I’ve written previously about the Salford Advertiser office closure, but one issue which has been overlooked is the creation of yet another empty shop unit in Eccles town centre.
I walked down Church Street today and the former Advertiser office is the 12th vacant shop premises on that stretch of Church Street alone.
This is not of course a problem unique to Eccles – Walkden and Swinton also suffer as well as premises along Liverpool Road in both Irlam and Cadishead.
The Council leadership has organised “summit” meetings to discuss our town centres over the summer and I am grateful for those meetings, but this could and should have been done some time ago. Labour’s recession has left our town centres, which were already struggling, facing a bleak future, and I am determined to work hard to make sure that local businesses and shopkeepers are able to thrive and prosper in Eccles and elsewhere.
Hello Iain,
Great to see you’re on the case for bringing empty spaces in town centres back to life. At Meanwhile Space, we believe that empty properties spoil town centres, destroy economic and social value. Vibrant community uses will benefit existing shops, as well as the wider town centre, through increased footfall, bringing life back to the high street and making better use of resources overall.
We are working on the Meanwhile Project which is currently in the first phase of work to explore, develop, and test meanwhile approaches in several towns throughout the country, gathering information about who is already doing what, and developing the meanwhile lease document prior to more formal pilots and wider promotion later this year.
We can make it easier for all involved, through a simplified legal instrument (the ‘meanwhile lease’), to be used either directly between the owner and the community occupier, or via an intermediary, such as a local authority or a local charity.
If you are interested in doing something in Eccles Town Centre, let me know!
The important bit that Emily missed-off:
http://www.meanwhile.org.uk/
I need a retail unit shop to rent in eccles town centre could you please pass some information and picture all the placese in eccles town centre.
thank you.