Mary Portas bid success ‘could make Darwen look bad’

11:55am Thursday 8th March 2012 in Darwen Photograph of the Author By Dan Clough, Reporter

MARY PORTAS MARY PORTAS

A BID to secure Portas Pilot status for Darwen could be detrimental, town councillors say.

MP Jake Berry launched a bid to win £85,000 of funding for the town centre as part of Government town centre regeneration guru Mary Portas’s project.

But a meeting of town councillors heard that the implications of such a bid would suggest the town centre was failing.

Clare Turner, town centres manager for Blackburn with Darwen Council, also said a bid was unlikely to succeed against bids from neighbouring towns that were worse off.

Ms Turner said: “Darwen will struggle to win the bid, but if it did, it could end up looking worse. Darwen has low vacancy rates on town centre shop units and has a good economy, particularly at night.

"The project could be detrimental to Darwen’s reputation.”

Coun Phil Jones said: “We are not run-down, we are pretty decent and this scheme could damage our reputation.”

MP Jake Berry launched a bid to win £85,000 of funding for the town centre as part of Government town centre regeneration guru Mary Portas’s project.

But a meeting of town councillors heard that the implications of such a bid would suggest the town centre was failing.

Clare Turner, town centres manager for Blackburn with Darwen Council, also said a bid was unlikely to succeed against bids from neighbouring towns that were worse off.

Ms Turner said: “Darwen will struggle to win the bid, but if it did, it could end up looking worse. Darwen has low vacancy rates on town centre shop units and has a good economy, particularly at night.

"The project could be detrimental to Darwen’s reputation.”

Coun Phil Jones said: “We are not run-down, we are pretty decent and this scheme could damage our reputation.”

Comments (3)

3:27pm Thu 8 Mar 12

louderfasterlonger says...

Yes Yes Yes, at last I agree with FDP.
£85k to the people of Darwen to have this self-promoting woman and her Tory poodle patronise us on TV is NOT ENOUGH.
Our commerce needs real policy to maintain our local economy, not cheap publicity stunts.
Good luck with this stunt in Rossendale Jake, now do your job and create meaningful employment for the people of the town.
Yes Yes Yes, at last I agree with FDP. £85k to the people of Darwen to have this self-promoting woman and her Tory poodle patronise us on TV is NOT ENOUGH. Our commerce needs real policy to maintain our local economy, not cheap publicity stunts. Good luck with this stunt in Rossendale Jake, now do your job and create meaningful employment for the people of the town. louderfasterlonger

7:00pm Thu 8 Mar 12

sean_brfc says...

I feel dizzy after reading that article; it went round in circles. I have to say I agree. Darwen Town Centre is actually coping pretty well for a small town, whilst other high streets are in serious decline. What is £85,000 anyway? They have spent far more in other regeneration efforts.
I feel dizzy after reading that article; it went round in circles. I have to say I agree. Darwen Town Centre is actually coping pretty well for a small town, whilst other high streets are in serious decline. What is £85,000 anyway? They have spent far more in other regeneration efforts. sean_brfc

12:42am Fri 9 Mar 12

english rose 1 says...

louderfasterlonger wrote:
Yes Yes Yes, at last I agree with FDP.
£85k to the people of Darwen to have this self-promoting woman and her Tory poodle patronise us on TV is NOT ENOUGH.
Our commerce needs real policy to maintain our local economy, not cheap publicity stunts.
Good luck with this stunt in Rossendale Jake, now do your job and create meaningful employment for the people of the town.
'create meaningful employment' ? Not sure if Berry would get this. Unemployment has gone up 34% in Darwen since the 'ConDems' formed their unholy alliance.
[quote][p][bold]louderfasterlonger[/bold] wrote: Yes Yes Yes, at last I agree with FDP. £85k to the people of Darwen to have this self-promoting woman and her Tory poodle patronise us on TV is NOT ENOUGH. Our commerce needs real policy to maintain our local economy, not cheap publicity stunts. Good luck with this stunt in Rossendale Jake, now do your job and create meaningful employment for the people of the town.[/p][/quote]'create meaningful employment' ? Not sure if Berry would get this. Unemployment has gone up 34% in Darwen since the 'ConDems' formed their unholy alliance. english rose 1

Comments are closed on this article.

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree