Public support £70m WestQuay plans say developers (From Daily Echo)

160 people, not much of a survey, I never got one and i expect becausei would be against it so do not get a vote.

Not really the numbers you can base decent results on.
The consultation was held in Westquay and targetted shopper who were there out of choice.
Maybe extend the survey to Southampton as a whole and those that work so can't go shopping in Westquay and see what the overall reaction is.
I've made my views clear on here already. We don't need even more shops and more chains of fast food restaurants.
Turn the land into a park so the city has more open space for the boat show and to view the ships from, as well as being a wonderful backdrop for the old city walls instead of building a concrete/metal/glass jungle and hide the history we should be celebrating.

sotonboy84 wrote:
Not really the numbers you can base decent results on.
The consultation was held in Westquay and targetted shopper who were there out of choice.
Maybe extend the survey to Southampton as a whole and those that work so can't go shopping in Westquay and see what the overall reaction is.
I've made my views clear on here already. We don't need even more shops and more chains of fast food restaurants.
Turn the land into a park so the city has more open space for the boat show and to view the ships from, as well as being a wonderful backdrop for the old city walls instead of building a concrete/metal/glass jungle and hide the history we should be celebrating.

I like that idea.

Hardly an unbiased view is it, getting feedback from 160 people who are already in Town if they want more 'Town' stuff, using the Developer's feedback form. I'd much prefer SotonBoy's idea.
Will an independant survey be carried out before the final decision is made?

loosehead wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:
Not really the numbers you can base decent results on.
The consultation was held in Westquay and targetted shopper who were there out of choice.
Maybe extend the survey to Southampton as a whole and those that work so can't go shopping in Westquay and see what the overall reaction is.
I've made my views clear on here already. We don't need even more shops and more chains of fast food restaurants.
Turn the land into a park so the city has more open space for the boat show and to view the ships from, as well as being a wonderful backdrop for the old city walls instead of building a concrete/metal/glass jungle and hide the history we should be celebrating.

I like that idea.

agreed

Higginz wrote:
Hardly an unbiased view is it, getting feedback from 160 people who are already in Town if they want more 'Town' stuff, using the Developer's feedback form. I'd much prefer SotonBoy's idea.
Will an independant survey be carried out before the final decision is made?

Like the council consultations on cuts before xmas, they said it was an open 8 meetings around the city, but it was limited to invites to groups only, we wanted to know when the council was going to have this open public meeting about cuts.
And its the same in this case a limited amout of people will get the chance to say some thing

sotonboy84 wrote:
Not really the numbers you can base decent results on.
The consultation was held in Westquay and targetted shopper who were there out of choice.
Maybe extend the survey to Southampton as a whole and those that work so can't go shopping in Westquay and see what the overall reaction is.
I've made my views clear on here already. We don't need even more shops and more chains of fast food restaurants.
Turn the land into a park so the city has more open space for the boat show and to view the ships from, as well as being a wonderful backdrop for the old city walls instead of building a concrete/metal/glass jungle and hide the history we should be celebrating.

.. you have to remember that ALL such public consultations are specifically designed to give only the answers the developer wants.

sotonboy84 wrote:
Not really the numbers you can base decent results on.
The consultation was held in Westquay and targetted shopper who were there out of choice.
Maybe extend the survey to Southampton as a whole and those that work so can't go shopping in Westquay and see what the overall reaction is.
I've made my views clear on here already. We don't need even more shops and more chains of fast food restaurants.
Turn the land into a park so the city has more open space for the boat show and to view the ships from, as well as being a wonderful backdrop for the old city walls instead of building a concrete/metal/glass jungle and hide the history we should be celebrating.

More parks = still f**k all to in Southampton.

Maybe it's a good idea, maybe not. But the Comment section has certainly filled up quickly today!

'New jobs' tend to mean redundancies elsewhere, over a wide area, although this is always the way with any modernisation of the economy.

Take any reference to a 'residential tower' with a pinch of salt though. Hammerson's Brent Cross scheme in London had similar promises, but Hammerson has pulled out of everything but retail now, and Boris Johnson has called Hammerson's plan as "dead in the water".

Out of interest, how many people feel that WestQuay has, on balance, been a force for good in the evolution of Southampton?

Jon10 wrote:
Maybe it's a good idea, maybe not. But the Comment section has certainly filled up quickly today!

'New jobs' tend to mean redundancies elsewhere, over a wide area, although this is always the way with any modernisation of the economy.

Take any reference to a 'residential tower' with a pinch of salt though. Hammerson's Brent Cross scheme in London had similar promises, but Hammerson has pulled out of everything but retail now, and Boris Johnson has called Hammerson's plan as "dead in the water".

Hammerson has taken a strategic decision to focus entirely on retail, which sounds a bit strange given the state of high street retailing but it has some bold plans. It's just about to open a huge shopping centre in the middle of Leeds, with plans to develop a second site in the town centre, and it's also got long-term plans for a huge retail-led scheme in Sheffield. It seems to want to take over the middle of Southampton too and will probably get every assistance from the Council to do so, just like it did last time.

I dunno, maybe it's what people want but am I alone in getting mild panic attacks every time I set foot in WestQuay? I don't find giant shopping centres awfully relaxing places to shop. Plus, having one landlord controlling pretty much all your main shopping 'core' doesn't exactly do much for diversity in the retail mix.

You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to?

Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery.

We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

Appologies for bad spelling on this rushed comment ;)

I don't think a park is really on the agenda. This area is being developed by private money and, as such, will be used to create a development that can be filled with lease-paying tenants.

