After a couple of months of being closed the Children’s Air Ambulance shop has reopened with a new manager.
So they have a sale to get the stock moving and then who knows what. The sky is the limit.
The Children’s Air Ambulance is now operational from Oxford since Monday 17 September 2018.
That’s good to see, on another note I see builders are in the old Smiths Chemist Shop – apparently it’s going to be a restaurant and cocktail bar, directly opposite the old Stan Jonesbetting Shop has been let, this too another eaterie?
Surprisingly this means our high street is bucking the trend by having no empty shops! similar is Stert st, looking at Bath Street the old and empty for years Bistro Is being painted – that’s encouraging, builders are in the empty No Tag Shop and a planning application is in seeking permission to see how the burnt out charity shop can be restored! In fact apart from the precinct the only empty shop I can think of is the ex Chinese on the corner of turn again lane? Now all we need is the Upper Reaches to be sorted and we’ll have a full house !
The Bath St Bistro decoration work is indeed good news, it has been a long wait.
Lets hope the attractive frontage is maintained when the work is completed on the old chemist shop.
The Upper Reaches has such amazing potential; if I had a few million….
Good news about the Air Ambulance shop.
There is one single thing that separates the thriving, successful, busy, towns and highsteets from the others… And it’s not the flowers….
I wonder if anyone else has noticed?
Put us out of our misery Daniel
I can’t. It’ll solve all highsteets issues in one fell swoop; and without paying a consultant it just wouldn’t be proper.
My idea isn’t guaranteed to work (although it IS the differential between good and bad highsteets)…but without some massive financial outlay for information that may or may not be of any use…I just don’t see how any council would even consider it.
I’m teetering on the edge of saying it out loud…as I want to save the highsteets…but I just feel it’s not worth a jot if theres no consultancy fee.
As long as I am gauranteed the money even if it isn’t a good idea…then I’ll share. But only then….
Unless I give in to peer pressure.
PEER PRESSURE Daniel.
On street parking.
Every high-street that is thriving has the ‘popinability’ factor.
Every high-street that I can think of that is doing well…has on-street short term parking. I don’t get out much, but off the top of my head this is entirely true of: Witney, Summertown, Botley, New Malden, Morden, Raynes Park (all SW London), Didcot, Jericho, Cowley Rd. Totally free. Along the lines of “1 hour free parking, no return within 2 hours” or whatever. There is space for such parking throughout Abingdon, and would, in one fell swoop rejuvenate the use of the town centre.
As a bonus, this information is free. Even if it doesn’t work…at least money hasn’t been wasted on consultants. However, if it makes anyone feel better I will happily provide this information for just 50% of what a consultant will.
Would you like paying in flowers?
theres plenty of free parking in abingdon about 2 minutes stroll from the shops.
You’ll have to move the taxis out of the way first, Daniel…best of luck with that!
I will happily take payment in flowers.
2 mins stroll is too far and misses the point Rudi. I’m not disagreeing with you, it’s just an observation. All the thriving highsteets also have parking 2 mins stroll away. That’s not what separates them from Abingdon.
Look around; every quality, busy, bustly thriving highsteets has on street parking.
Julian…yes. the taxi rank should definitely be moved.
Which roads should be turned over to free parking Daniel?
Abingdon does have a huge parking problem brought about by two solvable issues
1, the proliferation of redundant offices and above premise space converted into apartments that have no parking has saturated all on street parking spaces and most car park spaces too even with the creation of more residential parking
2, there is no policing! Lombard st and Bath st is a free for all despite the yellow lines, the guy from the computer shop parks his Nissan across the paving most days, as do the delivery drivers at Papa Johns pizza shop by the war memorial, after a blazing row with a taxi driver who would not move off the pavement he said don’t blame me blame the Vale for issuing 460 taxi licences! The traders of the farmers market park their vans in the council car park this denying visitors and shoppers a space, despite the privalage being taken away some ten years ago because of public pressures officers working at the Abbey house offices are now enjoying free parking in the multi story, A few Bath st traders use the loading bays and drop off lay by as their own own, all day parking space. We need a traffic warden or at least pcso’s that will issue offending vehicles with a ticket instead of turning a blind eye!
su – as many as possible. every inch, every conceivable place that a car could pull in and park for 20mins or an hour.
-Stert street?
-Queen St?
-Broad St.
-East St Helens (town end).
-West St Helens.
-Lombard Street,
-Bath Street.
-Where the taxi rank is outside Hodsons,
-Where the bus stop is outside HSBC.
-Abbey close behind Pizza Express.
-Outside and also opposite The Broad Face on Bridge Street.
Some of these will of course need some rejigging/widening/pavements shifted around a little.
The 1st of Hoursesmouths issue is not a factor – whilst it IS an issue; it isn’t an issue “during the day”; which is when the free short term “pop-in-ability” parking is used.
The second is also relevant, but as pointed out is an enforcement issue…
Do the The Veil Officers still park in the prime spots in the multi-story?
Which officers do you mrean Daniel? TheVale Council mostly moved out of Abbey House ages ago and is now located in Milton Park. Abbey House it is now occupied by the County Council
Hi Iain, it was mentioned above. And i had a memory of it too…are there any Council employees/officers still using the Multistory? It doesn’t really matter – just curious. It used to be that all the people form the ‘Council’ got to park in the prime spaces in the multistory…just wondered if that is still the case.
It won’t really matter though for “Daniels grand pop-in-ability rejuvenation scheme”.