29 July 2009
A renaissance for our town centres?
Supermarkets, shopping centres and the internet have changed the local high street beyond recognition. Many town centres have seemingly not known how to respond and move forward positively, particularly during the economic downturn. However, there are many actions that we can take to enhance our town centres.
I spoke recently at Brentwood’s Retail Conference in my new capacity as the Independent Chairman of the Brentwood Town Centre Renaissance Group. I highlighted that we have to find new ways to attract shoppers and leisure users to traditional town centres such as Brentwood which need to develop more as niche retail centres with a diverse range of retailers. They simply can’t compete head on with shopping centres such as Bluewater or regional centres such as Chelmsford. If our town centres fail to act some of them will struggle to recover once the recession is over.
All the stakeholders in our town centres need to work together to improve them as places for shoppers and for leisure related activities. In Brentwood, we are improving the streets in terms of their function, as well as ensuring that they look and feel better to make it more attractive to the evident wealth base in the town and surrounding areas. We want a town centre that is thriving, safe and attractive.
By making town centres such as Brentwood more appealing it will enhance their economic value, as well as their social, community and leisure values.
We are therefore working with the Borough Council on a number of initiatives all of which are part of a community based drive to encourage local shopping on a ‘use it or lose it’ principle. Local shops can’t live on nostalgia - they need footfall!
We want Brentwood to become a place where from choice people will come to shop and enjoy their leisure time, rather than it just being the nearest place that they come to out of necessity.
CABE (the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) recently researched the value of good street design. The study found that improvements in street design quality can add to house prices and to retail rents, and how clear financial benefits can be calculated from investing in better quality street design.
Towns such as Saffron Walden and Bury St Edmunds have made significant improvements and they look nicer, feel better and value has been added. As a result Saffron Walden feels like the centre of a community, as well as a bigger town.
The detailed design of shop fronts is a major factor influencing the overall character of town centres. Shop fronts should be regarded as an opportunity to enhance the street scene by providing something which respects the traditional concepts, forms a logical part of the overall elevation and emphasises the uniqueness of the town.
At Walton-on-the-Naze the general decline of this traditional seaside town has been reversed through a programme of works. This included reinstating traditional shop fronts.
In Brentwood we’re starting by improving the streets then we’re going to encourage improvements in some shop fronts via a design guide and an advisory service. Additionally, sustainability health checks could well be offered to help reduce retailers’ energy costs.
Many town centres need to look at a number of initiatives to help stimulate trade. These could include reducing and being more flexible with car park charges, having late night shopping evenings that are events in themselves and looking at holding regular attractions and events to draw people in.
Lots of people can make a real difference to our town centres which will greatly enhance them for many years to come. They can be thriving places but we need to nurture them and use them – otherwise we will lose them!
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