It would be nice to think Hammerson can be forced to develop a nice bit of public realm space if it's given permission, though. Liverpool One has some great areas and is a nice example of how letting a shopping centre take over your town doesn't have to completely ruin it.

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

What proposals are linked to this regarding traffic and the already heavily congested surrounding routes?
With the increase in consumer and residential footfall that this scheme is bound to create, what does the Council along with the developer imagine will be the situation with respect to the city's already growing traffic flows. Getting into this area of the city is already a slow process with long queues of congested traffic filling up the surrounding roads. I don't believe that suggesting that people get into the complex by public transport will really sway a majority of those who like to travel by their own means. I'm against the whole proposal until I hear of some sustainable solutions to this problem. The surrounding road infrastructure is hardly coping as it is; how is it going to cope with it in the future.

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Its the locals that spend the most money in the local economy

southy wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Its the locals that spend the most money in the local economy

Yes but you'd think a historic city like Southampton would actually use its history to attract tourists? Or are the locals too afraid of 'outsiders'?

southy wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Its the locals that spend the most money in the local economy

And anyway, how many parks charge an admission fee? Local or not, more parks would do nothing for the city's economy.

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

kingnotail wrote:

southy wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Its the locals that spend the most money in the local economy

Yes but you'd think a historic city like Southampton would actually use its history to attract tourists? Or are the locals too afraid of 'outsiders'?

Most locals don't really know that much about this cities history & I believe it's about time that changed

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

Yes please, really think we need a fourth cinema and another ASK/Frankie and Bennys

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

Precisely. It hardly makes Southampton stand out, does it? I think shopping centres have realised that having a 'leisure' element to their scheme is a handy idea as it means they can keep them open longer into the night. But the contents are usually always the same American cr@p you'll find in a thousand other towns.

But a concert venue, a winter gardens (the one in Sheffield is amazing) or even an ice rink would do more to give Southampton an identity than this.

solents wrote:
What proposals are linked to this regarding traffic and the already heavily congested surrounding routes?
With the increase in consumer and residential footfall that this scheme is bound to create, what does the Council along with the developer imagine will be the situation with respect to the city's already growing traffic flows. Getting into this area of the city is already a slow process with long queues of congested traffic filling up the surrounding roads. I don't believe that suggesting that people get into the complex by public transport will really sway a majority of those who like to travel by their own means. I'm against the whole proposal until I hear of some sustainable solutions to this problem. The surrounding road infrastructure is hardly coping as it is; how is it going to cope with it in the future.

If people are able bodied enough, don't have more than one child with them and aren't expecting to to buy bulky stuff, then they should leave the cars at home and cycle, much less congestion for all, less polution to breathe in, quieter, less council tax due to the roads not being damaged as much, less strain on the health service and it's 9 times out of 10 quicker than driving or getting the bus.

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

loosehead wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

southy wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Its the locals that spend the most money in the local economy

Yes but you'd think a historic city like Southampton would actually use its history to attract tourists? Or are the locals too afraid of 'outsiders'?

Most locals don't really know that much about this cities history & I believe it's about time that changed

The trouble with Southampton History, it was tied in with the rest of the country at the same time, and there is nothing that really stands out and says we make a big turning point in History that altered History. Like say the Battle of Hastings or some great feat of engineering that history will remember and be talk about.
I know the spitfire was an achivement, but it remembered for the Battle of Britian.

southy wrote:

loosehead wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

southy wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Its the locals that spend the most money in the local economy

Yes but you'd think a historic city like Southampton would actually use its history to attract tourists? Or are the locals too afraid of 'outsiders'?

Most locals don't really know that much about this cities history & I believe it's about time that changed

The trouble with Southampton History, it was tied in with the rest of the country at the same time, and there is nothing that really stands out and says we make a big turning point in History that altered History. Like say the Battle of Hastings or some great feat of engineering that history will remember and be talk about.
I know the spitfire was an achivement, but it remembered for the Battle of Britian.

There's no denying it changed the outcome of the war though, the spitfire and it's American built sister, the P-51 mustang were the only screw prop planes that could go head to head with the Nazi jets.

"pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well”

Without googling this location I have no idea where it is. I know where town centre is though. So does everyone else. I am there often. So is everyone else.

West quay/IKEA is here to stay. They attract people into the town centre. So utilize that, and offer culture and leisure to those people.

A park would be viable if it would contain a history centre sort of thing. We could do with some dude holding chainmail suit of armor that charges you £3 to put it on and take a photo kind of deal….

But I still think a modern, fresh, leisure hub with arcades and FREE table tennis/foozball/pool sort of thing be more fun. Everyone loves free stuff. It would attract more people to spend time and therefpre spend money.

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote: You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront. The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac. If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

So how will killing off the dying High Street and Above Bar, not to mention the failing Marlands and the now/almost closed Bargate Centre so all shopping is focussed under one roof, pay the bills exactly?

In a time of economic depression and when everybody is all too aware of the dying high street should we be encouraging this even further?

I have visited many other cities, both in the UK and on the continent and that's one of the reasons that I can appreciate the heritage and history we have, which is also something we have over most other cities.

Visitors can go anywhere to find high street chain shops and this is not where the city can make money from tourists. Most money made through people shopping in Westquay will line the pockets of the retailers and the landlord, not the city. Nobody has said anything about harbouring a desire for Southampton to be a throwback to the 70's but instead make the most of the rich history we have. The city should be promoting this rich history makes us different to most other cities and attract people that way.

