Need for the city’s infrastucture to be improved, holding Argyle back.

[Derby Pilgrim]

The bit you may not realise is all city centres are the same now. Go to Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham they all have one massive shopping centre and just outside of that there are loads of vape shops etc. Town centres are changing as we get more and more online. I love coming back down to Plymouth but its not for the city. Love watching Argyle but would rather spend my time in Cornwall. No cities now days really have a night life like they used to.

 

[Old Gunner]

The bit you may not realise is all city centres are the same now. Go to Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham they all have one massive shopping centre and just outside of that there are loads of vape shops etc. Town centres are changing as we get more and more online. I love coming back down to Plymouth but its not for the city. Love watching Argyle but would rather spend my time in Cornwall. No cities now days really have a night life like they used to.

Should have seen the Barbican yesterday afternoon/evening. It was jumping!

 

[jimsing]

Very good it is too. Use it at least twice a year to fly to Portugal for golf.

Put all your golf balls in your suitcase, otherwise they will go missing when you come to collect your golf bag at Faro
airport, even with a lock on the bag.

 

[IJN]

Never had a problem at Faro Jim, ever. Been many many times. No one has tinkered with my balls.

 

[Cyops007]

Similarly, at away games I've seen traffic stopped and traffic light junctions taken over by the police to allow the thousands exiting the match to have a quick getaway and move quickly to the main A road or motorway.
Stoke City away was a good example of this.

It takes an age to move along Outland Road after a game where the traffic lights operate on their usual timings meaning hundreds of cars leaving the game have to stop to allow a few cars have priority at the Peverell corner, Cherry Tree and Morrisons junctions.
I always felt the police should take over Outland Road and the traffic light junctions and allow the free flow of traffic away from what is now a sold out Home Park each game. Although it would probably need some rubber stamping at Council level.

I agree with this. Here at Iowa State (American) football games the police control traffic flow for about 30-45 minutes after a game. It's impressive how fast 61,500 fans can quickly get away from the area when the flow of traffic is coordinated.

 

[Argyletillidie]

I said this a while ago on another thread, but the airport is key. Airports are a driver for economic improvement and development along, this has been researched the world over and is a proven fact.

There are two issues as far as Plymouth is concerned, a lazy council who don't have the will or desire to work with big businesses and the tourist sector to drive the feasibility and secondly the council and Sutton Harbour Holdings who I'm sure have done some form of crooked deal in the past, hence Plymouth airport being in the position it's in.

 

[Don't Panic]

You can see in this thread alone people saying the city centre needs sorting out, (which it slowly is with new paving going in) & then someone else is saying stop all the digging it’s not improving anything?! You can times these differing outlooks by thousand, those that want to modernise & improve the city centre & those who don’t think it shouldn’t be changed, like it how it is, better in the old days etc. Too many don’t like change, think anything over 5 floors is a skyscraper & will block out the sun, needs to be spent on the homeless & don‘t leave Plymouth enough to see what else is out there in the world & are happy with a rundown city. You read it whenever they propose something new or different, Plymouth Live call it ‘huge’ & ‘fancy’ they rile up the locals, they then blame it on the ‘Students’, STRAW will find a precious woodlouse in the area & the whole project will stop. When they started the work along New George Street there were people who thought the temporary tarmac that was being put down was actually the finished article & we’re complaining about it, even the Herald did a story on it?! It’s like people expect to wake up one day & the project will be completed. Things will look messy whilst construction happens. Welcome to Plymouth 2024.

 

[Chris Davidson]

Plymouth has its issues with lack of money but it is a beautiful place to live. Low crime rates and cheaper living costs than most comparable cities. The City Centre is slowly changing for the better but the lack of shops is no different to anywhere. Exeter has the same vacant shops. If we had a John Lewis, Dingles would close. Exeter airport is only an hour away and Plymouth airport never made any money. The two of them would not operate at a profit. There are now regular 3 hour train journeys to London. The A38 cannot be a motorway as there is no road network surrounding it to support non motorway complaint vehicles, including the many farmers vehicle which use it on daily business. I’ve worked in various towns and cities and we don’t realise how lucky we are. Been to Bournemouth lately? That is a town that has gone downhill in the centre. Never seen so many druggies hanging around. When I speak to those from further up the Country, most will say how lucky I am to live down here. Over this weekend in decent weather, I could not be in a better place than the Barbican and The Hoe. A perfect place for any footballer and young family, especially with Cornwall on our doorstep.

