News

Barnsley's Flagship Redevelopment Moves Forward

Thursday September 20 2012

A MAJOR restaurant chain has confirmed it will be moving to Barnsley when the £125 million town centre revamp is completed.

The scheme, due to be completed in 2015, will include a Debenhams, a seven screen Odeon, 850 parking spaces, 35 shops and several restaurants including a Nando's.

Tony Baker, director of 1249 Regeneration Partnership which is overseeing the project, said: ''People have very preconceived ideas of Barnsley.

''There are pockets of low income areas but equally there are some very affluent ones.

''I would say that we are making good progress in assembling retailers to accept the scheme. It's been well-received in the market place and we hope to start work next year. ''

Robert Teal, chairman of Barnsley Voice, a group of town centre businesses, added: ''Barnsley businesses have never lost faith in the town and knew that the redevelopment would happen in time.

''As far as retail is concerned what will be important is to attract a new kind of customer as well as keeping our existing customers happy.''

Reply Posted by Richard on Thursday September 20 2012 at 10:43

The redevelopment is welcome news to everyone in Barnsley although I fear it may come too late to save many struggling businesses in the town. The absence of quality multiple retailers in the town over the last few years has seen footfall drop drastically. Within the next year independent businesses in Barnsley will be cut by half as they are no longer sustainable, the local council needs to be doing everything in their power to attract business to the town now and not just for them to sign up to scheme that a) we still do not know for certain if the investment is here for it to commence and b) they can pull out of at any time. It is one thing having a plan in principle to address the issue, but another thing to take solid action now.

Reply Posted by MARK on Thursday September 20 2012 at 12:25

For me the sooner the better like Richard says it could be too late if not,one thing i will say though if it does get the funding and the plans are in place DOUBLE CHECK everything this time we dont want another Old Mill Lane / Burton Road fiasco again do we ?

Reply Posted by Michael on Thursday September 20 2012 at 19:31

Yes, the town centre redevelopment scheme is long overdue. However, the market element of the scheme is, in my opinion, totally inappropriate. Only forty outdoor stalls with each stall being substantially smaller than the existing stalls. The market, as we know it will be no more. This element of the scheme needs further thought or otherwise our 'new' town centre will quickly become as bland as most other town centres throughout the country. As things stand we will certainly not be creating a 21st century market town.

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Friday September 21 2012 at 12:14

barnsley doesnt need posh shops that the majority of people cant afford to shop in.we need our market back ,the one we used to be famous for, when people used to travel from all over to visit if you read any coments on wab they are all about people struggling to live so how the hell are they going to be able to afford to shop in debenhams, designer shops etc. we have always been a market town and i for 1 being a born and bred barnsley lass would like to keep it that way.and yes we might have a few pound shops but how many millions of pounds a year are spent in them,doesnt that tell you that they are welcome and much needed by most barnsley people

Reply Posted by tarn gal on Friday September 21 2012 at 19:51

Hi this is Fantastic news bout time we came in line with other local towns so shops are able to draw in.visitors as Well as locals... With this development also comes JOBS again brill news so moře people will be able to shop in debenhams and mid range shops... Our kids Can visit better cinemas target than having to go to wakey or meadowhall costing moře with travel expences.... And a Feel nice resterants this couldnt come soon enough for us x

Reply Posted by martin on Friday September 21 2012 at 20:04

A Nandos would be good or Pizza Express

Reply Posted by john on Friday September 21 2012 at 23:19

r the council sure they have bought all the land b4 they start tis time cos that farce round wickes is crazy who on earth starts a project like that without owning all the land needed must b costing us council tax payers a small fortune over wot it shud av bin. & do we really need POSH shops we r a market town thru & thru so lets av our market back

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Saturday September 22 2012 at 10:08

i totally agree john every day on this site people who are working me included moan about how we are struggling to live. i for 1 will not be able to afford to shop in places like debenhams so what is it people you are either struggling to live or your not as skint as you like to make us believe lets face it £6.00 for a nightie in primark or £26.00 for a nightie in debenhams £20.00 for a coat at asda £120.00 for a coat at debenhams how can you be struggling and afford prices like this.