It's not about not having a shopping centre or not having high street chains in the city, it's about striking the balance between these types of places and the city's history and its own merits. How many places have you visited in the UK based purely on the shops you'll find and nothing to do with other attractions and places of interest? If we carried on with ideas like yours, we would soon have one huge shopping area under one roof with the rest of the city surrounded by derelict buildings and houses. It's just a shame that there are so many people as ignorant as you that can only see beauty in building vast tall buildings and sweeping away any evidence of a rich past.

Oh, and Southampton is the largest city on the South coast and the clue is in the name, the largest, not the most exciting. And if you would like Southampton to be the most exciting then it will need more than a giant shopping centre to achieve this...

How about having a "sea themed" museum by the sea, close to Mayflower Park.
.
It could be called the Sea Museum .... Its the ideal spot !!!!

Subject48 wrote:
"pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well”

Without googling this location I have no idea where it is. I know where town centre is though. So does everyone else. I am there often. So is everyone else.

West quay/IKEA is here to stay. They attract people into the town centre. So utilize that, and offer culture and leisure to those people.

A park would be viable if it would contain a history centre sort of thing. We could do with some dude holding chainmail suit of armor that charges you £3 to put it on and take a photo kind of deal….

But I still think a modern, fresh, leisure hub with arcades and FREE table tennis/foozball/pool sort of thing be more fun. Everyone loves free stuff. It would attract more people to spend time and therefpre spend money.

At least make people pay a deposit that they get back if they return equipment in good condition, would be an incentive to stop the local hooded gangs from running off with everything or fighting each other with it in the facility.

sotonboy84 wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote: You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront. The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac. If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

So how will killing off the dying High Street and Above Bar, not to mention the failing Marlands and the now/almost closed Bargate Centre so all shopping is focussed under one roof, pay the bills exactly?

In a time of economic depression and when everybody is all too aware of the dying high street should we be encouraging this even further?

I have visited many other cities, both in the UK and on the continent and that's one of the reasons that I can appreciate the heritage and history we have, which is also something we have over most other cities.

Visitors can go anywhere to find high street chain shops and this is not where the city can make money from tourists. Most money made through people shopping in Westquay will line the pockets of the retailers and the landlord, not the city. Nobody has said anything about harbouring a desire for Southampton to be a throwback to the 70's but instead make the most of the rich history we have. The city should be promoting this rich history makes us different to most other cities and attract people that way.

It's not about not having a shopping centre or not having high street chains in the city, it's about striking the balance between these types of places and the city's history and its own merits. How many places have you visited in the UK based purely on the shops you'll find and nothing to do with other attractions and places of interest? If we carried on with ideas like yours, we would soon have one huge shopping area under one roof with the rest of the city surrounded by derelict buildings and houses. It's just a shame that there are so many people as ignorant as you that can only see beauty in building vast tall buildings and sweeping away any evidence of a rich past.

Oh, and Southampton is the largest city on the South coast and the clue is in the name, the largest, not the most exciting. And if you would like Southampton to be the most exciting then it will need more than a giant shopping centre to achieve this...

Rebuild every part of the original town walls but make it possible for disabled people to access by installing discreet lifts and ramps along the top of the walls when it comes to a point where there would be steps and then set up a guided tour where tourists pay something like a fiver to get a guided tour along the whole length of the walls or they pay half as much to gain access with a guide book so they can walk round at their own pace and the tour also takes in historical buildings such as Tudor house.

southy wrote:

loosehead wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

southy wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote: You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront. The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac. If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Its the locals that spend the most money in the local economy

Yes but you'd think a historic city like Southampton would actually use its history to attract tourists? Or are the locals too afraid of 'outsiders'?

Most locals don't really know that much about this cities history & I believe it's about time that changed

The trouble with Southampton History, it was tied in with the rest of the country at the same time, and there is nothing that really stands out and says we make a big turning point in History that altered History. Like say the Battle of Hastings or some great feat of engineering that history will remember and be talk about. I know the spitfire was an achivement, but it remembered for the Battle of Britian.

Surely you can't find a problem with Southampton's history and that is not historical enough?!

Southampton's history dates back thousands of years to the Stone Age and a lot of it is still standing in the form of buildings and city walls. St Michael's Church for example is almost 1000 years old, not to mention the other beautiful buildings we have.

The town, as it was then was a major port and traded with the rest of the world, the Mayflower sailed from Southampton, the town was a famous Spa town, all the major liners of the 20th century sailed from Southampton, we have a major art colelction worth around £200m and not to mention the amount of famous residents through time. The list is endless but this is just a snapshot that Southampton is steeped in history and culture and there is no way anybody can say the city is not historical enough or that there isn't aything that makes us stand out from other places.

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

.. no thanks. We got rid of the atrocious animal prison on The Common decades ago.

The last thing we should be contemplating is imprisoning a different set of animals in equally inappropriate unnatural conditions.

Subject48 wrote:
"pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well” Without googling this location I have no idea where it is. I know where town centre is though. So does everyone else. I am there often. So is everyone else. West quay/IKEA is here to stay. They attract people into the town centre. So utilize that, and offer culture and leisure to those people. A park would be viable if it would contain a history centre sort of thing. We could do with some dude holding chainmail suit of armor that charges you £3 to put it on and take a photo kind of deal…. But I still think a modern, fresh, leisure hub with arcades and FREE table tennis/foozball/pool sort of thing be more fun. Everyone loves free stuff. It would attract more people to spend time and therefpre spend money.

