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Newbury.net - A Community website for Newbury, Berkshire, UK / News Stories from newbury.net / Marketing starts for Parkway Newbury.
Posted by: Administrator, February 21, 2010, 2:50am
A computer generated image of Victoria Square in the New Parkway development
A brand new website heralds the start of a marketing campaign to launch Parkway Newbury where construction is in full swing and the new retail development of 295,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant accommodation and 621 car parking spaces is expected to open in the spring of 2011.
The new development is anticipated to propel Newbury into the top 75 in the UK in terms of retail attractiveness. Ranking Newbury alongside Harrogate, Salisbury, Leamington Spa and Windsor.
The website claims that Newbury is the 14th most affluent catchment in the UK.
Further details on their website:
http://www.parkwaynewbury.com
Posted by: Archie, February 21, 2010, 9:18am; Reply: 1
Clever use of timber cladding there. Obviously done to blend in with the Camp Hopson furniture building. One could also imagine they were designed by the same architect.
I wonder if that will be social housing overlooking the park? Nice balcony/veranda to hang their washing out to dry!
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 21, 2010, 10:38am; Reply: 2
The Parkway website is naff, in my opinion. The text is way too small in places, not withstanding the rather bizarre colour scheme. It is also full of waffle. The Parkway site is also architecturally bland and while I am not an expert, I fail to see how it is 'inspired by the future'; who comes up with this crap? I really don't see that the future of town centres lie in the provision of units like this. It is 20-30 years too late.
Posted by: brian, February 21, 2010, 12:27pm; Reply: 3
The view of the Food Terrace which is what we will see from Victoria Park is totally uninspired and will not stand the test of time. Wooden cladding which in two years time will be dark and stained and a glass box perched on top of a tower overlooking the terrace...... Nice.
Posted by: user23.3, February 21, 2010, 1:20pm; Reply: 4
The view of the Food Terrace which is what we will see from Victoria Park is totally uninspired and will not stand the test of time. Wooden cladding which in two years time will be dark and stained and a glass box perched on top of a tower overlooking the terrace...... Nice.
How long have the "new" Camp Hopson building been in place?
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 21, 2010, 1:57pm; Reply: 5
The Parkway site is also architecturally bland
Should it have been more avant garde? Say something along the lines of the Victoria Park Pavillion?
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 21, 2010, 1:59pm; Reply: 6
Ranking Newbury alongside Harrogate, Salisbury, Leamington Spa and Windsor.
who writes this stuff?
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 21, 2010, 2:23pm; Reply: 7
The Parkway site is also architecturally bland Should it have been more avant garde? Say something along the lines of the Victoria Park Pavillion?
I'd say something that complements the Georgian and Edwardian architecture. The design is simply generic and could be in any market town. Then again, Newbury's architectural inheritance has already been desecrated by things like The Vue carbuncle.
Posted by: brian, February 21, 2010, 2:35pm; Reply: 8
How long have the "new" Camp Hopson building been in place?
You're going to say "Camp Hopson's cladding has lasted longer than that " aren't you ?
Well, I think wood cladding for an architectural concept is naff and down the line will look even naffer. You will I'm sure wish to argue the point. It's OK for the side of a Sainsbury car park but that's where I draw the line.
Posted by: user23.3, February 21, 2010, 2:39pm; Reply: 9
Which towns would you rate Newbury against?
Posted by: brian, February 21, 2010, 3:25pm; Reply: 10
Which towns would you rate Newbury against?
Why we have to be rated against other towns is just for marketing. Newbury is unique and one hopes that it will retain its unique character after all the development has been completed and our leaders are sitting back admiring their handiwork.
Posted by: Uncle, February 21, 2010, 3:45pm; Reply: 11
Which towns would you rate Newbury against?
We are above Hungerford,Thatcham and Marlborough.....but beneath Basingstoke ,Reading and Andover?
Posted by: brian, February 21, 2010, 3:58pm; Reply: 12
We are above Hungerford,Thatcham and Marlborough.....but beneath Basingstoke ,Reading and Andover?
What criteria are you using for the judgement. My view is that we are streets ahead of Basingstoke, this after a visit for a one and I might add only ever visit to that dreadful Festival Place last week. Reading is about OK as some of the shops are worth a visit and have some character but Newbury has to rise above that town's level mainly because of the number of layabouts that seem to frequent it. Andover, I have no knowledge of so cannot comment.
