"Vision Tameside" - The ruination of Ashton Market!

 

Ashton Market Today

I don't use the Sunday farmers' market on Ashton market ground, but I know Ashton market ground very well.

Not many years ago, the outdoor market was one of the best outdoor markets in Greater Manchester. There were plenty of market stalls and plenty of people who shopped on the market ground. Locals would promenade up and down the market stalls and stop to talk to friends, family, and acquaintances. Once a week, on a Tuesday, there was a flea market with some good book stalls. There's still a flea market, but the market is a shadow of its former self.

The rot set in when they got rid of the old market stalls and spent around £5m doing it up. It was all part of "Vision Tameside". The council would have done better to leave the market as it was. The market traders complained that turning the former M&S store on Warrington Street into a Poundland didn't help, and had hit their trade. Car parking in Ashton town centre is also a problem. A lot of stores moved away from Ashton town Centre to the Snipe Retail Park and M&S moved to Ashton West End, next to Sainsbury's.

On many days during the week, the stalls on Ashton market ground are empty and groups of kids hang around the market stalls. Many are from the local college and the smell of cannabis permeates the air. The council believed that bringing education institutions into Ashton Town Centre, would throw the town an economic lifeline.

Ashton Market Before

Panhandlers are commonplace in Ashton Town Centre and it is not unusual to be accosted in the street and be asked for money. I was once tapped for a tenner while using the ATM machine. Street violence by kids and drunks is not unusual. One Community Support Officer, described some of the kids as "wannabe gangsters" who all want to sound like Bez and Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays, or the Gallagher brothers. On some days, Ashton resembles Victorian Glasgow on a boozy Saturday night.