Hypothetically, I agree, Southampton does need more leisure facilities but at a price. People will not mind paying a fair price and a price would need to be charged because where else will the money to run it come from?

And a price would need to be charged or otherwise any free leisure facility would just get vandalised and attract all the wrong type of people to hang out there.

And anybody that would visit somewhere just to avoid paying a few pounds for entrance is not really the sort of person that will then go and spend lots of money in the local economy!

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote: You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront. The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac. If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'? I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

.. no thanks. We got rid of the atrocious animal prison on The Common decades ago. The last thing we should be contemplating is imprisoning a different set of animals in equally inappropriate unnatural conditions.

Why the hell not?!... Unless you're going to cough up the money, I don't think SSC will build an aquarium just so you don't have to travel down to Southsea!

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

.. no thanks. We got rid of the atrocious animal prison on The Common decades ago.

The last thing we should be contemplating is imprisoning a different set of animals in equally inappropriate unnatural conditions.

You do realise that aquariums and zoos will be the only places you can see certain creatures in the future don't you? Without zoos and aquariums, such creatures would be lost forever, this is why such places not only have animals in captivity but they also have breeding programs where when the young are old enough, they get taken to the natural habitat of their species and released, so yeah, I think an aquarium would be a good idea considering that over half of the worlds fish species are on the endangered to critically endangered lists, once those species are gone, they're gone, no bringing them back which is why zoos and aquariums ARE so important.

sotonboy84 wrote:

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote: You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront. The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac. If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'? I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

.. no thanks. We got rid of the atrocious animal prison on The Common decades ago. The last thing we should be contemplating is imprisoning a different set of animals in equally inappropriate unnatural conditions.

Why the hell not?!... Unless you're going to cough up the money, I don't think SSC will build an aquarium just so you don't have to travel down to Southsea!

Be honest, which would you prefer, spending a couple of quid for the bus into town, or spending double figures to get to Southsea? also which would you prefer in Southampton, a hoodie magnet with arcade machines and stuff that hardly get used, or an educational tourist trap that brings a much needed boost to the local economy from tourists who visit the aquarium and decide to go into town to buy stuff? Sure it could be considered a risky move but seriously, economics is all about taking risks and playing it safe at the right times with the right ideas, right now is a good time to take risks with increasing footfall from tourists by giving them something unique or interesting, maybe something on the water front linked to the cities maritime history.

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

.. no thanks. We got rid of the atrocious animal prison on The Common decades ago.

The last thing we should be contemplating is imprisoning a different set of animals in equally inappropriate unnatural conditions.

You do realise that aquariums and zoos will be the only places you can see certain creatures in the future don't you? Without zoos and aquariums, such creatures would be lost forever, this is why such places not only have animals in captivity but they also have breeding programs where when the young are old enough, they get taken to the natural habitat of their species and released, so yeah, I think an aquarium would be a good idea considering that over half of the worlds fish species are on the endangered to critically endangered lists, once those species are gone, they're gone, no bringing them back which is why zoos and aquariums ARE so important.

Rubbish. Zoos and aquaria are just money making prisons, most masquerading as helping to preserve endangered species, but only a very tiny majority actually doing so. It’s mainly greenwash and deceptive marketing. Perhaps you could add to the list of reintroduced species resulting from zoo breeding programmes – the Arabian Onyx, er, that’s it.

It is habitat and whole eco-systems that need protecting if endangered species are to be saved. Absolutely no good having inter-zoo breeding programmes if there is nowhere left to reintroduce them. And, there is zero chance of that happening until Homo sapiens finally recognises that we are THE pest species on this planet.

Meanwhile, what right does our species have to take other species out of their natural environment and imprison them in small cages or tanks? None. It’s their bloody planet too you know, and it’s about time people like you started to realise this.

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

.. no thanks. We got rid of the atrocious animal prison on The Common decades ago.

The last thing we should be contemplating is imprisoning a different set of animals in equally inappropriate unnatural conditions.

You do realise that aquariums and zoos will be the only places you can see certain creatures in the future don't you? Without zoos and aquariums, such creatures would be lost forever, this is why such places not only have animals in captivity but they also have breeding programs where when the young are old enough, they get taken to the natural habitat of their species and released, so yeah, I think an aquarium would be a good idea considering that over half of the worlds fish species are on the endangered to critically endangered lists, once those species are gone, they're gone, no bringing them back which is why zoos and aquariums ARE so important.

Rubbish. Zoos and aquaria are just money making prisons, most masquerading as helping to preserve endangered species, but only a very tiny majority actually doing so. It’s mainly greenwash and deceptive marketing. Perhaps you could add to the list of reintroduced species resulting from zoo breeding programmes – the Arabian Onyx, er, that’s it.

It is habitat and whole eco-systems that need protecting if endangered species are to be saved. Absolutely no good having inter-zoo breeding programmes if there is nowhere left to reintroduce them. And, there is zero chance of that happening until Homo sapiens finally recognises that we are THE pest species on this planet.

Meanwhile, what right does our species have to take other species out of their natural environment and imprison them in small cages or tanks? None. It’s their bloody planet too you know, and it’s about time people like you started to realise this.

What a load of bunk! Marwell & other parks/Zoo's are re-introducing animals into the wild as the wild population is close to extinction.
Most Zoo's Wildlife Parks are now built in a way to make live enjoyable that's why they're breeding so well.
As for fish tanks are you having a laugh?
Are you one of those jerks who release animals like the mink into the wild in a country they don't belong & put our native animals at risk?