Posted by: Uncle, February 21, 2010, 4:17pm; Reply: 13
most of my "criteria" comes from my passengers[who live outside of newbury] and its a take on their comments...except the bit about Hung,That.Marlb.....which i assume you agree with?
Posted by: Nobby, February 21, 2010, 4:57pm; Reply: 14
So currently we are the 14th most affluent town and well below 75th in retail attractiveness.
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 21, 2010, 5:06pm; Reply: 15
Posted by: user23.3, February 21, 2010, 5:33pm; Reply: 16
Why we have to be rated against other towns is just for marketing. Newbury is unique and one hopes that it will retain its unique character after all the development has been completed and our leaders are sitting back admiring their handiwork.
Nope, people will always rate Newbury against other towns.
How else would they make their choice where to live, where to start a business, where to shop, etc?
Posted by: jamoza, February 21, 2010, 7:47pm; Reply: 17
this parkway website has been running for months
Posted by: Administrator, February 21, 2010, 7:59pm; Reply: 18
this parkway website has been running for months
Not in it's present format it hasn't. Have a look at the Google cached pages for February 10th.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 21, 2010, 8:04pm; Reply: 19
Which towns would you rate Newbury against?
Bicester, Witney, Abingdon
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 21, 2010, 8:04pm; Reply: 20
What criteria are you using for the judgement. My view is that we are streets ahead of Basingstoke, this after a visit for a one and I might add only ever visit to that dreadful Festival Place last week. Reading is about OK as some of the shops are worth a visit and have some character but Newbury has to rise above that town's level mainly because of the number of layabouts that seem to frequent it. Andover, I have no knowledge of so cannot comment.
What is dreadful about Festival Place. The shopping is far, far better than Newbury.
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 21, 2010, 10:49pm; Reply: 21
What is dreadful about Festival Place. The shopping is far, far better than Newbury.
In what way?
Posted by: Nobby, February 21, 2010, 10:52pm; Reply: 22
What is dreadful about Festival Place. The shopping is far, far better than Newbury.
The beautiful traditional neon signs and marble effect flooring - makes you proud to be British - don't it ;) ;D
Posted by: brian, February 21, 2010, 10:57pm; Reply: 23
What is dreadful about Festival Place. The shopping is far, far better than Newbury.
The day I visited was wet, and a school half term. The car park is a nightmare badly signed with turns that seem to not be access turns at all. Inside is a bright, brash, any other shopping centre in England with a noisy echoing clautstrophobic environment and a layout with slopes on the ground floor that are excessive.
Did nothing for me other than make me wonder why I was there and to resolve that I didn't want to return. If I lived in Basingstoke, I might be inclined to study the layout to make the experience a bit more acceptable as it is in my opinion, the journey is not worth the effort.
Posted by: Archie, February 21, 2010, 11:14pm; Reply: 24
Even the new Pavilion in the Park has timber cladding.
Posted by: brian, February 21, 2010, 11:24pm; Reply: 25
I felt my comment was perfectly valid.
It probably was Archie but I think that Parkway, love it or hate it and I am pretty much in the latter camp, is here to stay, there is no going back and it's probably a good idea for the sake of the town to moan about it in private. Prospective tenants are unlikely to consult Newbury.net but the forum always seems to get top hits on Google so we don't want to frighten them do we.
Posted by: Archie, February 21, 2010, 11:35pm; Reply: 26
It probably was Archie but I think that Parkway, love it or hate it and I am pretty much in the latter camp, is here to stay, there is no going back and it's probably a good idea for the sake of the town to moan about it in private. Prospective tenants are unlikely to consult Newbury.net but the forum always seems to get top hits on Google so we don't want to frighten them do we.
I gave up posting on newburytoday.co.uk because my postings were being censored. Now it appears that they are being "manipulated" on this board. Is there some sort of cover up going on?
BrianB sent me a private message to indicate why this site gets such good rankings. He should be utilising his abilities to expose some of the things going on in this town.