Reply Posted by c on Sunday September 23 2012 at 18:10

A decent town centre will help raise the value of houses. At the mo, nobody wants to live here cos the shops are so crap & you have to travel a distance to get any where.

Reply Posted by claretaylor on Sunday September 23 2012 at 18:34

we dont need an odeon,they wernt bothered when they left us without a cinema,what about suporting our local cinema parkway

Reply Posted by c on Sunday September 23 2012 at 22:00

We might get films that are actually been shown in the bigger cinemas at the same time.

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Monday September 24 2012 at 11:54

its not exactly a massive distance to travel to meadowhall from barnsley c. if you can afford the sort of prices that are charged in the kind of shops these centres provide then a 10min journey isnt going to break the bank is it. i thought the workers of barnsley were supposed to be struggling, to read the comments on wab the working people here would have us believe they are on their asses, so how are they going to afford the prices these shops charge. i work and theres no way i could afford these prices. if the money isnt available in this town how are these shops going to survive.every higher end shop weve ever had in barnsley as ended up closing why is now going to be any different when people are struggling now more than ever.surely it would make more sense to put the money into the businesses we already have to keep small business going. these are the people who through thick and thin have stayed to try and keep our town going not the large businesses who run as soon as there profits drop.

Reply Posted by Tony Nuttall on Monday September 24 2012 at 18:32

Looks completely soulless! And who wants the big chain stores and cinemas selling over-priced rubbish that people can't afford? Do the people of Barnsley ever get asked what they want when it comes to something like this? No, its just unaccountable speculators who know nothing about Barnsley working out how they can make a quick profit.

Reply Posted by C on Monday September 24 2012 at 20:11

For god sake. This is the 21st century but most of you would rather it was the 1800's. " oh Barnsley is a market town" It was... it also was a pit town but no longer. If people from outside Barnsley don't get encouraged to shop here then Barnsley will never prosper, It will become a ghost town. We have to move on before the town finally takes it's last breath & dies!

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Tuesday September 25 2012 at 12:00

yet again c lets look after the wealthiest people of the town and condem the majority of people who cant afford to shop in these types of centres. yes its the 21st century and with it as come a new wave of poverty thats only going to get worse. so you are one of the lucky few who has the money to use these shopping centres,well you know what go to meadowhall. this town doesnt need over priced designer shops it needs support for the already struggling traders in barnsley who through the worst years have still given there all to support the poor of this town if the wealthy barnsley people want designer names then they dont have far to travel do they. lets support local people who are trying to earn a living and having the life crushed out of them

Reply Posted by crapola on Wednesday September 26 2012 at 17:16

So C, you don't want wealthy people coming into this town and spending their money and providing jobs . Well don't worry they're not.How do YOU intend rescuing the "struggling " traders that are already in this town if you don't bring new money, new investment in ? Believe you me this Town with it's appallingly low educational achievement standards, lack of aspiration and lack of entrepreneurship of its indigenous citizens will not make it without new blood and new money.At the moment new blood is buying up the cheap houses witness the growth of new Housing estates close to the motorways but the jobs and the money is up/down the motorway and so is the spend.With the vast majority of Welfare cuts yet to bite how do you think barnsleys going to survive by pandering to only the poorest members of society ?

Reply Posted by c on Saturday September 29 2012 at 08:35

Hi Crapola, I want people to come here. I want the new town centre. You have me mixed up with Barnsley Lass who wants to live in a slum for the rest of her life!
Oh & P/S I only get carers allowance of £58 a wk but I'm not winging about not having money, the fact is Barnsley Lass Meadowhall is too bloody far & it's more than 10mins away it's more like 25mins from Monk Bretton so get your facts right!!!!!

Reply Posted by scooby doo on Monday October 1 2012 at 14:08

So are they actually doing away with the famous market,??? wonder how many of you who are slating the new shops WILL actually go in there, I'm sure you will. It can only be an improvement for Barnsley and the surrounding areas providing more jobs. It can't happen soon enough.