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

Sorry you are right!

southy wrote:

loosehead wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

southy wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Its the locals that spend the most money in the local economy

Yes but you'd think a historic city like Southampton would actually use its history to attract tourists? Or are the locals too afraid of 'outsiders'?

Most locals don't really know that much about this cities history & I believe it's about time that changed

The trouble with Southampton History, it was tied in with the rest of the country at the same time, and there is nothing that really stands out and says we make a big turning point in History that altered History. Like say the Battle of Hastings or some great feat of engineering that history will remember and be talk about.
I know the spitfire was an achivement, but it remembered for the Battle of Britian.

So King Canute trying to stop the waves wasn't enough? or HenryV holding court in the Red Lion? Or even the Sea Plane Terminal that was in Dock Gate 4?

loosehead wrote:

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

.. no thanks. We got rid of the atrocious animal prison on The Common decades ago.

The last thing we should be contemplating is imprisoning a different set of animals in equally inappropriate unnatural conditions.

You do realise that aquariums and zoos will be the only places you can see certain creatures in the future don't you? Without zoos and aquariums, such creatures would be lost forever, this is why such places not only have animals in captivity but they also have breeding programs where when the young are old enough, they get taken to the natural habitat of their species and released, so yeah, I think an aquarium would be a good idea considering that over half of the worlds fish species are on the endangered to critically endangered lists, once those species are gone, they're gone, no bringing them back which is why zoos and aquariums ARE so important.

Rubbish. Zoos and aquaria are just money making prisons, most masquerading as helping to preserve endangered species, but only a very tiny majority actually doing so. It’s mainly greenwash and deceptive marketing. Perhaps you could add to the list of reintroduced species resulting from zoo breeding programmes – the Arabian Onyx, er, that’s it.

It is habitat and whole eco-systems that need protecting if endangered species are to be saved. Absolutely no good having inter-zoo breeding programmes if there is nowhere left to reintroduce them. And, there is zero chance of that happening until Homo sapiens finally recognises that we are THE pest species on this planet.

Meanwhile, what right does our species have to take other species out of their natural environment and imprison them in small cages or tanks? None. It’s their bloody planet too you know, and it’s about time people like you started to realise this.

What a load of bunk! Marwell & other parks/Zoo's are re-introducing animals into the wild as the wild population is close to extinction.
Most Zoo's Wildlife Parks are now built in a way to make live enjoyable that's why they're breeding so well.
As for fish tanks are you having a laugh?
Are you one of those jerks who release animals like the mink into the wild in a country they don't belong & put our native animals at risk?

.. name the species Marwell has actually reintroduced? However large the enclosures, they are still prisons.

Mink - I don't condone the release into the environment about a decade ago - totally reprehensible. However mink have been in the UK environment since 1929/30 because mink farmers released their stock when the market for fur collapsed at the start of the Great Depression.

The council now have the chance to get something for virtually nothing by agreeing to the plans PROVIDED Hammersons build something where the young can pass their time other than getting drunk. A bowling alley has limited participation, but an ice rink can cater for hundreds and an ice hockey team would attract visitors from other areas to spend their money. Or perhaps elsewhere they could build a new school or a new road. Make the money grabbing developers do something useful in exchange for planning permission.

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

I guess the problem the City Council has here (and it is the full time staff who have more of the ongoing responsibility rather than the transient elected Councillors) is that they need to use council owned land to obtain rents to pay for essential services which have to be provided to the city's population.
If you speak to any Council official throughout the Uk they are very keen to enhance the visitor economy as these people will bring in the additional revenue to supplement purchases by local shoppers.
When West Quay was built Southampton went from about No 35 in the top retail city table to a place within the Top 10. It has now been fallen out of the Top 10 due to major developments elsewhere in the UK so it requires 'refreshing' or 'enhancing' to ensure that people from outside the city spend their money here.
Even so Southampton remains the highest placed retail shopping area in a 50-60 mile radius and, by offering more choice, the numbers of shoppers coming into the city centre (where the highest rents are payable) will increase, general business activity will benefit and this will generate more cash to be spent on essential services.
Not everyone likes shopping, of course, and the idea of a big Concert Hall may be appealing but over the past 20 years no organisation has been able to fund the £100m+ required to build it here in Southampton although the City Council has tried hard to sell the opportunity.
You need some grant funding to help pay for the set up and, unfortunately, this area doesn't qualify.
Some people on here are suggesting more parks but they have a not insignificant cost to maintain and whenever I go to Mayflower Park, even in good weather, there are very few people around.
At the end of the day all commercial projects need to be self funding or make a profit ('Greed' as described by some people) or, if not, have to be subsidised out of Council taxes or some sort of external grant.
I would much rather a developer takes the risk than the local tax payer

Oh its so wonderful reading through a an assortment of features for West Quay that are so pie in the sky.
.
Aquariums ...... So you dont have to go to Southsea, ....... a Zoo and the "old chestnut" an Ice Rink.
.
Where are you coming from !!!
.
What do you think that developers are putting milions of pounds are for ..... Yes they will have social elements but its the flats and shops that they want so that they can get returns on investment ....... or ... big fat profits.
.
Hands up who wants Disney Land Mayflower ....................
....

freefinker wrote:

loosehead wrote:

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

.. no thanks. We got rid of the atrocious animal prison on The Common decades ago.

The last thing we should be contemplating is imprisoning a different set of animals in equally inappropriate unnatural conditions.

