A new public toilet has been built next to Hales Meadow car park in Abingdon. It has a more traditional look than the previous
toilets that were removed from the same site last year.
The toilet includes two touch-free sink areas, a baby changing cradle, mirrors, an automated cleaning system, and plenty of room to allow it to be used easily by people with disabilities. It costs just 10p to use, and for that you get up to fifteen minutes.
Our local MP, Nicola Blackwood, happened to be in Simon’s News, in East St Helen Street, when I popped in this afternoon. She was presenting Mr Simon Escreet with a certificate, and champagne, as winner of The 2014 Nicola Blackwood Shop Small Awards. The shop had received the most nominations by local people, and the awards were presented on Small Business Saturday.
Just over the road Nicola presented the Runners Up Award to Patisserie Pascal.
Then back over the road again to present another Runners Up award to Galaxy Techno.
So well done to all three shops in East St Helen Street.
It was Small Business Saturday last week in the U.S.A, and today (Saturday 6th December) is Small Business Saturday in the U.K.
The intention is to raise the profile of local independent stores, who are far more likely to have local suppliers, and benefit the local economy generally.
So a good chance to try out or two new ones today. Be brave and look in a new door.
Abingdon should soon be receiving a national award if the Vale of White Horse survey of local footfall is accurate.
It says that footfall in Abingdon is up a dramatic 44% from 2013 to 2014 (surveys were done during September and October). That is better than Wantage, who recently received an award for their improved town centre. Wantage footfall was up 30%. Faringdon was up 8%. So all Vale towns are doing well against the national average which saw a 0.6% decrease in High Street footfall over the same period.
The Vale report suggests that the dramatic 44% increase in Abingdon footfall could be explained by: the draw of local events and markets, high rates of retailer occupation, the town centre refurbishment, and free parking. Even though none of these factors changed between 2013 and 2014. So the dramatic increase is a mystery.
The northern end of Stert Street, from the junction with Stratton Way to Broad Street, was closed overnight because of a partially collapsed manhole cover that needed replacing.
Meanwhile there is a lot of water at the southern end of Stert Street from a leaking water main.
The other roadworks, the Culvert exploratory work, is nearly complete, and the contractors are just repairing the holes.