Councils in 'ghost town' warning

[hermes2007]

It's great about Morrisons, Co-op etc. but we are still loosing shops in Westbury (and other towns of course). I argued on a post some weeks ago that the Town and County Council should have more powers to relieve rates etc.

England's High Streets are in danger of becoming "ghost towns" unless action is taken to fill empty shops hit by the recession, council leaders have warned.

The Local Government Association (LGA) says four out of five councils have reported an increase in empty premises.

It is calling for new powers to allow town halls to temporarily use shops as sites for community projects.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7916198.stm

I know the Councils are hard up at the moment (investing in foreign banks probably didn't help!) but surely they could do a few simple things like suspending town centre car parking charges for six months etc.

[charlie finbow]

I couldn't agree more, I have said many times all parking should be free in Westbury especially if we get a bypass I'm sure it would attract people to Westbury but I cannot see it because it is a money spinner for the District Council.  Lets face it once the tarmac is down and the lines painted theres not much  maintenance.

[jamieh]

could it be that the shops are empty because peoples shopping habits are changing, if the demand was there then people would use them,what is the point of opening a shop for the sake of it. And of course supermarkets are a major reason high streets are dying. On one hane everyone is saying how wonderfull it is that Westbury is getting Morrisons but no doubt it will kill more business in the high street.
How many people buy the weekly shop on the net, or buy music, or books, or holidays or electrical goods. The reason the high street only has the shops it has is because thats all people of Westbury require.

[Ettie]

I think the 'ghost town' problem will hit larger towns a lot harder, particularily ones
with chains such as Woolworths, M and S, and Adams to name a few.

Jamieh I think you are right about business rates playing a large role especially during these difficult times.

Westbury needs to make the most of what it has, a famous landmark, and west country
image of a small market town should be attractive to tourists. It's near to Lacock without
Lacock's high prices, the downside to this is that it is seasonal trade.

Another option is to sell specialised goods which are difficult to post, or a skill and not catered for within
a large radius, so you cover a large region of customers.

Some businesses are thriving however, look at Whiterow, seems to go from strength to strength, even though
some items are in the higher price bracket.

[Bob De'Bilda]

On one hane everyone is saying how wonderfull it is that Westbury is getting Morrisons but no doubt it will kill more business in the high street.
How many people buy the weekly shop on the net, or buy music, or books, or holidays or electrical goods. The reason the high street only has the shops it has is because thats all people of Westbury require.

People using the internet to buy goods and services  Whatever next

About the only thing you can't get over the internet is a haircut No wonder there are so many in Westbury.

[Alg]

It's easy for me to get a haircut. I usually drop it off, do my shopping, then pick it up later.

[jamieh]

it is the same the whole country over, i saw on the news the 4 in 5 councils are worried about the high streets in their areas. rather than throwing more money after bad to revitalise something the money could be better spent on other services

[hermes2007]

I must be in a grumpy mood tonight, I can't agree with Jamieh. Councils will always have other priorities that need money but I would hate to see towns become just housing estates with a ring of supermarkets. Shops will always come and go but I still personally use the High Street and local shops most days and love them. I think the empty shops will get taken up by new businesses when times get better.

[jamieh]

and i use the local shops whereever possible, Davies is a fantastic shop and i use the dry cleaners and the local hairdressers, but other than that its the internet im afraid, And its being proven by current sales figures that its happening across the country. Isnt the Gas cupboard at the top of town doing well but most of its sales over the net?

[Yokel]

The Morrissons intown supermarket is a sign of things to come - you look at where tesco and sainsbbruys have been opening new stores and by far the vast majority arent out-of-town megastores - these monoliths to greed have reached the point of saturation so its difficult to find land or get planning permission to build.  Even once you have the land its not necessarily worth it to build a store - Tesco owns buckets and buckets of empty land and much of this is strategic so other supermarkets cant build stores close to exisiting tesco stores.

[Yokel]

The clone town Britain report is free to download:

http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/t3zly355dpog3w55ctaiuu4506062005082504.pdf

Other stuff:

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1083409?UserKey=

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/2794668/Tesco-and-Sainsbury%27s-head-for-High-Court-over-co-owned-site.html

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/corporate_law/article678880.ece

http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/news_clonetownbritainresults.aspx