You do realise that aquariums and zoos will be the only places you can see certain creatures in the future don't you? Without zoos and aquariums, such creatures would be lost forever, this is why such places not only have animals in captivity but they also have breeding programs where when the young are old enough, they get taken to the natural habitat of their species and released, so yeah, I think an aquarium would be a good idea considering that over half of the worlds fish species are on the endangered to critically endangered lists, once those species are gone, they're gone, no bringing them back which is why zoos and aquariums ARE so important.

Rubbish. Zoos and aquaria are just money making prisons, most masquerading as helping to preserve endangered species, but only a very tiny majority actually doing so. It’s mainly greenwash and deceptive marketing. Perhaps you could add to the list of reintroduced species resulting from zoo breeding programmes – the Arabian Onyx, er, that’s it.

It is habitat and whole eco-systems that need protecting if endangered species are to be saved. Absolutely no good having inter-zoo breeding programmes if there is nowhere left to reintroduce them. And, there is zero chance of that happening until Homo sapiens finally recognises that we are THE pest species on this planet.

Meanwhile, what right does our species have to take other species out of their natural environment and imprison them in small cages or tanks? None. It’s their bloody planet too you know, and it’s about time people like you started to realise this.

What a load of bunk! Marwell & other parks/Zoo's are re-introducing animals into the wild as the wild population is close to extinction.
Most Zoo's Wildlife Parks are now built in a way to make live enjoyable that's why they're breeding so well.
As for fish tanks are you having a laugh?
Are you one of those jerks who release animals like the mink into the wild in a country they don't belong & put our native animals at risk?

.. name the species Marwell has actually reintroduced? However large the enclosures, they are still prisons.

Mink - I don't condone the release into the environment about a decade ago - totally reprehensible. However mink have been in the UK environment since 1929/30 because mink farmers released their stock when the market for fur collapsed at the start of the Great Depression.

Haven't watched Wild life programs lately have you?
White Rhino? Trying to breed Snow Leopards to re-introduce into the wild?
I admit the old Zoo's of the past were wrong but the modern Zoo/wild life park are totally different.
I will also say I don't think this site should be used for that or an aquarium maybe down by the waters edge but not there.
Maybe where the proposed Snow Dome was going to be before William,s scrapped it ( It was an Ice Rink as well?)

@ loosehead.

White rhino, nope, both northern and southern subspecies are not the subject of any zoo-based reintroduction schemes. The southern is still quite populous, the northern is extinct in the wild – there are 6 individuals, all in captivity.

Snow Leopard, nope again. No zoo-based breeding programmes have achieved any reintroductions.

As I said, many zoos pay lip service to breeding for reintroduction, but all they achieve is a population of human-fed institutionalised animals incapable of surviving in the wild. It’s just a dishonest marketing strategy.

sotonboy84 wrote:
Not really the numbers you can base decent results on.
The consultation was held in Westquay and targetted shopper who were there out of choice.
Maybe extend the survey to Southampton as a whole and those that work so can't go shopping in Westquay and see what the overall reaction is.
I've made my views clear on here already. We don't need even more shops and more chains of fast food restaurants.
Turn the land into a park so the city has more open space for the boat show and to view the ships from, as well as being a wonderful backdrop for the old city walls instead of building a concrete/metal/glass jungle and hide the history we should be celebrating.

boring

freefinker wrote:
@ loosehead.

White rhino, nope, both northern and southern subspecies are not the subject of any zoo-based reintroduction schemes. The southern is still quite populous, the northern is extinct in the wild – there are 6 individuals, all in captivity.

Snow Leopard, nope again. No zoo-based breeding programmes have achieved any reintroductions.

As I said, many zoos pay lip service to breeding for reintroduction, but all they achieve is a population of human-fed institutionalised animals incapable of surviving in the wild. It’s just a dishonest marketing strategy.

Funny that I watched a program where they were reintroducing them to the wild.
I also saw a program where a Snow leopard turned on her young & they had to save them & then went abroad to learn how others were doing it.
Panda seems another where were actively trying to save the species.
oh! I use to be a member of the WWF ( not wrestling)

loosehead wrote:

freefinker wrote:
@ loosehead.

White rhino, nope, both northern and southern subspecies are not the subject of any zoo-based reintroduction schemes. The southern is still quite populous, the northern is extinct in the wild – there are 6 individuals, all in captivity.

Snow Leopard, nope again. No zoo-based breeding programmes have achieved any reintroductions.

As I said, many zoos pay lip service to breeding for reintroduction, but all they achieve is a population of human-fed institutionalised animals incapable of surviving in the wild. It’s just a dishonest marketing strategy.

Funny that I watched a program where they were reintroducing them to the wild.
I also saw a program where a Snow leopard turned on her young & they had to save them & then went abroad to learn how others were doing it.
Panda seems another where were actively trying to save the species.
oh! I use to be a member of the WWF ( not wrestling)

.. nope, not true of any zoo-based breeding programmes

There are other breeding programmes situated in the native environments that have achieved limited successes in supplementing native populations with orphans and some breeding but NO reintroductions are the result of remote zoo-based breeding programmes.

As I mention above, these animals are incapable of surviving in the wild due to their unnatural lifestyle in captivity.

Why not integrate into the plans an exhibition / concert hall?

This could bring in additional business through "new" events and bring possible concerts to the city / West Quay.

The new proposed food halls could then suppliment this facility which could also be used by the boat show and even used as an ice rink during periods of the year as a under cover recreational facility????

Something for West Quay and also for the city?

Back on topic. Developers should be conditioned to introduce and maintain a leisure hub with the likes of foozball, pool table tennis etc.