Posted by: BrianB, February 21, 2010, 11:50pm; Reply: 27
It probably was Archie but I think that Parkway, love it or hate it and I am pretty much in the latter camp, is here to stay, there is no going back and it's probably a good idea for the sake of the town to moan about it in private. Prospective tenants are unlikely to consult Newbury.net but the forum always seems to get top hits on Google so we don't want to frighten them do we.
Parking in Newbury is inadequate, overpriced and poorly managed.
In 1968, Newbury had 2,000 parking spaces. There are now currently just over 1400 spaces (some of them in obscure corners of the town). When Parkway opens, there will be another 600. In other words we will be returning to to 1968 levels.
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 22, 2010, 12:30am; Reply: 28
Parking in Newbury is inadequate, overpriced and poorly managed. In 1968, Newbury had 2,000 parking spaces. There are now currently just over 1400 spaces (some of them in obscure corners of the town). When Parkway opens, there will be another 600. In other words we will be returning to to 1968 levels.
Does this include retail park parking, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Bayer, etc?
Parking on its own doesn't put me off going to Newbury town centre, but I notice that my prefered car park is a lot fuller these days.
The main reason I don't go shopping in Newbury much, other than to, what often turns out to be fruitless visit to HMV, is that retail parks provide all I usually need in that regard. That, and the Internet.
Posted by: brian, February 22, 2010, 9:17am; Reply: 29
Does this include retail park parking, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Bayer, etc?
The only car park out of those which could be considered as a boost to parking spaces in Newbury is the Sainsbury car park although I will give you Bayer but only on a weekend.
The etc might include Camp Hopson as I doubt that was included within the 1968 2,000 spaces.
I'm sure that there was a lot more on street legal parking back then for the 'pop in' shopping which would not have been included as it was free parking. Most of Northbrook Street and Bartholomew Street for instance. Parking was a little more relaxed in those days as penalty tickets were not handed out like confetti at a wedding just to boost income and providing traffic flow was not impeded, it was an acceptable part of town life.
There's forty years of progress for you.
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 22, 2010, 9:27am; Reply: 30
The only car park out of those which could be considered as a boost to parking spaces in Newbury is the Sainsbury car park although I will give you Bayer but only on a weekend.
The reason I include those places you regard as
not boosting places, is that they have, in effect, changed the 'perimeter' of Newbury's retail sector. Also, the Retail Park would have taken a tremendous amount of car journeys out of the town.
In other words, shopping has changed since '68; especially late night shopping, which must have taken even more journeys out of town (where people choose to shop out of hours, during the week).
I understand though, cheaper parking does appear to increase foot-fall. Yet, millions of pounds of tax payers money has been spent giving a face lift to Newbury, but it is debatable if there has been a tangible improvement in shopper numbers.
Posted by: massifheed, February 22, 2010, 11:28am; Reply: 31
The day I visited was wet,
Wouldn't have been much fun walking around Newbury then.
The car park is a nightmare badly signed with turns that seem to not be access turns at all.
Agree with this. The car park isn't great. But then wasn't the car park made up by joining sections of the old car park together, or something like that?
Inside is a bright, brash, any other shopping centre in England with a noisy echoing clautstrophobic environment and a layout with slopes on the ground floor that are excessive.
Well, I can't argue with much of that, (apart from the claustrophobic bit, I always thought it was really quite airy) but then, that seems to be what most people want in a shopping centre, hence their popularity. I only visited Basingstoke once before Festival Place was built, in fact, they were in the process of building it then. I think (and I'm sure others will correct me here), that they joined several of the old shopping spaces together and renovated the whole lot, as well as building the main two-level shopping space. So this may be the reason that some of it feels a little disjointed. And I think the same applies to the car park, but I'm not 100% on any of that.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 22, 2010, 12:01pm; Reply: 32
The day I visited was wet, and a school half term. The car park is a nightmare badly signed with turns that seem to not be access turns at all. Inside is a bright, brash, any other shopping centre in England with a noisy echoing clautstrophobic environment and a layout with slopes on the ground floor that are excessive.
Did nothing for me other than make me wonder why I was there and to resolve that I didn't want to return. If I lived in Basingstoke, I might be inclined to study the layout to make the experience a bit more acceptable as it is in my opinion, the journey is not worth the effort.
