Author Topic: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay  (Read 622292 times)

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Offline Hugo

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1170 on: September 14, 2016, 12:31:02 pm »
It was nice on Rhos Prom earlier today, quite warm but still very hazy but that pile driver on the Prom in Colwyn Bay  was really noisy and I can still hear it from my house now.
Thank goodness there's only 11 months to go on the redevelopment work!       &shake&

Offline BMD

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1171 on: September 15, 2016, 10:41:21 am »
The Bay's shopping ability is and always has been limited. There is no reason for anyone outside of the town to travel there for shops, they have nothing that Llandudno can't offer. If they had a Primark or a  TK Maxx or a Dunelm mill things would have been different.

They have the market but that is not as busy as it was and has lost its appeal over recent years and has been steadily declining until eventually it will be gone...

(Above quote is lifted from the Llandudno thread)

It's true that Colwyn Bay has limitations in terms of shopping choice, town layout, etc, but these aren't the only factors that determine success. I can think of several of small towns and villages with these limitations which are flourishing. Knutsford and Stockton Heath in Cheshire, for example. These are different from Colwyn Bay, of course, but whatever factors have determined success/failure, it hasn't boiled down to shopping choice (etc) relative to nearby towns with more choice.

I think a lot is down to overall visual impression. The above examples don't appear run-down, even though they have a lot of charity shops and several of the limitations that Colwyn Bay suffers from. There are some key locations in Colwyn Bay which currently create the run-down impression (I mentioned the Imperial Hotel and the Prince Madoc earlier, for example). I think Penrhyn Road in Colwyn Bay is looking pretty good at the moment, but not Station Road, unfortunately, because of things that stand out like a sore thumb, and despite improvements such as The Station restaurant/cafe. I agree with DaveR (in the other thread) that if attention was focused on getting a central core of the town looking good and working well, it would help enormously with that run-down impression that no amount of celebrity chefs/performers and "event hubs" is shaking off.


Offline born2run

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1172 on: September 15, 2016, 12:17:26 pm »
I think the attractiveness is a valid factor but I think it's a very small one compared to things like choice of shops, ample parking, accessibility etc, and choice of other venues (food etc). Look at Asda in Llandudno, it looks like a disused airport hanger but it's always busy!

Llandudno has much more shops of all types and that's the crux of it. You can easily spend a day shopping (Two retail parks plus the high street, plus 10 million coffee shops) there, whereas you'd struggle to fill an hour or two in the Bay and your options for eating and drinking are very limited.

Offline BMD

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1173 on: September 15, 2016, 02:10:51 pm »
Look at Asda in Llandudno, it looks like a disused airport hanger but it's always busy!

I think that's a different issue, though. After all, Morrisons in Colwyn Bay and Aldi in Old Colwyn are busy too. Driving to a functional supermarket to get the shopping done, and vibrancy/reputation of a seaside town, are two separate issues to my mind. None of the non-locals I know who visit Llandudno go there for the supermarkets! They already have good supermarkets where they live. Neither do they go there mainly for "events" (although that can obviously be an important factor at times). They go because, overall, it 's a lovely place - they get a real uplifting seaside holiday feeling, not a slightly depressing, run-down impression.

Sometimes the council gives indications that they understand this, regarding Colwyn Bay. But, at other times, they don't. It hasn't yet been consistent or focused enough to work. Perhaps it's simply out of their hands in a lot of cases (issues of ownership, etc)?

Offline born2run

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1174 on: September 15, 2016, 03:04:23 pm »
Again I agree with what you're saying to a part. But if we are talking about a pure shopping experience I think scenery matters quite little. People are quite prepared to  drive to places like Broughton for the big Asda or Wrexham or Liverpool because of Primark.

Offline BMD

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1175 on: September 15, 2016, 03:21:38 pm »
But if we are talking about a pure shopping experience I think scenery matters quite little.

Ah, well - it's precisely my point that we aren't talking about a "pure shopping experience". If we were, things like sea, sand, fresh air, beautiful Victorian building facades, piers, etc, wouldn't matter. A giant shopping mall would do it - no need for historical seaside towns.  ;)

Offline born2run

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1176 on: September 15, 2016, 04:10:12 pm »
But do people mix that experience in with shopping? I've always felt you have your seaside people who are content to look at scenery, visit attractions sit on the beach etc and your serious shoppers (mainly wholly women) who want to look at every inch of every shop in the town and want the best shops.

Offline SteveH

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1177 on: September 15, 2016, 05:08:24 pm »
I do not think the Bay will ever be a shopping destination, big retailers today are looking to maximise profits and will only invest in established proven areas, however that said I think there is potential in smaller shops catering to the day tripper market, its up to CB to find what these markets are, .... artisan art, antiques, cafes etc.

They have to capitalise on the new beach/facilities and the town. 

On a recent visit I noticed a lot of empty properties whose grounds where overgrown, encroaching on to the pavement, and full of litter, the same with a lot of the rental properties, the owners should be forced to rectify these problems, that would be a good starting point.

