WiganWarriorsFans.com

Whelley Warrior wrote:The Galleries was the wrong design out of the four submitted at the time and not the one chosen by the people of Wigan who were allow to vote for what they considered the best. The decision being vetoed by the then leadership of the Council who for their own reasons chose the Galleries instead. Many of this leadership being no longer around to see their mistake.

The Galleries is too cold with much of the space outside with small units, not enough space for attracting larger high street stores and its demise has nothing to do with rents.

And the Grand Arcade is not a white elephant as some seem to think as it always packed with shoppers because it is warm, has plenty of space and the capacity for bigger stores.

In my opinion the new plans will make the town centre better both for shopping and leisure and I look forward to the re- development taking place.

We are constantly hearing about the footfall in the Grand Arcade but never how much people actually spend there which is the most important thing.
I'm sorry but I think it is a white elephant and nothing will convince me otherwise..Yes it looks good but 2 mobile phone shops,2 shoe shops,2 sports shops. Not much in the way of variety is it? And you never see it advertised as other shopping arcades are.

I hope the development goes ahead and quickly and the joke that is the market sorted out though I fear it may already be too late

the winky one wrote:

Whelley Warrior wrote:The Galleries was the wrong design out of the four submitted at the time and not the one chosen by the people of Wigan who were allow to vote for what they considered the best. The decision being vetoed by the then leadership of the Council who for their own reasons chose the Galleries instead. Many of this leadership being no longer around to see their mistake.

The Galleries is too cold with much of the space outside with small units, not enough space for attracting larger high street stores and its demise has nothing to do with rents.

And the Grand Arcade is not a white elephant as some seem to think as it always packed with shoppers because it is warm, has plenty of space and the capacity for bigger stores.

In my opinion the new plans will make the town centre better both for shopping and leisure and I look forward to the re- development taking place.

We are constantly hearing about the footfall in the Grand Arcade but never how much people actually spend there which is the most important thing.
I'm sorry but I think it is a white elephant and nothing will convince me otherwise..Yes it looks good but 2 mobile phone shops,2 shoe shops,2 sports shops. Not much in the way of variety is it? And you never see it advertised as other shopping arcades are.

I hope the development goes ahead and quickly and the joke that is the market sorted out though I fear it may already be too late

Try telling that to the many people shopping in it, especially in the high street stores on both sides and at the end.

As for the 'lack of variety', the Galleries is the reason for that as the design has not encouraged investment from national companies to open large stores in it which has led to its decline.

Bet you are one of those like some on Wigan Today and Wigan World who spend their time pulling everything in your own town to bits.

jobo wrote:

josie andrews wrote:The council should have done this before building the grand arcade.

Yes, it is a good plan but they don't encourage people to visit the town with the lack of & free parking like example the Trafford centre, middlebrook & Gemini shopping parks

Spot on Josie. Architecturally, the Galleries has won all sorts of awards, for encompassing the Market Square and having a brick fascia rather than the soulless stock standard concrete with glass.

The accountants at the council just can't get it into their heads that free or very low cost parking is essential nowadays.

Perhaps, if so many town centre shoppers were stopped from parking for free on the Tesco car park, they would not have to keep putting up the charges for those who do use the car parks.

But having said the above, I agree that the should be free parking in all the town centres, especially in Wigan where at busy periods like Saturday, it is hard to find a parking space to actually shop at Tesco.

I just don't understand some people .... moaning that the galleries is a ghost area them moaning about spending money to re design it. The GA had fallen flat a little because it was build during the down turn, we are coming out of it now and towns need things like this to encourage people to shop in Wigan and not Warrington, St Helens, Bolton and even keep the locals from the Trafford centre. I know i would much prefer to spend my money local than over in that place..... the big name shops need to be included then people will shop. Wigan council need to do something to save Wigan town and pull its people into the 21st century, its up to the Wigan people to support this so that it thrives, i know its difficult given we have a council that has continues to disappoint and destroy our heritage by letting buildings go to ruin i.e. town hall and Winstanley hall to name a couple, but we must support development like this. We also ave this: http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/ma ... -1-5895551 now that's a waste ! Its all about local, buy local and eat local to save our town. This re generation of the galleries will help all of us to do this

Whelley Warrior wrote:

the winky one wrote:

Whelley Warrior wrote:The Galleries was the wrong design out of the four submitted at the time and not the one chosen by the people of Wigan who were allow to vote for what they considered the best. The decision being vetoed by the then leadership of the Council who for their own reasons chose the Galleries instead. Many of this leadership being no longer around to see their mistake.