@ Ginger cyclist - without calling you names, I would like to point out that no establishment can truly protect itself against a yob invasion as long as it’s open to the general public.

The developers can pay to have a bit of free space.

Measures in place that could be put in place to combat this for example: Introduce a gate system where you can only enter the hub if you have a magnetic card.

Some arcades/games can be free, others can work where u put in a card and as you play you loose "time credits". When time credit runs out you top up or you leave. All cards are purchased with say a £10 deposit to prevent it becoming as you said "Hoodie magnet." Locals could get discounts? Just one the possible 100's ideas I can think of to make this work... Surely those who are paid to come up with this stuff can do better.

An aquarium would be good too. I believe the universities would get involved as both Southampton and solent offer great marine biology courses from what I know.

Don’t get me wrong - I think aquarium type enterprise is a brilliant idea. Just think my idea is better at this stage.

Maybe once we have a viable shopping/leisure hub, we can expand into more adventurous stuff once the SCC can show investors we can kick things into gear....

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

freefinker wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

loosehead wrote:

St Retford wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote:
You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront.

The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac.

If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

Would getting a new multiplex with an amusement arcade, a bowling alley and a Frankie & sodding Benny's (like every tin-pot town in the country has got) really make Southampton 'less boring'?

I agree the city does need a shot in the arm, but I'm not sure a corporate 'leisure destination' is the answer. Why is no one talking about a decent medium to large sized concert venue? The site is brilliantly positioned for it and Southampton is crying out for one.

pop along to Tebourba way & you'll find a perfect Bowling Alley & I think there's a Paint ball thing there as well

If I remember correctly it's actually laser quest/tag, not paint balling, I do know there is a paint balling venue just the other side of Totton though but I agree, Southampton needs something to make it stand out from the crowd, I mean, I'd quite fancy having an aquarium in Southampton, it's in a perfect location for it too, so I ask, why the hell not? Would be a lot bloody cheaper than going down to Southsea to an aquarium that is actually rather tiny when you look at it, in fact I would love the aquarium idea, would give me the chance to try and get a job within the general field of study I took at college without having to travel miles.

.. no thanks. We got rid of the atrocious animal prison on The Common decades ago.

The last thing we should be contemplating is imprisoning a different set of animals in equally inappropriate unnatural conditions.

You do realise that aquariums and zoos will be the only places you can see certain creatures in the future don't you? Without zoos and aquariums, such creatures would be lost forever, this is why such places not only have animals in captivity but they also have breeding programs where when the young are old enough, they get taken to the natural habitat of their species and released, so yeah, I think an aquarium would be a good idea considering that over half of the worlds fish species are on the endangered to critically endangered lists, once those species are gone, they're gone, no bringing them back which is why zoos and aquariums ARE so important.

Rubbish. Zoos and aquaria are just money making prisons, most masquerading as helping to preserve endangered species, but only a very tiny majority actually doing so. It’s mainly greenwash and deceptive marketing. Perhaps you could add to the list of reintroduced species resulting from zoo breeding programmes – the Arabian Onyx, er, that’s it.

It is habitat and whole eco-systems that need protecting if endangered species are to be saved. Absolutely no good having inter-zoo breeding programmes if there is nowhere left to reintroduce them. And, there is zero chance of that happening until Homo sapiens finally recognises that we are THE pest species on this planet.

Meanwhile, what right does our species have to take other species out of their natural environment and imprison them in small cages or tanks? None. It’s their bloody planet too you know, and it’s about time people like you started to realise this.

Beavers in Britain, a number of wild birds of prey in Britain, a few species of fish, wild boar, Siberian tigers, yes, I agree it's the planet that needs protecting in the long term but while selfish people keep trashing it then we also have to protect other species until we can eventually sort out the mess we have made, this is the reason zoos exist in this day and age, not to imprison animals but to protect them, would agree that in the mean time, until we clean up our act, we should protect ALL species on this planet?

sotonboy84 wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote: You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront. The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac. If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

So how will killing off the dying High Street and Above Bar, not to mention the failing Marlands and the now/almost closed Bargate Centre so all shopping is focussed under one roof, pay the bills exactly?

In a time of economic depression and when everybody is all too aware of the dying high street should we be encouraging this even further?

I have visited many other cities, both in the UK and on the continent and that's one of the reasons that I can appreciate the heritage and history we have, which is also something we have over most other cities.

Visitors can go anywhere to find high street chain shops and this is not where the city can make money from tourists. Most money made through people shopping in Westquay will line the pockets of the retailers and the landlord, not the city. Nobody has said anything about harbouring a desire for Southampton to be a throwback to the 70's but instead make the most of the rich history we have. The city should be promoting this rich history makes us different to most other cities and attract people that way.

It's not about not having a shopping centre or not having high street chains in the city, it's about striking the balance between these types of places and the city's history and its own merits. How many places have you visited in the UK based purely on the shops you'll find and nothing to do with other attractions and places of interest? If we carried on with ideas like yours, we would soon have one huge shopping area under one roof with the rest of the city surrounded by derelict buildings and houses. It's just a shame that there are so many people as ignorant as you that can only see beauty in building vast tall buildings and sweeping away any evidence of a rich past.

Oh, and Southampton is the largest city on the South coast and the clue is in the name, the largest, not the most exciting. And if you would like Southampton to be the most exciting then it will need more than a giant shopping centre to achieve this...