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Monday October 1 2012 at 14:14

no c i dont want to live in a slum at all ive lived in barnsley for over 50 yrs ive seen the best and the worst that this town offers oh and i know exactly how far meadowhall is from barnsley considering i also live in monk bretton i also havnt moaned about not having money i was speaking about the general population of barnsley and i will tell you this if you are living on £58 per week it is not possible to run a home and shop in these types of centres if the only income you have is what you stated then its about time you shared your secret with people who havnt got a cat in hells chance of surviving on that amount

Reply Posted by may on Monday October 1 2012 at 14:22

crapola yes it will provide jobs but how many businesses will it actually put out of business.and how long do you think it will survive before the high end stores start pulling out and shutting down because their profit margines arnt high enough im not saying im against these shopping centres i just dont think that barnsley as enough disposable income to sustain one. you only have to read on here every day how people are struggling to live which would mean we would have to rely on people from other towns and cities who already have these centres themselves

Reply Posted by J on Monday October 1 2012 at 16:05

Not everybody in Barnsley is struggling massively. I will, if needs be, shop in poundland for gluesticks for my lessons or sweets for competitions etc but I would like some decent shops that I can spend my hard earned money in. There is nothing in the Topshop store in town that I do not own and my body shape does not suit Topshop but I am not shopping in BonMarche or Internacionale and, if I need an outfit in a hurry I end up in Topshop...again! There are people in Barnsley with disposable income who end up traipsing off to Meadowhall whenever they need to buy something that's not cheap and tatty or from a Greggs/poundland/charity shop. These people avoid the town centre because of how tatty it is and the severe lack of shops that anyone wants to go in.

Reply Posted by E. Turton on Tuesday October 2 2012 at 16:35

How much council tax will these firms be paying I wonder, If the tax merry-go-round circles the right way then the big firms will boost the council coffers and they in turn will reward the poorer council tax payers who in their turn will spend the extra money in these top notch shops, oh if only it worked like that,if a survey could be done in Barnsley which shops fair the best in Barnsley you will find Charity shops are in the top 5 because Barnsley has always been a poor working class area, See how many of these new supermarkets and designer shops, if they open, are still open, in 5 years.

Reply Posted by Kelvin on Tuesday October 2 2012 at 23:50

Does that mean all the gorgeous architecture of barnsley will be knocked down too? We have some really stunning buildings in the town center that should be kept intact. Im all for the concrete buildings to be knocked down though...

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Wednesday October 3 2012 at 16:49

i would just like to say what i witnessed in barnsley today bearing in mind its market day as usuall the market was busy as were pound shops, wilkinsons poundstretcher etc.the charity shops were heaving.walked passed next in the ladies shop were 3 people in the mens 1 person point made i think

Reply Posted by A parent on Friday October 5 2012 at 12:16

A lot of people seem to be missing the point here. We need to cater for ALL spending requirements. At the moment we're only catering for the low end spending bracket. Many lovely city/town shopping centres happily have high end and low end shops sitting side by side (e.g. York has charity shops as well as designer shops).

The fact is, Barnsley DOES have a wealthy population as well as a low income population. Not to cater for both means we cut out a large proportion of spending power, and see it going into keeping the economy of places like Sheffield going instead.

Lets stop this 'us and them' divide between those who have and those who do not have. We are ALL Barnsley citizens, and we ALL have a vested interest in keeping the town centre alive.

There are some good points being raised though regarding the market, and also regarding the lovely architecture. We have some fantastic old buildings in our town centre (I remember Peter Andre commenting on them when he visited). I sincerely hope the Council does not do away with them. They are part of our heritage. Places such as Manchester have managed to incorporate high end shops into their lovely older buidings (e.g. John Lewis), I really hope we can too.

It always amuses me that Barnsley is held up as THE market town. Is there not a market centre in Doncaster? I'm sure there is, including meat and fish. We are not actually an exclusive market town in South Yorkshire. Why do people (including the Council) keep saying that?