The Galleries is too cold with much of the space outside with small units, not enough space for attracting larger high street stores and its demise has nothing to do with rents.

And the Grand Arcade is not a white elephant as some seem to think as it always packed with shoppers because it is warm, has plenty of space and the capacity for bigger stores.

In my opinion the new plans will make the town centre better both for shopping and leisure and I look forward to the re- development taking place.

We are constantly hearing about the footfall in the Grand Arcade but never how much people actually spend there which is the most important thing.
I'm sorry but I think it is a white elephant and nothing will convince me otherwise..Yes it looks good but 2 mobile phone shops,2 shoe shops,2 sports shops. Not much in the way of variety is it? And you never see it advertised as other shopping arcades are.

I hope the development goes ahead and quickly and the joke that is the market sorted out though I fear it may already be too late

Try telling that to the many people shopping in it, especially in the high street stores on both sides and at the end.

As for the 'lack of variety', the Galleries is the reason for that as the design has not encouraged investment from national companies to open large stores in it which has led to its decline.

Bet you are one of those like some on Wigan Today and Wigan World who spend their time pulling everything in your own town to bits.

Well since you are pulling the Galleries to bits I will say this....I criticise a waste of money in my town when I see it.which is what this council seem to do on a regular basis..The Galleries was quite sufficient to contain the shops that have been added to the Grand Arcade, which is barely 20 years old..no need to spend millions building another, the town is not big enough to sustain two large shopping centres.My town is the best in this country and I will defend that fact to anybody,but I also have the right to speak out against anything I don't agree with,which may not be right for it.

A big concern for me is the plan to add a further 1000 homes to Standish. The 'village' cannot cope now.

the winky one wrote:

Whelley Warrior wrote:

the winky one wrote:
We are constantly hearing about the footfall in the Grand Arcade but never how much people actually spend there which is the most important thing.
I'm sorry but I think it is a white elephant and nothing will convince me otherwise..Yes it looks good but 2 mobile phone shops,2 shoe shops,2 sports shops. Not much in the way of variety is it? And you never see it advertised as other shopping arcades are.

I hope the development goes ahead and quickly and the joke that is the market sorted out though I fear it may already be too late

Try telling that to the many people shopping in it, especially in the high street stores on both sides and at the end.

As for the 'lack of variety', the Galleries is the reason for that as the design has not encouraged investment from national companies to open large stores in it which has led to its decline.

Bet you are one of those like some on Wigan Today and Wigan World who spend their time pulling everything in your own town to bits.

Well since you are pulling the Galleries to bits I will say this....I criticise a waste of money in my town when I see it.which is what this council seem to do on a regular basis..The Galleries was quite sufficient to contain the shops that have been added to the Grand Arcade, which is barely 20 years old..no need to spend millions building another, the town is not big enough to sustain two large shopping centres.My town is the best in this country and I will defend that fact to anybody,but I also have the right to speak out against anything I don't agree with,which may not be right for it.

And also compliment when a mistake is being put right!

cpwigan wrote:A big concern for me is the plan to add a further 1000 homes to Standish. The 'village' cannot cope now.

What make some in Standish think they are any different than other parts of Wigan or indeed the country?

Happening all over the place to accommodate the population increase due to unlimited immigration which is now out of hand!

Whelley Warrior wrote:

cpwigan wrote:A big concern for me is the plan to add a further 1000 homes to Standish. The 'village' cannot cope now.

What make some in Standish think they are any different than other parts of Wigan or indeed the country?

Happening all over the place to accommodate the population increase due to unlimited immigration which is now out of hand!

Show me which other parts of Wigan are getting 1000+ homes and have expanded on such a grand scale for the last 20 years. I am fairly sure none! Standish being non Labour AND property values being higher than other parts of Wigan are two key factors. Not sure immigration is a huge factor in Standish.

Well said Winky,dont get drawn into a slanging match with WW it's really not worth it.