Festival Place is an enclosed shopping centre, so the weather isn't an issue.
The slopes are there because that part of Basingstoke is on a hillside.
I go to a shopping centre / mall to shop, not to be culturally, architecturally or otherwise stimulated. The choice of shops in Basingstoke is far better than that in Newbury. Hence its popularity.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 22, 2010, 12:06pm; Reply: 33
Well, I can't argue with much of that, (apart from the claustrophobic bit, I always thought it was really quite airy) but then, that seems to be what most people want in a shopping centre, hence their popularity. I only visited Basingstoke once before Festival Place was built, in fact, they were in the process of building it then. I think (and I'm sure others will correct me here), that they joined several of the old shopping spaces together and renovated the whole lot, as well as building the main two-level shopping space. So this may be the reason that some of it feels a little disjointed. And I think the same applies to the car park, but I'm not 100% on any of that.
You are right. They demolished old bus station, cinema & square of shops immediately behind the bus station & this became the car park & new cinema area. The rest of the development is a facelift of what was there before. This was done be cladding the existing shops & car park frontage. The area leading up to the train station ( the R hand side if you will ) was newer than the area to the left of the sports centre, so this was left 'unclad' .
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 22, 2010, 12:13pm; Reply: 34
retail parks
plural? which ones are these then?
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 22, 2010, 12:46pm; Reply: 35
plural? which ones are these then?
Greenham and the one where 'Holdfords' is. Not that it makes a blind bit of difference to the substantive point in my post, whether there are one or more parks.
Posted by: user23.3, February 22, 2010, 2:04pm; Reply: 36
Parking in Newbury is inadequate, overpriced and poorly managed.
In 1968, Newbury had 2,000 parking spaces. There are now currently just over 1400 spaces (some of them in obscure corners of the town). When Parkway opens, there will be another 600. In other words we will be returning to to 1968 levels.
That's not true is it, Sainsburys must have a few hundred, Waitrose a load more, Camp Hopson more and then there's the multi-storeys and the Wharf. I bet all that lot adds up to over 2000 and that's not including the Council car park and Bayer on a Saturday.
Posted by: jamoza, February 22, 2010, 2:09pm; Reply: 37
Not in it's present format it hasn't. Have a look at the Google cached pages for February 10th.
I know its been there since last year, in that format. On my old website, on the parkway page I have '
http://www.parkwaynewbury.com'
See it here:
http://nnutter.co.cc/index.php?p=1_16I stopped updating that website at the beginning of December last year.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 22, 2010, 4:16pm; Reply: 38
Greenham and the one where 'Holdfords' is. Not that it makes a blind bit of difference to the substantive point in my post, whether there are one or more parks.
Not exactly the largest range of shops then. Boots, Mothercare, Next, Argos, Staples, Halfords, Poundstretcher, 2 'sports' shops, Burger King, McDonalds, Currys, Homebase & an Arcadia Group outlet.
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 22, 2010, 5:03pm; Reply: 39
Not exactly the largest range of shops then. Boots, Mothercare, Next, Argos, Staples, Halfords, Poundstretcher, 2 'sports' shops, Burger King, McDonalds, Currys, Homebase & an Arcadia Group outlet.
Plus Tesco over the road! The point is, these places cover
most requirements. It means a trip to the town centre is rarely required. Can you suggest what is missing from this list that is a 'must have' outlet - a pub I suppose? Don't forget you quoted a small passage from a broader text that described the Internet as another source.
Posted by: brian, February 22, 2010, 6:07pm; Reply: 40
Parking in Newbury is inadequate, overpriced and poorly managed.
That's not true is it,
It is true, that part anyway
Posted by: brian, February 22, 2010, 7:25pm; Reply: 41
Festival Place is an enclosed shopping centre, so the weather isn't an issue.
The weather was only an issue because the floor of the car park was wet throughout. I don't blame the operators for that, but what it did do was to make the tyres and suspension shudder every time a turn was made and also, because it was wet, it obscured the floor painted direction arrows so I spent as much time trying to work out which way to go as I did searching for a non existent parking space. The sign said 600 free spaces, took me ten minutes to find one.
Just to bring us back on track, let's hope that our new Parkway underground car park will be able to win over that of amazingstoke.