Offline Dave

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1178 on: September 15, 2016, 08:56:58 pm »
Other than the fact the Pier is a mess and the Skip is a waste of money (In my humble opinion) I think Colwyn Bay does rather well as a beach resort but only for day trippers. It's very hard to find a parking space when the sun comes out. Whether they spend much money when they get here is another matter and most won't venture in to the town as it's too far to walk and there is little parking space in town to bother looking there.
I think the answer for Colwyn Bay town centre is to build lots more purpose built retirement flats around the centre of town. Cafes and restaurants would spring up supply the need for all those wealthy oldies who would walk to the local shops too. Drive out those who hang around cheap boozers making trouble and encourage them to go and live in Rhyl instead. Sorry Rhyl.
Pensioners wouldn't worry about the noise from Jet Skis (Colwyn Bay's claim to fame) they would just turn down the volume of their hearing aids.
Local financial advisors and stockbrokers would enjoy a boom looking after those pension pots that everyone can't wait to get their hands on, and ultimately so would the undertakers.
In the meantime all those residents from Upper Colwyn Bay might start venturing back in to town for their evenings entertainment instead of heading further afield  elsewhere.
Problem solved

Offline BMD

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1179 on: September 16, 2016, 10:35:28 am »
Other than the fact the Pier is a mess and the Skip is a waste of money (In my humble opinion) I think Colwyn Bay does rather well as a beach resort but only for day trippers. It's very hard to find a parking space when the sun comes out. Whether they spend much money when they get here is another matter and most won't venture in to the town as it's too far to walk and there is little parking space in town to bother looking there.
I think the answer for Colwyn Bay town centre is to build lots more purpose built retirement flats around the centre of town. Cafes and restaurants would spring up supply the need for all those wealthy oldies who would walk to the local shops too. Drive out those who hang around cheap boozers making trouble and encourage them to go and live in Rhyl instead. Sorry Rhyl.
Pensioners wouldn't worry about the noise from Jet Skis (Colwyn Bay's claim to fame) they would just turn down the volume of their hearing aids.
Local financial advisors and stockbrokers would enjoy a boom looking after those pension pots that everyone can't wait to get their hands on, and ultimately so would the undertakers.
In the meantime all those residents from Upper Colwyn Bay might start venturing back in to town for their evenings entertainment instead of heading further afield  elsewhere.
Problem solved

I like the idea. The more senior* & respectable demographic certainly doesn't harm Abergele. And many of the practicalities make sense for Colwyn Bay. The council needs to change its approach, though: less focus on appeal to hipsters; more on those with bad hips.

(*Which, I hasten to add, is an age-group I'm fast approaching).

Offline BMD

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1180 on: September 17, 2016, 10:28:51 am »
Drive out those who hang around cheap boozers making trouble and encourage them to go and live in Rhyl instead. Sorry Rhyl.

I was walking up Station Road (Colwyn Bay) last night around 11.45pm - very ugly, violent scenes outside the Prince Madoc. It started in the noisy, drunk crowd that gathers outside that pub, but spilled out onto the whole middle section of the road.

I've lived in some bad areas (including a rough inner-city part of Bristol that was prone to actual riots), so my reaction to this kind of thing is "Ho-hum", rather than "What's the world coming to!". Still, it's not good for the centre of a seaside town like Colwyn Bay. At one point there was some of that hideously loud hysterical screaming that usually signifies that someone has been seriously injured in the violence. But I didn't see any blood, and a police car finally turned up, so hopefully nobody was badly hurt. A very unpleasant and threatening atmosphere, though - I ended up taking a detour.

Offline SteveH

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1181 on: September 17, 2016, 11:20:00 am »
Whether they spend much money when they get here is another matter and most won't venture in to the town as it's too far to walk and there is little parking space in town to bother looking there.
I think the answer for Colwyn Bay town centre is to build lots more purpose built retirement flats around the centre of town. Cafes and restaurants would spring up supply the need for all those wealthy oldies who would walk to the local shops too. Drive out those who hang around cheap boozers making trouble and encourage them to go and live in Rhyl instead. Sorry Rhyl.
In the meantime all those residents from Upper Colwyn Bay might start venturing back in to town for their evenings entertainment instead of heading further afield  elsewhere.
Dave,I completely agree with everything you said above, the three towns area is an ideal retirement area (sorry B2R) .and Llandudno is surely running out of development space, and to me it seems reasonable that CB  is the next logical choice and the Town Team/Council should be encouraging investors and developers to this end.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1182 on: September 18, 2016, 03:12:55 pm »
It's a nice sunny day in the bay today and it's good to see the yachts taking advantage of the weather. Even the windfarm looks good in the Autumn sunshine

Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1183 on: September 19, 2016, 09:40:34 am »
Drive out those who hang around cheap boozers making trouble and encourage them to go and live in Rhyl instead. Sorry Rhyl.

I was walking up Station Road (Colwyn Bay) last night around 11.45pm - very ugly, violent scenes outside the Prince Madoc. It started in the noisy, drunk crowd that gathers outside that pub, but spilled out onto the whole middle section of the road.

I've lived in some bad areas (including a rough inner-city part of Bristol that was prone to actual riots), so my reaction to this kind of thing is "Ho-hum", rather than "What's the world coming to!". Still, it's not good for the centre of a seaside town like Colwyn Bay. At one point there was some of that hideously loud hysterical screaming that usually signifies that someone has been seriously injured in the violence. But I didn't see any blood, and a police car finally turned up, so hopefully nobody was badly hurt. A very unpleasant and threatening atmosphere, though - I ended up taking a detour.
The Prince Madoc looks terrible now, Colwyn Bay would be far better without it.

Offline SteveH

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Re: Everything to do with Colwyn Bay
« Reply #1184 on: September 19, 2016, 10:31:11 am »
I found this last night, probably been posted before, but relevant to this discussion..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1le5tXu4wY