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There needs to be a fundamental change in our thinking and approach towards the challenges facing our Town Centre.
It is essential to acknowledge that retail can no longer be the sole way of attracting visitors.
The Town Centre must be a place where people come to live, to work, to dine, to meet friends, to visit the doctor, to attend the community centre, go to the cinema, visit a gallery, AND shop.
The objective of this website is to promote our “wish list” within the area traditionally defined as the Town Centre--namely the area bounded by the inner ring road. Only when we are proud of this area would we accept an enlarged definition.
We hope that over a period of time, the authorities will implement most of our positive suggestions, and that this will encourage the county (and indeed the town) to re-engage with our Town centre.
Northampton as a town will always finally be judged by the quality of its Town Centre.
A vibrant Town Centre is essential if we are to have the civic pride that we both yearn for and deserve.
Put in the simplest terms – if the Centre is better than the outside, people will visit the Centre. If the outside is better than the Centre, people will stay on the outside!
Town centres are currently under threat from internet shopping and the fact that people are rewarded for shopping at “edge of town” and “out of town” retail parks (because of free car parking). It is essential that this unfairness is addressed and that there is a level playing field.
This website has campaigned for a better Town Centre from 1996-2016.
After 20 years of failure to achieve change, it will now remain as an obituary to our efforts, but all campaigning will cease with immediate effect.
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