What I am looking forward to is Mrs B being able to return her allegiance to the M&S Food hall. Their quality foods I do miss although the wallet is a bit thicker since Sainsbury became second choice.
Posted by: user23.3, February 22, 2010, 8:24pm; Reply: 42
It is true, that part anyway
We covered this in another thread.
The way to make it cheaper like Brighton is adopt a zero tolerance approach to parking infringements. Do we really want this in Newbury though?
There are ways too of course like taxing local business to subsidise parking, or raising council tax. I doubt either of those are popular either.
In what way do you think Sainsburys, Waitrose, Camp Hopson, the multi-storeys and the Wharf are poorly managed by the way?
Posted by: Nobby, February 22, 2010, 8:34pm; Reply: 43
We covered this in another thread.
The way to make it cheaper like Brighton is adopt a zero tolerance approach to parking infringements. Do we really want this in Newbury though?
There are ways too of course like taxing local business to subsidise parking, or raising council tax. I doubt either of those are popular either.
In what way do you think Sainsburys, Waitrose, Camp Hopson, the multi-storeys and the Wharf are poorly managed by the way?
No - don't give free parking to WBC employees and don't employ more Green Meanies than required.
A kid taking there 11 plus would seem to have more economic sense than a WBC employee apparently!
Posted by: brian, February 22, 2010, 8:52pm; Reply: 44
We covered this in another thread.
The way to make it cheaper like Brighton is adopt a zero tolerance approach to parking infringements. Do we really want this in Newbury though?
We did cover it in another thread but I don't think that was the conclusion we came to. As far as I am aware, there is a zero tolerance in Newbury.
An excerpt from the WBC website on its parking policy which, to my mind, demonstrates zero tolerance other than the required observation period being exceeded.
Quote…
The Civil Enforcement Officers carry a hand-held-computer-terminal to issue penalty charge notices. The software in the hand-held-computer prevents a penalty charge notice being issued until the required observation period for each particular parking contravention has elapsed. In cases where an instant penalty charge notice can be issued the Civil Enforcement Officer must also enter eight pieces of information (such as the number plate, tax disc details and the location) before a ticket can be issued, ensuring that the civil enforcement officer has to be on the scene and directly adjacent to the vehicle in order to complete the penalty charge notice.
When the Civil Enforcement Officer issues a penalty charge notice, photographs of the alleged contravention may have been taken. These photographs will be used to consider the information presented in an appeal. However, the penalty charge notice will remain valid even if no photographs were takenAnd as a matter of interest, we will be able to see the statistics when WBC publish them
Quote….
Transparency is demonstrated by the Council being required by the TMA 2004 to publish an annual report showing:
(a) Its' parking policy;
(b) The method of parking enforcement being used;
(c) Statistics to show the number of penalty charge notices issued and the number subsequently cancelled;
(d) How much income was received; and
(e) If there was an operating surplus, how this was used to benefit the local community
Posted by: user23.3, February 22, 2010, 9:29pm; Reply: 45
A kid taking there 11 plus would seem to have more economic sense than a WBC employee apparently!
I think you mean "their", Einstein. :)
We did cover it in another thread but I don't think that was the conclusion we came to. As far as I am aware, there is a zero tolerance in Newbury.
Of course there isn't, walking down Northbrook Street this morning there were many cars infringing parking regulations parked all over the place.
Perhaps we need more parking enforcement officers slapping tickets on cars like they're going out of fashion to reduce the cost of parking, like Brighton. Be careful what you wish for.
Anyway, you've failed to answer my question, in what way do you think Sainsburys, Waitrose, Camp Hopson, the multi-storeys and the Wharf are poorly managed?
Posted by: 133 (Guest), February 22, 2010, 9:50pm; Reply: 46
... walking down Northbrook Street this morning there were many cars infringing parking regulations parked all over the place.
Perhaps we need more parking enforcement officers slapping tickets on cars like they're going out of fashion to reduce the cost of parking, like Brighton. Be careful what you wish for.
I'm not surprised about Northbrook Street, from what I have heard the PEO's spend their time slapping tickets on cars in Bartholomew Street. Maybe there aren't enough hidey holes in Northbrook!
