form of education about basic economic realises that we are in situation where money is being devalued and financial repression is occurring which is making inequality far greater and essentially frothing up the nest for those lobby groups closest to the political/banking elite. We have a very loose form of capitalism in this country, it is crony capitalism not real free market choice capitalism which is as the majority of people think probably works pretty well with some regulation to make sure people don’t step out of line and get too powerful. Many people confuse the cause and effect – providing a service that people are willing to pay for and like and that is exchanged for some other benefit (be it money or something else) is a fundamental requirement for humans in order to derive survive and prosper. In my view everything should be about creating an environment where by that exchange is helped and fostered so that greater innovation occurs.

 

Everyday political issues such as the reduction in the top level of income tax as benefiting “millionaires”….it might do for some, however the tax is on income not wealth – which is fundamentally different. In short if people wanted to write the wrongs of wealth distortions in this country and mankind they would argue for one flat land tax for all land in the country since land (and as such vast wealth) is held by a few small minority. Also people would argue for low taxes for the rest of us who are actually doing something productive as such, since all other taxes would be able to much reduced from the huge take from land value tax. People would have more money in their pocket and they could spend £5 on a swanky sandwich in Sheffield city centre. You could create natural control of government expenditure by insisting that there were competiting currencies (so I have a choice if I want pay in £ or bitcoins or $ or euros) which would mean that governments didn’t run up huge debts – if they did run up huge debts they would be punished by the natural exchange rate. It’s not rocket science, but because there are so many self interests around form bankers to the arts it means we are all poorer as true choice and dynamism cannot flourish in such an environment. And because people are so concerned with what private school or what mining village they come from they don’t actually bother looking at the real issues, it’s all utter bravado.

 

Sheffield is an example of some of the worse of this with low business start up, which is partly to do with poor educational attainment, low level of high paying jobs, dependency on both welfare and low paying jobs and a self fulfilling cycle. In cities like Sheffield and to an even greater extent places like Glasgow, what I am trying to get across is quite apparent. Glasgow was one of the leading centres building ships and a major force industry, until a large welfare dependent portion of society was created as a result of downturn in economic fortunes. A good example would be how you treat a child, you can either do everything for them so that they are kept safe and have stable existence or you can teach them and allow them to fall over and get back up and to make mistakes and learn in order to create an individual who can adapt to change and is all the more of a rounded individual. It’s not about being for or against an ideology, it’s far deeper than that and fundamentally about human behaviour to want to exchange ideas, goods and services. This environment is out of balance and in my view we are heading in really bad direction.

 

If anybody seriously has any suggestions how this can be addressed and the way to do this please message me. I have never had any political involvement, but I do want to get my voice heard as it were because I feel my experiences and observations are valid. Why not take the lead and try something for a change?

 

---------- Post added 19-02-2014 at 08:35 ----------

 

Harryh. Why don't you take your right wing libertarian views, entrepreneurship, low government involvement, and go and live in a place where your individualist, go-getting, globe trotting, dynamism is appreciated ? Better still what about the square mile where there are big bucks to be "earned" for minimal effort.

 

Utter despair if that's your real view. It's not about the city! It's about Sheffield and making Sheffield prosper into the future.

 

---------- Post added 19-02-2014 at 08:37 ----------

 

What i mean was that with an election coming up next year. We can expect this board to be overrun with party political broadcasts which are badly disguised as new members.

 

Same as I commented above, it's not about poltics. Politics in the way we know will be dead soon.

[master_p 10]

To be fair though, a 65% cut is a fair whack to contend with. It doesn't help matters either, when we learned last week that the government were in court for trying to rob nearly £75m from Sheffield.

 

 

.

 

Are cuts not happening elsewhere?

 

If the leader spent as much time talking and thinking about investment and jobs as she does cuts we might get somewhere. If the public budget isn't there you need to look elsewhere

 

If after the cuts are made the council and city continues to function what does that tell you about the previous budget. Taking one look around the city centre it is not immediately obvious what exactly the budget has been spent on year after year. The fact that the council has now mysteriously found some cash for libraries tells you everything you need to know about their agenda.