Abingdon to change its name to Abingdon-on-Thames (From The Oxford Times)
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Abingdon to change its name to Abingdon-on-Thames
9:17am Thursday 23rd February 2012 in Oxford By Ben Wilkinson
ABINGDON will now be called Abingdon-on-Thames after councillors voted to bring back the name in a bid to attract more visitors to the town.
Vale of White Horse District Council approved the plans last night after Abingdon Town Council called for the name change.
Twenty-two councillors voted for the move, 19 abstained, and four voted against.
Comments(31)
dadstaxi
says...
9:35am Thu 23 Feb 12
camden
says...
9:52am Thu 23 Feb 12
But hey ho! Go ahead and change the name of your town if you must, but take note,
For those of us who live in the REAL WORLD it’s not going to make a jot of difference
Anon Coward
says...
11:37am Thu 23 Feb 12
So what was the point of these 19 councillors ?
They should be hanging their heads in shame.
They obviously didnt believe it was a good idea, or they would have voted in favour.
But they didnt vote against either, which could have stopped an unsupported waste of our money.
'They' were elected to make decisions in our best interests, not to 'cop out'.
Disgraceful.
Steve31E
says...
1:12pm Thu 23 Feb 12
now you can distinguish between all the other 'abingdons' in the UK, becuase there are . . . . er . . .
- now, how many others were there? . . . .
Oh . . . . . oh dear. .
steve king
says...
5:13pm Thu 23 Feb 12
By the way, were we not promised by the Vale that work would start on the £3million precinct facelift this Feb? well they've only four working day's left to do something to address the awful sight of six empty shops standing in row on one side and three empty ones, plus two kiosks on the other!
Goodie
says...
6:14pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Abingdon-on-Thames is a bit of a waste of money, but i don't think it can hurt, the town signage is due to be replaced anyway. i assume the town stationary will just be replaced as and when it is used, so all in all it shouldn't cost to much, it's a better spend then a bandstand anyway!
steve king
says...
6:36pm Thu 23 Feb 12
lookingfromhere
says...
7:20pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Goodie
says...
7:49pm Thu 23 Feb 12
I have the "Insider Information" by talking and listening to people on the COC and people who run local businesses,
Granted there has been little work started so far, but when does building work ever run to schedule?
The reason Poundland is there, (the same as in oxford) is to fill a vacant unit on a temporary basis, the same as Cargo before it. it will be going, the same as COOP when the second stage of the development begins (again not insider information, just looking at the plans and reading the information that is freely available to view online)
So Mr King, next time you come onto this site and comment (as you do regularly) make sure the drivel you are spouting is correct.
steve king
says...
9:05pm Thu 23 Feb 12
Goodie
says...
10:00pm Thu 23 Feb 12
i enjoy your continued use of "we" as if you speak for the whole town.
you also seem a bit unclear on your point here? is it that they are 7 days out of there 24 months? or is it just that you enjoy complaining?
draytonlass
says...
8:58am Fri 24 Feb 12
tton,Milton etc looked upon Abingdon as our primary town to do everything in, but that was prior to the Orchard centre opening in Didcot and the havoc the new traffic scheme caused in Abingdon.
Why bother queueing all along the Drayton Rd, sometimes as far back as Preston Rd, then queue the entire length of Ock St only to find on arrival a very dissapointing selection of shops and I have to say an out of date precinct, oten the journey would take me over 20 minutes, and for what?
Now, like the thousands living south of Abingdon I go to Didcot, the journey is easy and quick and once there my shopping experience is worthwhile.
I read here that Sainsbury's are going to build a new store in Abingdon centre, it won't make the slightest difference, even it was twice the size of the Didcot store and was half the price I still wouldn't queue for half an hour to get there.
Such a shame though, it's a beautiful town.
colbart
says...
9:25am Fri 24 Feb 12
Depends on which council the 19 belonged to?. Maybe they thought decision was made too quickly and needed more consideration of costs/time etc.
didn't feel voting against would benefit anything....
colbart
says...
9:31am Fri 24 Feb 12
l.co.uk/archive/2012
/02/23/Oxford+news+%
28om_oxfordnews%29/9
547646.Views_are_wan
ted_on_shopping_cent
re_revamp/
It seems that Botley is having similar problems with the funding of their Long awaited Refurb.
kenandlou
says...
10:07am Fri 24 Feb 12
These councilors are there to make decisions, Have they no minds of there own, The might as well stayed at home, Probably collected an attendance allowance anyway??.
cornish
says...
3:28pm Fri 24 Feb 12
Also, do all the clubs in Abingdon now have to change their names - like Abingdon-on-Thames Camera Club, etc?
abfab123
says...
7:46pm Fri 24 Feb 12
Draytonlass, I must ask which shops it is you frequent in Didcot? The only shops that I would possibly want to visit are Next (at a push ) and possibly Cargo - where are all these other wonderful shops? When I was there last it seemed to be full of cheap clothes shops.
draytonlass
says...
7:07pm Sat 25 Feb 12
But putting all that aside Abingdon is just to difficult to get into, I work on Ashville Trading estate and it's quicker for all of us in the office to go along the A34 to Didcot to do our lunch time shopping than it is to drive into Abingdon.
Apparently M&S and Debenhams have already committed to the new extention to the Orchard Centre, how can Abingdon possibly compete with that?
On a completely different subject, why are people so aggressive on here? isn't the purpose of this forum to give readers the opportunity to debate, freely, without being subjected to constant sniping (sometimes personal) from those who don't agree?
Abdnwalkcyclecardogman
says...
