As I’m fairly sure everyone is sick of hearing, we want to move. As I’m equally sure anyone who’s spoken to me about it will be sick of hearing, there are LITERALLY* no empty buildings in the city centre.
With that in mind, it has been decided that we might have to start playing a little bit fast and loose with the definition of ‘centre’, and look a little further afield.
We’re still aiming for somewhere that is within a ten minute walk of transport hubs, it’s just that it may be ten minutes in a slightly different direction. Doing so opens up areas such as London Road and Leeds Street, and allows us to look at places that we had perhaps dismissed too quickly previously. They’re not even that far away, but I totally understand that they feel further away, and that’s important. However, it’s also important to remember that Hanover Street was basically a wreck before DoES came along and made the area viable again.**
Our main aim, however, is still to offer the best and most convenient service we can to you, so we need to know what you think. If you think that a move slightly further afield, or to a different area of the city centre, would materially affect your ability to come in to DoES, then please do let us know. At the end of the day, we’re nothing without the community.
There are some other options which are being floated, including the possibility of a short term move to somewhere in the city centre that is a similar size as our current home. We’d like to discuss this, and some slightly less normal options, in what we’re overexcitedly calling a Wildcard! Meeting which I’ll be arranging in the next month or so, and which will canvass opinion on some of the more interesting and less obvious ideas which are being quietly mooted.
It’s always worth remembering where we’ve come from and where we’re trying to go, so please, if you haven’t already, take a look at John’s last blog post, and let us know if you have any thoughts or opinions on our current situation.
*Not literally
** Probably not actually true
