Quite flows the Don

From the Wicker Arches, through Attercliffe, Grimesthorpe, Brightside, Wincobank and Meadow Hall to Rotherham flows the River Don.  Along the valley ran competing railway systems, canals and tramways all to serve the steel industry and the communities huddled between the massive buildings producing steel.  If ever there were dark satanic steel mills they were to be found here.  And then it virtually all came to an end as global economic forces and government policies took effect.

I knew the area well. On a visit a few years ago I was stunned by the dereliction and decay.  Vistas that in my youth had seemed unchangeable had vanished.  Heavy industry and the support services it required had disappeared, almost.  Crossing the Tinsley viaduct the scene to left and right had been transformed.  Even the iconic cooling towers by the viaduct had been demolished.

Out of the ashes of heavy industry has sprung a cathedral to consumerism, the Meadowhall shopping centre: 1.4m sq. ft. and adjoining massive car parks.  Property developers have drawn up plans to turn Meadowhall into the UK's largest out-of-town shopping destination which will add 700,000 sq.ft of retail space, although not connected to the existing building.

The proposal has been driven, according to the Daily Telegraph, by the growing shift in retail expenditure from high streets to the internet and regional shopping centres.

How long before there is a proposed expansion of Bluewater?

The issue for towns in the catchment area of Bluewater has been always how to counter the competition and attract people to shop in the high streets. Maidstone has developed the Fremlin Centre, Ashford has  the new County Square complex, but what of Tunbridge Wells?  The Royal Victoria Place shopping centre has gone decidedly down market in recent years as the owners sweat the asset.

Royal Tunbridge Wells has two major eyesores: the empty supermarket opposite the railway station and the derelict cinema site opposite the town hall.  There are ideas for regeneration, policies, surveys and consultations.  The impression one gains is that the local council is beginning to tackle the regeneration issues with much more determination, but the fear is that the Aspic Brigade will dominate the debate and, should they win, sentence the town to slow economic decline. 

We need repeated the bold approach the council took to the development of the Royal Victoria Centre if we are to avert a significant decline in the town's economic prosperity.