The
Beestonian So here it is, Merry Christmas, witty articles and puns
Issue no.
33
Beeston:
Can You Dig It? ….Yes you can, especially if your name is National Grid. 2014 was a year that saw Beeston definitely live up to its reputation as Most Interesting Town in Britain. The tram was delayed; the Square ripped down and dug up; Oxjam became bigger than ever; and the town continued it’s mission to keep things busy for any magazine that decides to write about it. Thanks for that Beeston. We’ll invoice you for the shoe leather you’ve cost us. What does 2015 bring us? We have a comprehensive, if not totally sane, series of predictions on the centre pages. One thing we
do know is that the tram is due completion around June. After previous delays, it isn’t cynical to suggest this might not happen, but as the track is now all in position and now roads and pavements need to be put back in place, we are far from over the most annoying bits. Beeston will look less like a building site. Well, for a while. The Square is hardly the most ambitious development, but it is an improvement of the grim mess that was the former precinct. As readers of our Facebook page will know, Wilkos are strongly rumoured to be moving back in (at the time of writing they still haven’t formally announced their return; get on with it, home-
ware teasers!); and the rest of the units have been snapped up. A recent council meeting at the Town Hall, discussing Beeston Town Centre, revealed that Beeston is now in the sights of several major national retailers, and is viewed on the commercial property scene as highly desirable. This has led the council to retain land it owns that it would normally shed itself of (such as the former market on Willoughby Street, now covered in what looks like Triffids). Good news, as it suggests there is great optimism about Beeston post-tramworks, and bodes well for future development. Continued on page 2...