Also, if the Council REALLY want to encourage everyone to come to the town centre for their shopping, why does the transport system exclude certain villages? I believe it takes ages for the bus to arrive from the Eastern outskirts of the Borough (e.g. Bolton on Dearne and Goldthorpe). The rail service doesn't even link these villages to the Town Centre! They can however get to Doncaster on the bus just as quick (if not quicker) and get to Mexborough/ Sheffield/ Wakefield on the bus or train.

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Friday October 5 2012 at 13:46

i understand what your saying a parent, but if there are so many people in barnsley who are well off enough to shop in high end stores why is it that when you walk passed the few higher end shops in town they are almost always empty. most high end shops that have tried to set up businesses in barnsley have ended up closing. even shopes that i would class as mid range stores have struggled in barnsley, so why will it be any different for high end designer stores

Reply Posted by A parent on Friday October 5 2012 at 14:20

Hi Barnsley Lass. I think it's because they are travelling to Meadowhall instead. There just aren't enough high end or mid range shops in Barnsley Town Centre to justify going into the Town Centre and then have to make a separate journey to Meadowhall as well. As fuel prices continue to rise, I think people may decide not to commute out of the Town Centre provided there is enough variety.

For example, where do we people buy high end shoes in Barnsley? If I want shoes, I go to Meadowhall. Whilst I am there, I'll buy something to eat and anything else I may want, which may well include a trip to Primark there, which I think is excellent value for kids clothing. If there were high end shoe shops in Barnsley (e.g. high end brands for sale within Debenhams) then I would shop in the town centre for my shoes, call at Primark, and any other shops (no matter whether they are high end or not) and possibly have lunch there. I don't particularly want to drive to Meadowhall each time I want to buy something high end, but I'm forced to do so until we cater for these requirements in the town centre.

Also, just because I can afford to buy some expensive items, this doesn't mean that I buy my groceries, kids playing out clothes, household utensils and toiletries from expensive shops. I don't, because I'm intelligent enough to know that I can buy them from cheaper shops, which makes my disposable income go further. The problem is, it's going much further than the Town Centre usually, it's going to Meadow Hall, Leeds and sometimes York, rather than into the lower end shops in Barnsley. I'm not helping those low end shops in the Town Centre to keep in business at the moment because it's inconvenient for me to shop in two different places. I'd really like to support them, but I'm a busy working mum.

If we can get the balance right in the Town Centre then ALL people who live here can shop here too. It will become a much more diverse shopping experience for all, and if it's successful, then who knows, maybe people from Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster will pay us a visit too!

I'm not sure that we have had many high end shops even try to set up in Barnsley, I don't recall any setting up then closing, but could be wrong.

Reply Posted by C on Saturday October 6 2012 at 20:09

Barnsley Lass.
I look after my 82 yr old father 24/7 in my child hood home which is also where I live. I'm not fortunate enough to be able to go out to work because the state won't look after my father so as his only daughter it falls on me to do it. That's why I get £58 a week not that it's anyone business. Yes a lot of things are very expensive in big name shops but like "a parent" say's you can't buy a lot of things in Barnsley because it doesn't cater for everyone. And if you must know I buy all my cloths from Asda or mainly charity shops. But if you want to look after my dad for me whilst I go to work feel free!

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Sunday October 7 2012 at 12:39

you made it other peoples business c when you put on how much you get and can i just say if my father who is 85yrs old needed 24hr care i would do it in an heartbeat for nothing and as everyone who knows me would tell you if i was well enough i would willingly care for your father so you could go to work. you see c im old school and believe that we owe everything to our elders .can i just finally add that i wish your dad every best wishes and im sure he is getting the care only a daughter could give him

Reply Posted by C on Sunday October 7 2012 at 17:49

Hi Barnsley Lass.
Can I say thank you for your kind words & I do mean it.
Carers allowance is a payment all carers get from the government who care for someone over 35 hrs a week.

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Monday October 8 2012 at 12:13

you are so welcome c and i wish you luck for the future

Reply Posted by Graham Nicholson on Tuesday October 30 2012 at 18:39

Where are moving all shops like hmv and carphone warehouse

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