 

[keepthefaith70]

Totally agree its down to the council to actually start attracting big businesses and infrastructure investors to the city.
I strongly think Plymouth should have an airport offering not just regional flights but crucially some popular foreign destinations.
No disrespect to those in Cornwall and I am pleased for you that Newquay airport seems to be doing well, but Plymouth itself should have a good airport.
Regards the shopping centre , digging it up, relaying it, planting some trees, doesn’t make it a great shopping destination. Attracting decent stores does, again down to the Council to work with big companies, to make it attractive to them. This in turn would feed and boost the Plymouth economy. Totally accepted all city centres have suffered re online shopping etc, so just shrink the size of it, and revitalise the lost space with housing and other leisure establishments.

Still no hotel development, where the Posthouse used to be on The Hoe?! Prime location and views? Again the council, need to be making this attractive to a big hotel brand.

To bring it back to Argyle, the demographic and profile of the city needs to be improved, if we ever really want to achieve the 5 year plan and being knocking on the door of the Premier League.

 

[Mr Gillingham]

An elected mayor would be a start. The people in Plymouth are always flipping between a Tory and Labour council every few years so something isn't right.

 

[Richard Allan]

Yes - the club need to improve their own infrastructure and yes , we desperately need new investment for new players and ultimately get the ground capacity to 25,000.
BUT
I really think the chairman and board need to really start exerting some influence regards the city itself towards the council and local politicians.

We are forever held back with such poor transport links,terrible shopping centre and not cashing in on the waterfront potential. We need to become a major destination city to attract and retain good players and management, keep attracting large number of away supporters to the matches and generally kick start the huge potential to attract more events and make the city and club more high profile.

This city still needs an airport!!!
The current transport links are terrible and we remain so isolated and difficult to reach other parts of the country. This definitely impacts on players and staff staying here, as we have seen this season.As an example, Plymouth to the North West is a nightmare by road and current public transport offered.

The council need to redouble efforts to focus on making the city centre attractive to decent stores - ie John Lewis etc. By attracting someone like that, will bring in other decent shops. The current increasing spread of cheap discount shop and vape stores, is dragging the city down.

Then we have our great waterfront, not invested in. We should have cruise ships coming in and decent hotels to stay in, currently we have no decent hotels. Which can’t look good to not only potential players, but also puts off Plymouth hosting big events.

I don’t intend this to be political, but truly think it impacts on the club and its prosperity going forward.

Doing my best on the cruise ships part! 5 this month

 

[Sherford Green]

The Hoe and Barbican are up there with the finest aspects of any UK city. I’m surprised a couple of people have suggested those areas could be improved. As for the city centre, yes it is a bit of a mess right now but in all honesty shops are quickly becoming a thing of the past, I certainly haven’t used them for years.

The airport thing is also a red herring, there’s no way that there would be demand for two airports within 40 minutes drive of each other in this part of the country. There just isn’t the population size to enable it.

 

[Biggs]

To be fair, the city centre is in the middle of being totally redeveloped with Armada Way finally happening + all the other landscaping around Drake Circus. Which is partly why it’s such a mess, but something major is happening so it’s not for want of trying.

The Box, Barcode and actually all the new food places in the market are big positive recent additions too. Lots of good new shops and restaurants too.

It’s getting there, I think.

 

[plym1969]

I live away from Plymouth and have done for 25 years due to work.

I love going back to Plymouth visiting family and friends however i am always extremely disappointed with

Still no motoway south of exeter
Still no airport
Constant digging up the ciry centre, such a waste of money. Nothing seems to last long.
Lack of investment in the barbican and Hoe.
Everyy place i have lived would love to have the barbican and hoe.
Just driving round Plymouth seeing the weeds in the roads and potholes. Such a disappointment.

Yet the council seems to do nothing but waste money to revamp stuff that dosnt need doing.

What has it revamped that didn't need doing?

 

[jimbogreen]

While I agree with a lot of comments here, the thought that the council are either a) miracle workers who can attract businesses who otherwise wouldn't be here, b) make developers move forward with plans/secure relevant finance or c) produce money from nowhere are wide of the mark. For example, why isn't there a John Lewis in Plymouth? Because the city is still a low income city. Yes, it's improving and remote working has helped, but its still not there. Why hasn't the hotel development on the Hoe not moved forward, twice? Presumably becuase finance cant be secured, a challenge being faced across the country. The council could definitely do more, but they can only do so much. I do agree with a previous poster, a directly elected mayor would help, as they would run on a specific manifesto rather than the vague statements councillors put out.

And again, the airport is hugely important. Businesses need to be able to get their staff to/from places. The one up the road is too close to Bristol to get any decent regional service, and too close to London for a Heathrow/Gatwick service. Newquay doesn't have the population especially out of season. Plymouth is the natural location for an airport, and its highly frustrating that the one thing that could bring significant levels of inward investment into the city isn't open.