8:51pm Sat 25 Feb 12
steve king
says...
8:57am Sun 26 Feb 12
But one of Abingdon's biggest problems is that the protaganists are too caught up in their own small world to realise the bigger picture of what's really wrong with the place, instead they go around pattting each other on the back while looking through rose tinted glasses,
The much needed second river crossing was a pre condition of Abits, it was to have been installed as part of the scheme, as was the Marcham rd "jet lane"
I went to the meetings, saw the plans, the Marcham rd plan even had approval by all three councils and funding in place, but like the river crossing, it never happened, nor will the Diamond Junction at Abingdon North. It's the same as the Old Gaol fiasco, over 5,000 people signed C.O.G.'s petition for its future use and that was totally ignored too.But as you can see by two contributors on here, they know best and the rest of us have to like it or lump it which really goes back to the comments at the top of the page, what's the point of an opposition if all they do is abstain?
abfab123
says...
6:03pm Sun 26 Feb 12
Draytonlass - yes there are lots of shops I missed - but of the ones that aren't already in Abingdon; M&Co, Clarks, Superdrug, The Cutting Bar etc, a large percentage of what you have mentioned is not going to attract me (and a fair few others I would guess) to Didcot. I can certainly live without Robert Dyas and a few cheap clothes shops. I would rather see some more good independents to go along with the few that have remained in Abingdon and some good high street names. The cinema is good to be fair and I would love Abingdon to have one.
steve king
says...
9:02am Mon 27 Feb 12
But that's all in the past, what really concerns me is the future, by that I mean the proposed Charter redevelopement?
As you know there are about 40 really good Independents in Town and I fear for their consequence if Sainsbury's plonk a massive store at the end of the precinct. Abfab, just pause for a moment and think about it.
Shoppers will enter/exit via Stratton Way, they'll drive to the free car park on top of(or next to) the store, they'll take a lift directly into the store, once there they will find :- a Deli,an off licence, a Bakery, a Newsagent, a Florist, a Chemist, Greeting Cards, Books, Mens Wear, Ladies Fasion, Childrens Clothes/Toys, Home & Wear, Gifts and Pictures, Patisserie, Opticians, Coffee shop & Restaurant, the list goes on and on, it will be the epitome of one stop shopping and once they've filled their trolly's they'll go back to their cars and drive out of town, it will suck the very life blood out of Abingdons much cherrished indy's and if that doesn't do it then the 14 or so new shops SW plan on building around Broad St certainly will.
There is only so much retailing any community can support and Abingdon is about at its max, why not focus on our Indy's, and tempt more of them in? build that much missed Cinema and Arts Complex too, we need them, we can stick another supermarket anywhere, Audlet Drive? but we only have one town centre and one chance to get this right!
Iain L
says...
11:26am Mon 27 Feb 12
I think you slightly oversimplify tge supermarket debate though (and for the record I haven't yet decided my own view on this yet).
There is a strong counter argument that suggests if a 3rd supermarket (which a town the size of Abingdon would be able to attract) were to set up out of town eg fairacres, then this could have a worse impact on the town centre than locating a superstore in the town centre.
I know there have been a couple of studies made on this and they tend towards the town centre option being the least worst options. I know towns such as Ludlow and Harrogate have town centre supermarkets and thriving independents in their high streets so I'm not convinced its an automatic disaster.
abingdonian
says...
9:04am Tue 28 Feb 12
So while I agree that there is still a debate to be had about the Charter, lets not knock the positive things being done elsewhere in town: Abingdon-on-Thames has a lot to offer, especially in spring and summer so lets start encouraging people to come and see it.
steve king
says...
12:53pm Tue 28 Feb 12
Abingdon Neil
says...
4:32pm Tue 28 Feb 12
On this particular proposal that would be my position.
Personally I am happy for the town to be marketed as 'Abingdon-onThames' but don't see the need for the cost and hassle of formally changing it from the name it has had for more than 450 years: 'Abingdon'.
On the other issue raised I think Abingdon has a lot going for it and I think those that argue that Didcot is absolutely wonderful and Abingdon absolutely awful are way off mark.
Abingdon has a lot going for it, particularly its heritage and the good range of independent shops, cafes and restaurants.
Anon Coward
says...
3:13pm Wed 29 Feb 12
Anything else is a cop out.
If you are unhappy with some of the details, then you should vote against the proposal and get it resubmitted with changes made that will allow you to vote in favour.
Not let it pass, by effectively sitting on your hands.
If there are 19 of you that feel this way, then surely the proposal needed amending, or else delaying until the extra detail was provided.
Its not like there is a rush to 'rebrand' Abingdon, another month or two would make no difference.
As it is, those 19 might as well not have bothered attending, and should seriously be considering their position. Or at least their responsibilities, which is to vote for the best thing for Abingdon and for their constituents.
Abstaining is not doing that, its taking the easy option, and hiding behind not making a decision.
Shame on them.
davidofabingdon
says...
5:24pm Sat 3 Mar 12
I will continue to call Abingdon "Abingdon", and use the longer "Abingdon on Thames" when I need to distinguish it from the other Abingdon. err...
Abingdon Neil
says...
11:05pm Sat 3 Mar 12
When councillors vote on something they have three options, FOR, AGAINST or ABSTAIN.
It is perfectly reasonable for each of them to choose any of the three.
Not everyone has to have a strong opinion on everything.
Abingdon Neil
says...
11:07pm Sat 3 Mar 12
Indeed there are. This name change will stop all the confusion with the other Abingdons ... which are in the US ;-)
Your_Kidding says...
9:26am Thu 23 Feb 12