'Burslem Alliance' formed as traders seek to halt decline

“We all know that the City's funds are allocated to Hanley S#it#y Sentre. How difficult would it be for Burslem to regain independent Borough status and spend its revenue on Burslem alone? And while we are at it, so should Fenton. "Big" is neither beautiful nor economical. Look at the EU!”

“Burslem is now just a ghost town. The demise of Burslem started to happen about 30 years ago when all major retailers left and were encouraged to set up shops in Hanley. All the facelifts and money spent in recent years will not bring it back to life again, those days have long gone never to return. Past councils did not have a clue how to regenerate the old mother town, just played at it giving facelifts to building when the real investment was to think of new ides in how to promote the mother town and keep businesses within the area. Ceramic was the biggest white elephant of all and looks total eyesore and out of character.

I agree with Wivens the closure of the Doulton's factory at Nile street, was the final nail in its coffin.”

“Burslem is just another of the smaller towns sacrificed for the glorification of Hanley. Just how big is the regeneration budget for Hanley? Since Tesco, Argos, Next etc moved into Longton trade has increased, so if more "niche market" shops were to relocate, they could fill the gaps where more traditional shops have vacated because of the supermarkets. If Burslem has a healthy night life, it perhaps suggests that it should promote those enterprises. Independant shops cannot hope to compete with these huge supermarkets, only the niche market is open for growth until the supermarkets see another opportunity and move into these last remaining areas.”

“Yes, 200 workers in a call centre may help to boost trade, unfortunately that would be nowhere near enough.

If the building was right and the location right I am sure the investment would have been made.

The problem is that many of the 'regeneration tools' have already been tried in Burslem and have not proved successful - individually or collectively. Lots of building facelifts have been carried out, there have been environmental improvements throughout the town, many years ago we had living over the shop, more recently 'live-work' units and enterprise centres. Don't forget, also, a new tourist attraction (ahem). Finally, and perhaps with the greatest promise, lots of new housing was built right next to the town centre.

None of them have done the trick.

Constantly throwing money at the wrong solution will achieve nothing other than allowing a response along the lines of 'oh my, its awful, we must be seen to be doing something'.

The meagre £100,000 offered by Mary Portas (well government money) to a small number of town centres across the country is typical of that response.

The reality is that people live differently, and more importantly shop differently, than they did - even as recent as 20 years ago. Yes, find a different use for the buildings but please stop harking back to the golden age where everybody lived, worked, shopped and played all within a few minutes walk of each other. It's time to accept that the world has moved on and left Burslem (as a town centre) parked in the economic lay-by (or asleep on the park bench?).

Clearly no councillor expecting re-election is going to stand up and say such, neither would I expect any of the regeneration professionals to voice a realistic view - far better to keep false hopes alive as it leads to a lifetime of generous salaries / consultancy fees to constantly re-write and publish the same tired old masterplans.”

“Burslem died the day Nile Street closed down. It wasn't up to much before then, but at least it had the Doulton workers to keep it going. Stoke was kept on life support by the Civic Offices, but what has Burslem ever had that could have made a difference? Don't say Ceramica!”

“I remember as a councillor when I attended Longton Chamber of Commerce meetings at Longton Town Hall. The Chair was Labour and he and his party constantly told us when the new Tesco super store was built, Longton would just magically rejuvenate! The giant Tesco was eventually built and now look at Longton precinct, it looks like a permanent 'bomb scare'. Maybe Burslem has similar parallels, the rich super store magnates just get richer!
http://tinyurl.com/c5fch56”

“Flatten it and turn it into a park and ride.”

“Visit Burslem and and take a tour of all the takeaways in Waterloo Road.”