Posted by: old codger, February 22, 2010, 9:52pm; Reply: 47
Who 'generated' the computer graphic? must rise early as the shadows indicate it was aroung 6/7am. cannot see much of the road but what there is is empty-not a car in sight..........
Posted by: Nobby, February 22, 2010, 10:06pm; Reply: 48
I think you mean "their", Einstein. :)
Oh bugger ??);D
Posted by: user23.3, February 22, 2010, 10:14pm; Reply: 49
Quoted from 133
I'm not surprised about Northbrook Street, from what I have heard the PEO's spend their time slapping tickets on cars in Bartholomew Street. Maybe there aren't enough hidey holes in Northbrook!
Sounds like there's not enough PEOs in Newbury to me. ;)
Posted by: old codger, February 22, 2010, 10:15pm; Reply: 50
Ranking Newbury alongside Harrogate, Salisbury, Leamington Spa and Windsor.
who writes this stuff?
does not matter, Harrogate has a Spa, Salisbury a Cathedral, Leamington a Spa (hence its name) Windsor a rather splendid Castle, Newbury now that has Post Office Tower and soon to be a retro look precinct, folk will come from far and away to see how precincts were 50 years ago.
Posted by: 133 (Guest), February 22, 2010, 10:16pm; Reply: 51
Oh bugger ??);D
Ah for a minute there I believed User and thought you were an 'Einstein'. Quite clearly you are not. You spelt bugger correctly. Einstein was bad at spelling (alledgedly)!
Posted by: old codger, February 22, 2010, 10:18pm; Reply: 52
Oh bugger ??);D
should that have been Oh bugger!! or perhaps Oh boogah!!
Posted by: 133 (Guest), February 22, 2010, 10:24pm; Reply: 53
Sounds like there's not enough PEOs in Newbury to me. ;)
Not very economical is it. I've heard the existing team stand as far away as possible watching their prey in Bartholomew Street. Issue them with high powered binoculars, they should be able to cover most of the town then without being spotted. As a matter of interest does anyone know if they are issued with camoflage makeup so they can blend in with buildings? ;)
Posted by: brian, February 22, 2010, 11:01pm; Reply: 54
Quoted from 133
Not very economical is it. I've heard the existing team stand as far away as possible watching their prey in Bartholomew Street. Issue them with high powered binoculars, they should be able to cover most of the town then without being spotted. As a matter of interest does anyone know if they are issued with camoflage makeup so they can blend in with buildings? ;)
I think somebody at WBC misunderstood the statement that Newbury was going green and acted accordingly with their uniforms.
Posted by: blackdog, February 23, 2010, 1:25am; Reply: 55
I went to Basingstoke a couple of years back - my first (and latest) visit since Festival Place was constructed. I have to say that most of the shopping centre was the familiar shopping area from when I lived there in the early 70s.
There are more shops than in Newbury - but they don't sell much that I want to buy that I can't find in Newbury.
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 23, 2010, 1:31am; Reply: 56
This is the thing, other than fashion shops, what does, say, Basingstoke have, that Newbury doesn't?
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 23, 2010, 11:47am; Reply: 57
Plus Tesco over the road! The point is, these places cover most requirements. It means a trip to the town centre is rarely required. Can you suggest what is missing from this list that is a 'must have' outlet - a pub I suppose? Don't forget you quoted a small passage from a broader text that described the Internet as another source.
Shoes, Decent clothes, Books, Music, Cafe, Independent shops that make going to a proper town enjoyable.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 23, 2010, 11:49am; Reply: 58
The weather was only an issue because the floor of the car park was wet throughout. I don't blame the operators for that, but what it did do was to make the tyres and suspension shudder every time a turn was made and also, because it was wet, it obscured the floor painted direction arrows so I spent as much time trying to work out which way to go as I did searching for a non existent parking space. The sign said 600 free spaces, took me ten minutes to find one.
Just to bring us back on track, let's hope that our new Parkway underground car park will be able to win over that of amazingstoke.
What I am looking forward to is Mrs B being able to return her allegiance to the M&S Food hall. Their quality foods I do miss although the wallet is a bit thicker since Sainsbury became second choice.
The rear M&S enterance has gone forever. I'm Not sure how food shoppers are meant to cope....
