Tenbury - Where have all the people gone.

When I walked into town on Tuesday afternoon, Tenbury was like a ghost town. Several shop keepers were on the street just looking around.

The road between Tenbury and Leominster was closed at Leysters for repairs and had subsequently cut the amount of through traffic, but this shouldn't have have such a dramatic effect on the number of shoppers.

Perhaps it was the heavy grey clouds and the threat of rain that had put a dampener on the day.

I would be interested to hear if this was also the case in other towns? The official government statistic seem to indicate an uplift in retail spending, but this doesn't seem to be reflected locally. I did think that perhaps it was just quiet when I was in Town until I read this in the Shropshire Star.

One problem I do think needs addressing is the number of cars that park in Teme Street all day, in fact often for days at a time. I'm sure this dramatically reduces "opportunist" shopping, with passing trade doing just that, passing and not stopping.

Update 31/9/10 - See what the Shropshire Star has to say.

Tesco, determined to come to Tenbury

According to local press reports Tesco's are determined to open a store in Tenbury.

They are said to be in advanced discussion with planners and other statutory bodies and are expected to submit a revised plan by the end of the year.

Other commentators believe that Tesco's have an agreement with landowner Will Chase to submit an application within the next few weeks. If they fail to make the submission their existing "option" to develop will lapse.

The NoTenburyTesco campaign is keen to explore alternative uses for the site, but with Mr Chases recent divorce putting a rumored £16M dent in his finances he is bound to want to obtain maximum profit from the site.

A spokesperson for The Chamber of Trade, who decided not to officially object to the proposed development, have said that they had been misreported in the local press regarding their alleged approach to Tesco to invest in Tenbury's infrastructure.

Regal Renovation - One step closer

The long awaited and much delayed renovation of the Tenbury Regal cinema is one step closer.

Documents have been filed with the MHDC planning department seeking listed building consent (10/00987/LBC), to repair and alter the building. Although the plan is to restore the building back to it's earlier glory, work also includes changing the heating system, altering the toilets and making the building more accessible to disabled visitors.

Earlier plans to include the two shops into the scheme have been withdrawn, (although the shop fronts will be renovated) but there is still a hope that the recently vacated shop can be developed as a bar and coffee shop to be opened before performances and during the interval.

Some of the proposed alterations have been objected to by Regal hirers and users but have been overruled by the project managers and Town Council.

The plans are also due to be submitted to the Lottery Heritage fund asking for around £800k. The results of this request are expected in December.

The plans can be viewed on the MHDC planning website using reference 10/00987/LBC (The site is frequently unavailable)

Paul the Octopus 'to record Elvis tribute album'

Paul the Octopus 'to record Elvis tribute album' | Metro.co.uk

Managing Agent, Chris Davies, from Tenbury Wells, now represents Paul, the famous football result predicting Octypus,

He is reported in Metro.co.uk as saying

‘One of the most exciting things is that he has a record deal in place for an album, called Paul The Octopus Sings Elvis. There are books being written, a range of octopus toys are coming out this Christmas and there is even a new iPhone app.’

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