TOWN Hall bosses have given the go-ahead to an ambitious “positive” strategy to transform Warrington’s town centre night life.
Members of the borough council’s executive board have approved proposals put forward by the multi-agency Arcangel partnership which has, over the last two years, implemented a plan said to have made the town centre a safer and more enjoyable place.
Alcohol-fueled disorder has been reduced by more than 30 per cent, action has been taken against licensed premises in breach of regulations, a town centre policing unit has been established and Bridge Street has been made a safer place by closing it to traffic and restructuring taxi ranks.
But the Arcangel task group feels action so far has been largely about enforcement and regulatory activity.
They believe the successes so far achieved may not be sustainable because of the emphasis on enforcement and that a most positive approach is now needed.
This will include promoting the Palmyra Square area as the focus for the town’s cultural activity, improving the Parr Hall, Pyramid, Museum, Queens Gardens, etc and establishing small, high quality bars, restaurants and cafes where people sit and eat rather than stand and drink.
There should be festivals, street entertainers, live music and enhanced street lighting – particularly in “dark areas.”
Warrington should be promoted as a place to do business, new homes should be built in the town centre and there should be more public toilets, car parks, taxi ranks and bus facilities.
Other suggestions are improved management of club “street queues”, chill-out times and areas in clubs and evening dance venues where alcohol is not on sale.
Alfresco dining in pedestrianised streets, food kiosks, continental and farmers’ markets, etc., are also suggested.
Council chiefs have welcomed the improvements made so far in making Warrington town centre a safer place and agreed the strategy proposed by the Arcangel task group who will be expected to report progress to the authority.
10 Comments
I can’t see anything changing as long as the town is full of pubs and night clubs.
With local pubs closing rapidly, the drinkers will have nowhere else to go but town.
The previous council screwed up bigtime allowing this to happen.
Silk purse from a sow’s ear plan if ever there was one. Warrington should not get ideas above itself. There are not enough people to make anything that smacks of culture, refinement, etc viable. A few people have tried (and are still trying) but none have succeeded. It is ridiculous to talk of introducing upmarket bars and cafes. They can only be as good as their customers – and the evidence is that in the town centre, they are a crowd of hooligans.
The people who want a touch of refinement have long since deserted the town centre and now eat out in places like Stockton Heath, Culcheth or Lymm. Trouble is, they have been accompanied by a fair proportion of the louts as well and they are rapidly reducing these areas to the same level as the town centre. Planners, get real. Accept that in places like Warrington alcohol and good behaviour do not go together. If you want to drive the yobs away, close all the bars and clubs.
Blimey – cultural quarters, nightlife quarters and alfresco dining. Sounds very much like the shopping list drawn up a decade or more ago for the last town centre revamp.
And we still ended up with Panama Jack’s and The Lion Hotel turned into a couple of Godawful discos for the hard-of-thinking.
What can you expect though when your aspirations for the town centre are drawn up by a bunch of po-faced charisma-free killjoys (hello Arcangel) or the latest slew of councillors from the sticks who haven’t been ‘up town’ since flares and T-Rex were in vogue.
Town is deader now than it has been for many years. All the decent clubs went south years ago – The World, The Carlton, Legends etc – and those with half a brain should be thankful that the likes of the The Lounge, Blue Bell (and whatever Cairo is calling itself these days) cling on.
No sane diner wants to eat out in Warrington town centre after dark at a weekend, otherwise they run the risk of bumping into their son/daughter/niece/nephew, staggering down Bridge Street and vomiting in the River of Life. Just ask Andalucia or the dozens of others who’ve tried to make a go of it.
Closing down bars and clubs isn’t the answer – some decent parenting over the past 20 years by the 60s generation might have stemmed the tide though.
“street lighting – particularly in “dark areas.”
cllr1: So where should we put these “enhanced lighting”
cllr2: Fortunately we have just the right man for the job here, I have hired a £50k PA consultant.
cllr1: Exelent! how long will it be before we get the report.
cllr2: Our long term planning team have estimate that the estimated resource requirement should take about 5 years, so we should be ready to make the announcement around 2010.
(5 years later)
con1: having surveyed the area in warrington town center over a period of 5 years, optimising peak usage periods,climate change, crowd trend dispersion and information gathered from our partners at the police, council and government bodies we are pleased to announce that the enhanced lighting facilities should go in “Dark Areas!”
At least they are making an effort. Yes there is well known problems in the town centre but it is no different to any other town of its size. As voice of reason says there are some nice little places in the town so adding more to them can only help. As for “The people who want a touch of refinement” Stockton Heath? Lymm maybe but Stockton Heath is no better than bridge st after 9pm If the sniffing in the toilets is anything to go by.
You should stop sniffing in the toilets then
I think it would be a great ida to have a tram link between the city centre and the Cantilever Park football club. A heliport linking all major cities to Warrington and the introduction of free public transport for holders of WTFC season tickets.
It’s great to see Warrington join the 22nd Century
So with all the comments on what you don’t want, what do you want to see in Warrington town centre and where?
Bridge Street moved into the Sahara Desert would be a start or just closed from 1800hrs until 0630hrs.
I want a pony 🙂