I agree re Festival Place car park in the wet, it does make the tyres skid. But only if you enter from Alencon Link.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 23, 2010, 11:51am; Reply: 59
does not matter, Harrogate has a Spa, Salisbury a Cathedral, Leamington a Spa (hence its name) Windsor a rather splendid Castle, Newbury now that has Post Office Tower and soon to be a retro look precinct, folk will come from far and away to see how precincts were 50 years ago.
err, exactly my point. Hence my list of more suitable towns to compare Newbury to.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 23, 2010, 11:53am; Reply: 60
This is the thing, other than fashion shops, what does, say, Basingstoke have, that Newbury doesn't?
A better range. More choice.
Posted by: blackdog, February 23, 2010, 12:31pm; Reply: 61
A better range. More choice.
A better range of what?
If I need to shop for something that I cannot find in Newbury, and don't want to buy online, I will go to Reading, Oxford or London (though the congestion charge has massively reduced my trips to London). Basingstoke is nowhere on the list (just above Swindon) partly because I cannot think of anything to go there for.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 23, 2010, 1:08pm; Reply: 62
A better range of what?
If I need to shop for something that I cannot find in Newbury, and don't want to buy online, I will go to Reading, Oxford or London (though the congestion charge has massively reduced my trips to London). Basingstoke is nowhere on the list (just above Swindon) partly because I cannot think of anything to go there for.
It is personal choice.
Yoo prefer Reading, I prefer Basingstoke.
Posted by: Greenham Common, February 23, 2010, 2:26pm; Reply: 63
Shoes, Decent clothes, Books, Music, Cafe, Independent shops that make going to a proper town enjoyable.
Independent shops and maybe clothes (but that's subjective) are two (but how often is that important), but all the rest are available from Tesco, the retail park and the Internet.
Don't forget, I said...
The main reason I don't go shopping in Newbury much, other than to, what often turns out to be fruitless visit to HMV, is that retail parks provide all I usually need in that regard. That, and the Internet.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 23, 2010, 5:04pm; Reply: 64
Independent shops and maybe clothes (but that's subjective) are two (but how often is that important), but all the rest are available from Tesco, the retail park and the Internet.
Don't forget, I said...
well, all I can say is that your idea of goinf out to go shopping is different to mine.
Posted by: blackdog, February 23, 2010, 5:11pm; Reply: 65
It is personal choice.
Yoo prefer Reading, I prefer Basingstoke.
My problem with Basingstoke is that I cannot think of one thing I can get there that I cannot get in Newbury - so why go there when I live here.
Posted by: Lovejoy, February 23, 2010, 6:11pm; Reply: 66
My problem with Basingstoke is that I cannot think of one thing I can get there that I cannot get in Newbury - so why go there when I live here.
I go shopping thinking 'Lets spend some cash today' I have no idea if I'll buy something, or nothing. If I see something I like, I'll buy it.
I guess if I only went shopping because I needed something & had made my mind up prior to leaving home what it was & where to get it, then I'd be happy with a lesser choice. For instance, I could, when I need a pair, buy my jeans at Tesco at the same time as shopping for food. However, I find serendipitous shopping far better.
Posted by: Administrator, February 25, 2010, 5:15am; Reply: 67
I know its been there since last year, in that format. On my old website, on the parkway page I have '
http://www.parkwaynewbury.com'
See it here:
http://nnutter.co.cc/index.php?p=1_16I stopped updating that website at the beginning of December last year.
Have it your own way.
However a website does not have to have a new URL to be "a new website"
Perhaps you would like to contact our local newspaper who have a similar story on page 4 this week "Town to become a sophisticated shopping destination". I am sure that they would not have just copied our story without checking first.
I refer you once again to the cached pages on Google, but you will need to be quick.
Posted by: user23.3, February 25, 2010, 9:27am; Reply: 68
Have it your own way.
However a website does not have to have a new URL to be "a new website"
Perhaps you would like to contact our local newspaper who have a similar story on page 4 this week "Town to become a sophisticated shopping destination". I am sure that they would not have just copied our story without checking first.
I refer you once again to the cached pages on Google, but you will need to be quick.
What's new about the website, it seems to be pretty much the same as before.
Obviously I can't remember it word for word though, have they added new sections into it or changed bits?
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