ORPINGTON: High street plans put on public display (From News Shopper)

'laying new block paving, planting trees and improving parking facilities' - I think it will take something more radical than that. Would a pedestrianised high street with excellent parking around it work?

Here we go again... Deja vu..... It'd be laughable if it wasn't so sad! Teams of highly paid planners ruminate at length over all Orpington's problems and the best they can come up with is more of the same e.g. block paving and trees as if they were some form of magical panacea... Well the last time I walked down the High Street, the state of the paving was the least of my worries!

Maybe, in their rush to spend our cash on something, the planners haven't noticed that the reason people aren't coming to Orpington to shop is because there are increasingly few outlets worth shopping in!

Having allowed one of the UK's largest Tesco stores to dominate this small town, they've created a situation in which a significant amount of the existing town trade has migrated to that end of the High Street and, no doubt, most of the new footfall and revenue attracted here never gets any further than Tesco's car park and bank account!

Sainsbury's in the Walnuts now offers an interesting new product line - organic tumbleweed! It's like a ghost town most of the time and I can't see it being too long before they shut up shop here and create another nice new vacant eyesore for us to feast our eyes on.

Whilst Orpington now offers less than ever, parking charges have gone up steadily thereby putting off even more visitors.

I'm sorry but fancy trees, shrubs and block paviers aren't going to sort Orpington out even if chucking all this money in that direction does allow out glorious leaders to boast about all the cash they've spent here and provide some nice new photo opportunities to congratulate themselves with.

Perhaps Bromley would do better trying to
'encourage' those commercial landlords with empty High Street premises (some of which have been vacant for years) to be more imaginative and realistic in their demands for a return and thereby attract new small businesses to the area. Small businesses have to start somewhere and the last thing they're worried about is whether there's a nice new ornamental tree outside their premies!

Surely a better to improve Orpington and would be much cheaper than new trees etc would be to get rid of the chavs.

I agree with the above. Why is McDonalds a magnet for scum & you hardly ever see the police move them on nowadays.

Orpington needs more than Tree's, Shurbs and new paving to sort it out.
It's been going downhill for years.
Why did Bromley council spend money on new signs for all the car parks and then knock one down - their new signs always state that "Station" car park is closed.
Surely a bit of forward thinking would have helped here.
Also if you attempt to "revamp" Orpington and bring in more "footfall" where's everyone gonna park now the largest mutli storey car park is a "Tesco'S", and as for the new pointless traffic lights outside of Tesco's that sure helps with the traffic in rush hour. There's a lack of community spirit around Orpington and it does not help that the "social club" at the top of the high street has also been knocked down.......Apparentl
y to be rebuilt but I bet it becomes a "Starbucks" - more back handers buisness's.

Oh and while I'm ranting "Madra's" they tried a pedestrianised high street years ago and that made Orpingotn high street a ghost town even more.

Orpington needs flattening and returning to nature. It's simply a Tesco-town now. Level the place, turf it and make it into a giant park. No-one would miss it.

On the subject of Tesco, isn't it interesting how after the great launch that the place is regularly as quiet as a library and staff are leaving in droves and not being replaced.
What's going on? I think we should be told!

Orpington without Chavs? Now there's a plan!

As the owner of a small business in the High Street and Chairman of the ‘Orpington Business Forum’ (OBF), I would like to say on behalf of the forum how much we welcome the plans put forward by the Council to improve the infrastructure of the Town’s High Street.

The Orpington Business Forum comprises a group of traders that meets regularly to discuss the issues surrounding the High Street. We have regular communication with the Local Council and ensure that the views of the local traders are taken into account when major decisions are taken.

With the arrival of Tesco at the Southern end of the High Street, a tidy and well laid out road and pavement can only encourage visitors who may initially have been attracted by Tesco’s to explore the rest of the High Street.
The Masterplan goes further than just the block paving

Tesco’s allow 3 hours free parking for shoppers, so even after spending an hour or two in that store, there would still be time to see what the rest of the Town has to offer and maybe return for a longer visit in the future.

Improved footfall to the Town will in turn encourage other businesses to move into the High Street and add to the already wide range of businesses types, both National and Independent, already represented.

Whilst the closure of store such as Woolworth’s make a visual impact on the Town, it is only one store and in recent months there have been over 5 new businesses opening their doors to the public. The vacancy rate is actually well below the National average for a town of our size.

The Council cannot legislate for landlords to set rents etc. but they can do their best to improve the Town’s amenities and infrastructure and we should welcome this road/pavement improvement plan as a step in the right direction. Recently, as a result of the intervention of the OBF, the Local Council has met with a number of the agents with a view to filling some of the vacant properties in the Town.