Council chiefs plan to get Paisley thriving again

Jan 29 2010 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

TAKE a stroll down Paisley’s High Street and the difficulties facing the town are clear for all to see.

Closed and boarded-up shops, a rash of ‘To Let’ signs and the growing number of discount stores all make for depressing viewing on what was once the jewel in Renfrewshire’s retail crown.

For years, Buddies have been demanding action to put things right. And, yesterday, planning chiefs at Renfrewshire Council vowed to heed their calls.

As he bowed out of the job and looked forward to retirement, the council’s head of planning Crawford Russell – together with his successor Fraser Carlin, planning and economic development director Bob Darracott and Paisley Town Centre project director Jim Dewar – sat down with the Express to outline the way forward.

Shopping

They want to see more people shopping, socialising and opening businesses in Paisley.

And Bob believes the town will enjoy a brighter future if new life can be breathed into three key buildings – the former council headquarters in Cotton Street, the abandoned Arnotts building in Gauze Street and the Littlewoods site in the High Street.

He said: “If we can sort out these key sites in Paisley town centre then we’ll be in a much stronger position.”

The council has sold its former HQ to West Point Homes, who plan to create a residential development on the site.

Second on the agenda is the empty Arnotts building.

Bob said: “The problem with Arnotts is that it has been in different ownership over the years, none of whom have wanted to do very much with the building.

“We hope to have a report ready quite soon which will outline proposals to take things forward. We plan to have a share in ownership of the Arnotts site.”

Colleague Jim insisted they also have plans for the Littlewoods building but admitted that transforming that particular site is a major challenge.

He said: “Littlewoods is definitely the most difficult one to crack. It’s a stand-alone unit in private ownership and we’ve had lots of discussions with the owners. Now we’re talking to one or two potential occupiers.

“We’re looking at a package which makes the building more attractive by sub-dividing the unit into different spaces and renting those out separately.

“It’s a 60,000 square feet unit on different levels and that isn’t attractive to any single retailer.”

Many Buddies will be surprised to learn that there are more than 100 listed buildings in the heart of Paisley – possibly the highest number of any town centre in Scotland.

But that doesn’t seem to be enough of a draw for retailers and shoppers.

Jim has highlighted four key priorities for their efforts to turn Paisley’s fortunes around. These are:

lCHANGING IDEAS: He said: “We want to diversify what happens in the town centre and get away from the idea that you only come into the town centre to shop. We want a more contemporary town centre where more people live, socialise and work and there are a different range of events.

l TRANSPORT: “We’re re-opening bus and taxi lanes to traffic, improving parking and spending a lot of money on Central Way. We’re also part of a Quality Bus Partnership which looks at reducing the number of old buses which crowd the town centre and heavily pollute the atmosphere.

l COMMUNITY SAFETY: “There are town centre wardens who work alongside the police in looking after the town centre. We want to change people’s perceptions that the town centre can be an unsafe place to be at night. That isn’t the case at all.

l PROMOTING THE TOWN: “The fourth element is spending more time on promotion, events and marketing the town centre. We had the fireworks event in the town centre for the first time in November and that was a big success.

Fantastic

“The Paisley Vision 10k race was also bigger and better last year and the Christmas lights switch on was fantastic. We want to re-establish Paisley as a place to come for events and entertainment.”

Planning chiefs are also pinning their hopes on the ongoing ‘Paisley is...’ campaign.

This high-profile initiative is being run by the Paisley Vision Board to promote the different elements of the town and has the backing of the Paisley Daily Express.

Jim said: “The ‘Paisley is’ campaign is another way to communicate what we’re doing.

“The council has a big role to play and a lot of responsibility but it’s not the council’s town centre – it belongs to the people who live here and have their businesses here.

“We want to establish that message of ownership. Different sectors have to play a part in pulling the town back up to where it needs to be.”

With Paisley facing so many problems, Fraser could be forgiven for feeling he’s a ‘lamb to the slaughter’ as he takes over from Crawford – but, instead, he insists he is looking forward to the challenge.

Fraser said: “Paisley town centre is visually attractive. In fact, it’s probably the most attractive town centre in the west of Scotland in comparison to places like South Lanarkshire, where I used to work.

“There is no reason why this town shouldn’t be successful.”

Crawford added: “The potential of Paisley is superb because of the quality of the town centre architecture and the townscape.

“We have good transport links, with the motorway and the airport here, which gives us a great advantage.

“Although there are challenges, there are obviously major opportunities.

“When we come out the other end of this current economic situation, we should be in a good position to exploit it to our economic advantage.”

l Do you want to have your say on the problems facing Paisley town centre, the role played by Renfrewshire Council and what should be done to try to turn things around?

If so, call Alison Rennie at the Express newsroom on 0141 887 7911 or send an e-mail to pde@s-un.co.uk