The future of Town Centres?

[BorntoBubble]

If we ignore the big cities that seem to be going through big changes (shift to residential) and can be propped up by sport/university's etc what do people think about Town Centre's up and down the country.

I live in Warrington and part of my work at the minute I am working on reports about the town centre and how to improve/regenerate it etc.

I am reaching out to the people of Blonde for help as to where does Blonde think the future is for town centre's, can we/should we prevent High Streets from dying or should we just let it be.

Warrington has an issue that a lot of the buildings are listed/in conservation area's this can hamper regeneration massively and makes the buildings less desirable for investors etc. Warrington also has the Golden Square shopping centre which has a huge car park, all the main retailers and all the footfall so all of the rest of the high street suffer.

I personal see town centres like Warrington and around the country turning mainly into "Service" area's basically serving the needs of things you cannot get online, so hairdressers/tattoo shops/nail bars etc. Then obviously you will have bars/pubs/resturants/takeaways.

What can we/should we do about the death of retail on the high street?

[BorntoBubble]

One of the first proposal's I pushed for for Warrington is an increase in residential.

Warrington had a housing moratorium not so long ago where there were 0 housing applications accepted and now we have lifted this we seem to allow everything apart from in the town centre, the planners were still being reluctant.

Now we are seeing this loosened also as I believe one way to solve the town centre emptiness is to get people living within the town centre, like people do in bigger cities.

A lot of vacant wasted space is now being converted and a lot of vacant office space is also being converted to residential. I think this will then create a new drive for "local" supermarkets, bars, restaurants etc which in turn will all help the town centre and make the place feel less empty.

Are there any things that you have noticed in your local town that you thought wow thats a good idea that maybe I could copy in Warrington

[vegaslover]

Very rarely use my Town Centre, only go there if need to go into the bank or visit a solicitors.

They currently trying to renovate it by modernising the shopping centre and re-routing the bus routes. Very apparent that town centres appear to be populated by either the elderly, those from foreign shores (migrant and students) and the erm 'benefits class' for want of a better description. Which are dressed in trackies, beer can/fag in hand etc.

As far as i'm aware Callum, my local Council are pretty draconian with planning laws, especially around the town centre. However, roads near the town have seen business die and a lot of them are getting converted to residential.

[TightEnd]

relaxed plannign regs for out of town centres and lower rates for start ups, such as fosse park near me, are not matched for city centre locations so they are at a competitive disadvantage

add ease of access and parking in the out of town parks and it really is an uphill battle

i tend to see this in the smaller towns rather than the major cities..eg leicester town centre has destination shops and is busy, bedford less so

i dare say the same for manchester compared to warrington? not sure what the trafford centre would count as tbh, but i often see people saying they are going there and is a destination centre right?

[BorntoBubble]

Parking really is a huge thing for me also.

Planners seem to go, we are making a town centre location desirable because it has good public transport links. One of the people who is in the development company for Warrington tried to argue this point to me that public transport links was a good thing.

I argued strongly against this, the types of people you want to attract to a town are the types that drive (as a generalisation) and if you make it an easy place to get in and out of (in a car) you can attract the right people in.

Warrington has a big redevelopment scheme going on and one of the main things that the cinema occupier wanted was one of the main town centre car parks to go from 300 spaces to 1200 spaces, I thought this was brilliant for the town but most of the  council/planners dont agree.

They are also trying to build buildings which in my opinion have no commercial viability in places of places where there is currently cheap parking (£2.50 a day). Unfortunately things like this seem to get pushed through by councils with no real thoughts as to the impact.

Manchester is booming currently and I worry for towns like Warrington if they dont move quickly with the times they will become ghost towns as none of the younger working generation want to live/bring a family up there.

[arbboy]

It is just a mixture of pubs/betting shops/mobile phone shops/charity shops/coffee shops/banks nowadays dominating the high st.  Depends on the size of the town.  Smaller towns like Stone where i live should specialise imo to bring in boutique style up market privately owned shops which bring something different to the bigger towns/cities and encourage people to go into the town centre itself.

Small chains and one off shops can't compete price wise with the internet so have to offer something else unique.

[vegaslover]

Parking really is a huge thing for me also.

Planners seem to go, we are making a town centre location desirable because it has good public transport links. One of the people who is in the development company for Warrington tried to argue this point to me that public transport links was a good thing.

I argued strongly against this, the types of people you want to attract to a town are the types that drive (as a generalisation) and if you make it an easy place to get in and out of (in a car) you can attract the right people in.

Warrington has a big redevelopment scheme going on and one of the main things that the cinema occupier wanted was one of the main town centre car parks to go from 300 spaces to 1200 spaces, I thought this was brilliant for the town but most of the  council/planners dont agree.

They are also trying to build buildings which in my opinion have no commercial viability in places of places where there is currently cheap parking (£2.50 a day). Unfortunately things like this seem to get pushed through by councils with no real thoughts as to the impact.

Manchester is booming currently and I worry for towns like Warrington if they dont move quickly with the times they will become ghost towns as none of the younger working generation want to live/bring a family up there.

Think you right on the mark with the parking and car access. Another reason why I hardly ever go into town. Prob takes me at least 20mins to get into town and parked, literally 2 miles away. The out-of-town shopping is 5 mins away with copious free parking.

[OverTheBorder]

Halifax are regenerating the Piece Hall. Google it, it's going to be pretty impressive. The thought is people will come for the atmosphere and the council have paid part of the deal. Not every town has that kind of centre but the key is be different, bring those from outside.

[RED-DOG]

I rarely go into town without being upset by, or having to avoid groups of aggressive youths, (Esp 14 / 15yo school kids) and drunks.

Better policing in towns imo, and easier / cheaper parking. Make going in to town a pleasant experience.

[BorntoBubble]

I rarely go into town without being upset by, or having to avoid groups of aggressive youths, (Esp 14 / 15yo school kids) and drunks.

Better policing in towns imo, and easier / cheaper parking. Make going in to town a pleasant experience.

Agree on the more policing even if its just PSCO's, seeing a bobby on the beat around the town centre should be the norm.

[david3103]

Stockton High Street has had a major refurbishment over the last few years. There's still a decent market on Wednesday and Saturday, plus various specialist markets (Craft stuff, Vintage, Food, Farmers etc) and the town centre feels cleaner and more open.

Plus, it has a really good range of card shops, charity shops and bakers.

[BorntoBubble]

It is just a mixture of pubs/betting shops/mobile phone shops/charity shops/coffee shops/banks nowadays dominating the high st.  Depends on the size of the town.  Smaller towns like Stone where i live should specialise imo to bring in boutique style up market privately owned shops which bring something different to the bigger towns/cities and encourage people to go into the town centre itself.

Small chains and one off shops can't compete price wise with the internet so have to offer something else unique.

This is a great point, individual shops (imo) should get a lot more support from the council.

Each premises has business rates applied and although retail untis can get £1500 retail relief in my opinion this should be extended in struggling town centres especially to independents.

Small businesses get full relief under £6,000 Rateable Value and there is a proportion of relief right up to £12,000 Rateable value but in reality this rarely comes into effect in good locations in town centres as Rateable Values are often a lot higher. When these are reviewed in a few years time hopefully there will be a big decline in these Rateable Values to encourage more occupiers.

If independents were supported moe in town centres it would create character and a community environment I believe where everyone supports each other and helps the little guy.

Although I haven't been recently Chester seems to have a really good reputation for individual coffee shops and cafes. I would love to see that happening in more towns.