Economy Klaus On Didcot

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Do you live in Didcot and enjoy it there?

If you do , then dont read the link below.
http://firstlatewestern.blogspot.com/2007/11/positively-didcot.html

[Lee]

I thought that the article contained in the link below would make a good follow - up to EK^▸ (Economy Klaus (web log))'s post.
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.1887572.0.critic_set_to_revisit_town.php

When Sam Jordison wrote Crap Towns in 2003 , thousands of people living in places like Middlesbrough , Hull , Croydon , Luton and Wolverhampton told why where they lived was so bad.

The results were collected and published as a series of books.

Didcot came 20th in the rankings.

Mr Jordison , who grew up in Morecambe , is in Abingdon to promote his new book Annus Horribilis - and has agreed to revisit Didcot.

He is to be taken around the town by MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Ed Vaizey and Alison Adams , the director of Didcot First.

In Crap Towns , Mr Jordison suggested Didcot existed because of "a void - the railway junction between the London-West coast and the Oxford lines."

Ms Adams said: "When we realised the author of the Crap Towns book was coming to Abingdon for a book signing, we saw it as an ideal opportunity to have a dialogue with him."

"We want to show him how much the town has changed since the book was published a few years back."

Mr Vaizey's spokesman Dan Abernethy said: "Ed will meet the author of Crap Towns who has come to pay penance after naming Didcot as one of the 50 worst places to live."

[Jim]

Bloody good read that book was, and still is!

[Lee]

Didcot has won more than ^2m to help secure its future growth (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.1910763.0.growing_town_bags_2m_grant.php

It is part of ^732m which will be shared between councils and communities across the South East which back the development of thousands of new homes.

South Oxfordshire District Council said the money would be used to part-fund small projects which residents highlighted as a priority.

These include increasing the number of green spaces in the town, an underpass beneath the railway line to improve the link between Ladygrove and the town, and the "rebranding" of Didcot.

[halowithhorns89]

Didcot has it bad points yes, but it has improved much since it was transferred to Oxfordshire. that kick in the balls closed a lot of thigns, 2 cinemas for a start, but if u compare didcot to towns nearby, whilst they have character in the architecture that didcot lacks from being a newborn of a town, they are quite frankly dead. abingdon and wallingford the town centres are dying. and people are coming to didcot instead. its not didcot killing them off, its awful travel planning in abingdon, and competetition in abingdon and  wallingford.

[Lee]

Community leaders have urged people in Didcot to get behind a ^100,000 initiative to shake off the town's negative image (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2271609.0.100_000_drive_to_make_didcot_brilliant.php

South Oxfordshire District Council has spent Government money rebranding the town by cashing in on the area's cutting-edge technology in a bid to transform its reputation.

It wanted to create a new vision for Didcot using a logo and slogan 'Brilliant Didcot' to sum up the top-notch opportunities for employment, recreation, shopping and culture, and draw people to the area.

Branding experts came up with a series of brightly coloured spheres containing a scientific motif.