There is absolutely nothing of significance to attract tourists to Southampton as it stands. I know a number of people who've come here for cruises and are astounded by how little is on offer; even attracting the cruise passengers to stay a few days is well beyond Southampton in its current state. Take away WestQuay and Ikea and really, what have you got? A decaying 1960s city centre that no commercial developer would touch with a bargepole. The Watermark WestQuay scheme has to go ahead as it is the only idea that is commercially viable - parks, ice rinks and god knows what else are just pathetic smalltime ideas! Whoever suggested the large concert venue has got it spot on though, though to attract people people from afar you need the hotels, restaurants, nightlife to go with that. You talk like Southampton is some kind of mecca for independent shops, bars etc. when it is nothing of the sort. If it was then your opposition to more chain shops might be justified, but the truth is that Southampton isn't too good for them to come here, it's too crap.

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

kingnotail wrote:

sotonboy84 wrote:

Subject48 wrote: You want a park so it can sit there empty and be used once a year for some show about boats most of southamptons population cant afford to go to? Expand the west quy with the condition the developers build a rec centre with the likes of FREE table tennis, pool tables, arcade games, that sort of things, gallery. We need things people can enjoy in town if they want a break from shopping that does not involve having a high callory unhealthy meal.

No, not a park to be used once a year, this was merely an example of one use when the space to run the boatshow is clearly limited and there was only recently talks of reclaiming land off Mayflower Park to give a home to the boat show. Why not just use the land we have rather than eating up more of Southampton Water and make us a waterfont city with no waterfront. The park could be used all year round, just as the other parks and the common are but it would balance out the amount of shops and offices there already are in the city and make it a more attractive place altogether. Southampton is very lucky in having lots of green space in the city already but is also steeped in history and more green space can never be a bad thing. Once the land is built on, it's built on forever as it becomes too valuable to be anything other than building land. The council and developers seem to forget about the rich history we have and having more open green space would make Southampton a much more attractive city and be a wonderful backdrop to the beautiful city walls and forty steps which seem quite neglected at the moment. The council and developers are lead purely by greed and how much money can be generated rather than doing what is best for the city and its people. Why not celebrate the envious amount of history we have rather than making Southampton look like any other city that has nothing but concrete and tarmac. If more retail space really is desperately needed (which quite frankly, I can't see any evidence pointing towards needing any more) then redevelop and inject more money into the High Street and Above Bar which has turned into a place of closed up or low end indoor market style shops, all since Westquay opened. If more shops were to be built next to Westquay then the remaining decent shops would close or move into Westquay and making Above Bar and High Street even more run down. And as this stretch of town has been called 'QE2 Mile', dead streets of empty shops with 'for sale' or 'to let' hardly makes a good impression for anybody outside of Westquay and visitors from the ships.

Yes Southampton may have a lot of green spaces, but it has very little else to speak of. And green spaces won't pay the bills, nor will they attract shoppers or tourists (ie the ones who spend the money). It baffles me the number of Southampton residents who seem to harbour the desire for their city to remain a miserable throwback to the 1970s, and I can only ascribe this to the likely fact that none of them have ever left Southampton and visited any other UK cities, most of which are light years ahead of Southampton when it comes to culture, nightlife, shopping etc. Southampton is supposed to the largest city on the south coast, yet is by far the most boring.

So how will killing off the dying High Street and Above Bar, not to mention the failing Marlands and the now/almost closed Bargate Centre so all shopping is focussed under one roof, pay the bills exactly?

In a time of economic depression and when everybody is all too aware of the dying high street should we be encouraging this even further?

I have visited many other cities, both in the UK and on the continent and that's one of the reasons that I can appreciate the heritage and history we have, which is also something we have over most other cities.

Visitors can go anywhere to find high street chain shops and this is not where the city can make money from tourists. Most money made through people shopping in Westquay will line the pockets of the retailers and the landlord, not the city. Nobody has said anything about harbouring a desire for Southampton to be a throwback to the 70's but instead make the most of the rich history we have. The city should be promoting this rich history makes us different to most other cities and attract people that way.

It's not about not having a shopping centre or not having high street chains in the city, it's about striking the balance between these types of places and the city's history and its own merits. How many places have you visited in the UK based purely on the shops you'll find and nothing to do with other attractions and places of interest? If we carried on with ideas like yours, we would soon have one huge shopping area under one roof with the rest of the city surrounded by derelict buildings and houses. It's just a shame that there are so many people as ignorant as you that can only see beauty in building vast tall buildings and sweeping away any evidence of a rich past.

Oh, and Southampton is the largest city on the South coast and the clue is in the name, the largest, not the most exciting. And if you would like Southampton to be the most exciting then it will need more than a giant shopping centre to achieve this...

There is absolutely nothing of significance to attract tourists to Southampton as it stands. I know a number of people who've come here for cruises and are astounded by how little is on offer; even attracting the cruise passengers to stay a few days is well beyond Southampton in its current state. Take away WestQuay and Ikea and really, what have you got? A decaying 1960s city centre that no commercial developer would touch with a bargepole. The Watermark WestQuay scheme has to go ahead as it is the only idea that is commercially viable - parks, ice rinks and god knows what else are just pathetic smalltime ideas! Whoever suggested the large concert venue has got it spot on though, though to attract people people from afar you need the hotels, restaurants, nightlife to go with that. You talk like Southampton is some kind of mecca for independent shops, bars etc. when it is nothing of the sort. If it was then your opposition to more chain shops might be justified, but the truth is that Southampton isn't too good for them to come here, it's too crap.

Plus, like the article says, those shops will bring much needed jobs to the city, albeit only 500 jobs according to the article.