No Wetherspoon for Helston..... at the moment

7:00am Monday 11th February 2013 in News

It is a recurring rumour that one day may become a self-fulfilling prophecy - but it seems not yet.

Last week thepacket.co.uk received a whisper, suggesting once again that popular pub chain JD Wetherspoon could be considering a move to Helston.

Sadly or thankfully, depending on your point of view, it appears this may have been the gossip equivalent of beer goggles.

Having duly enquired with the relevant people, we were simply told: “I have checked this and the company is not currently looking at the town.”

There was, however, a rather intriguing post script that encouraged thepacket.co.uk to check again “in a couple of weeks”... You heard it here first.

Comments(18)

Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
8:27am Mon 11 Feb 13

Perhaps they should have combined Wetherspoons in with the Penrose Road community centre building. Or of course the old Vauxhall garage.

With 7 pubs in Helston plus the May Tree it could have some competition, I would welcome it because of the meals they do.

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telstar1962 says...
11:35am Mon 11 Feb 13

The derelict land opposite the May Tree is the best place, and competition would be good there as it raises standards. But the council insist on 'hi-tech jobs' in that location.Probably why the land has laid dormant for so long.

I hope GZM's comment is tongue in cheek about 3 Penrose Road. Thankfully that building has been saved from the property developers by the C.A.S.T. benefactors and it was fantastic recently to see it being put to very good use last week

However,I am sure that Passmore Edwards would now repeat his comment made over 100 years ago when faced with continual delays and bureaucratic meddling over the construction of the Launceston Free Library. He said "If I had known then what I now know I may have spent more of my money in London and less in Cornwall".

C.A.S.T. returns the building to the public, no way should it be a cheap and cheerful pub for the lower end of the market lol

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
2:01pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Yes you can rest assured telstar my comment was tongue in cheek about Penrose Road, meaning it would probably be the only way they will get anyone to invest some money into it with which to renovate it. Incidentally what are Helston Town Council going to spend the money on one wonders, I agree it should not be another community building as there are plenty, however if the money is to be used for other local projects then why not some for Penrose Road.
As for Wetherspoons I like them because I can go in there for reasonably priced meals and no one knows me whereas when I patronise my local pubs everyone knows everyone and there are times when one wishes to be anonymous.

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TheOriginaDelboy says...
4:18pm Mon 11 Feb 13

I find the idea that "competition raises standards" is very presumptuous.

You presume whatever new business is moving to the area has good standards to start with and the already local businesses does not.

But what if a local business has high standards how does a chain business moving to the area improve the local business standards? All it does is take customers.

Look at Tesco and Sainsbury, various local shops in town have fallen on their swords and throughout the country, butchers and grocers etc are disappearing.

I know where I'd rather buy burgers from. High standards, remember.

These chains have the financial clout to destroy small shops just by moving in the area because people want cheap which they can supply due to their buying power.

What if the local business with high standards is already financially struggling. They won't survive and before you know it there's a few more pubs/food establishments closed in town, granted there are a lot, but people work and shop there.

All another similar business does is spread the local wealth even thinner between businesses and any profit the bigger business take just goes towards building another business somewhere else to take away some more local shops, whereas money spent in local independent shops generally is spent locally.

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
5:04pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Competition is no argument within planning laws. If Wetherspoons were hypothetically to be sited down by the May Tree as telstar suggests then I doubt it would affect trade in the town, if people are coming into the town and I might add paying to park, then presumably they would patronise cafes such as the Coffee Bean. Bearing in mind pubs such as Wetherspoons have vastly different opening hours than that of some of the towns pubs and cafes, breakfast is available at Wetherspoons and The May Tree.
Shops in Helston are not purely struggling because of the supermarkets, online shopping is a contributing factor and lack of choice of shops alongside parking issues.

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
5:07pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Incidentally where can I get a cooked meal to eat in at around three or four o'clock in the afternoon in Helston town centre ? I know I can get one in a Wetherspoons.

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
5:12pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Another aspect to people wanting 'cheap' is because maybe that is all they can afford and if they can't have cheap they may have nothing as opposed to being obliged to paying more.

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telstar1962 says...
5:43pm Mon 11 Feb 13

If I am not mistaken,theoriginal
delboy, The MayTree is owned by Whitbreads,and most of their meals to my knowlege are micro-waved. They have little or no local produce on offer apart from the token,random Cornish item. When it first opened,I noticed the nearest food on their menu was from Wiltshire (hardly helping the local providers)

It's horses for courses,and I would class Wetherspoons food offering along the same lines as Table Table,trying to provide value for money at the bottom end.And there is nothing wrong with that if that's all that is affordable.It's popular with families etc, but hardly impacts on the trade of better restaurants in Porthleven and Helston for example.

I am aware that a surveyor for Wetherspoons had been in the area again,but if a suitable property ever has become available, then they would have been in business here long ago

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
5:49pm Mon 11 Feb 13

I have tried hard to patronise Helston shops but for example where can I buy some butchers meat in Helston on a Wednesday ? I also found that I could not choose the cooked meat slices I wanted, I had to have the small slices at the end of a joint, as opposed to the large slices on the joint next to it. In Costcutters in Porthleven I can have what I want, (providing I pay for it of course) I am sorry to sound critical but unless some of the shops address some of the issues as far as I am concerned they may lose trade.

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
6:37pm Mon 11 Feb 13

telstar you say it's horses for courses, would that be the starters or the main course lol

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telstar1962 says...
9:03pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Hors d'oeuvre, of course

In my view,the top quality family butchers Scorse,established in Helston 1965 at Water-ma-Trout Industrial Estate,and on the Town Centre Bus Route,is now open to the general public.They will serve you with as much,or as little as you wish to buy. (other shops such as Tesco,masquerading as butchers,are available). I am not too sure of their opening hours,but you could give them a ring to find out !

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
9:53pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Lol, Thank you telstar. I do buy St Keverne butchers meat that my local shop supplies but I also buy meat when I am out elsewhere like in Helston.

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ronedgcumbe says...
8:22am Tue 12 Feb 13

I do hope Witherspoons would come to Helston but dought they will as a large town centre premise are in short supply.
They seem to have had a very positive effect in Camborne and as they do seem to create there own markt have not had a negative effect on other business.
This would be the right sort of investment the town needs. Town officials should be activly encouraging this sort of company into the town centre.

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ronedgcumbe says...
8:45am Tue 12 Feb 13

Incidently as I seem to have developed a taste for horsemeat in recent months, and the seemingly decreasing supply at th supermarkets. Is anyone aware of a local supplier of some horse for my spagbol.

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KernBear says...
10:51am Tue 12 Feb 13

I would love a wether spoons in the town. It’s a great social hub, and if it’s out of the town then surely it will just keep people out of the town as well?

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omdurman 1898 says...
4:03pm Tue 12 Feb 13

I think it would be a great benefit to Helston, after all there are other Towns nearby with a Wetherspoons which attract many Customers due no doubt to the excellent food.

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rwarwicker says...
9:48am Thu 14 Feb 13

I know of people who go into Camborne or Falmouth for a cheap breakfast/ lunch (only place they can afford to go these days) and then have a walk round the town spending money in the various shops. This can only be positive surely?

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
11:34am Thu 14 Feb 13

rwarwicker wrote:
I know of people who go into Camborne or Falmouth for a cheap breakfast/ lunch (only place they can afford to go these days) and then have a walk round the town spending money in the various shops. This can only be positive surely?
I completely agree, my point about Wetherspoons is the availability of food all day right from early in the mornings.

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