Town centres used to be the bustling heart of a town, a place where the elderly could travel to and shop, safe in the knowledge that between national chain stores and eager local businesses making a living to get by, they’d have good value around if they looked for it.
Access was made easy, opportunity to spend within a budget was possible and a good old look around was a pleasant experience.
One such town near to me, was always a place to go.
Bus station was right in the centre, running alongside the bus station was the outdoor market with an inside market, cross through the inside market you were in the shops in the main shopping area, with an arcade style, covered area full of shops of all kinds, mixed in with national chainstores.
It was a fun and made a visit to the town centre worthwhile. But not anymore.
First, those that are wiser than all of us normals, decided that the town centre didn’t need it’s bus station right in the centre of the town and at great expense (ticking boxes) decided in it’s wisdom to move the bus station to the outskirts of the town.
Lots of road changes came about, a roundabout here, some traffic lights there and hey presto, it would be much more beneficial for the people using public transport to now walk 5 minutes to get to the centre of the town.
Where the bus station was, became an overpriced free parking area, with just 15 spaces, which would be ideal for visiting people, we were told.
Well in the real world, people getting off the bus, to go on to the next neighbouring big town, no longer nip into the centre shops / market stalls, while they wait for their connecting bus.
they stay in the bus station and wait.
Just as the people warned them, through traffic would be taken away from the centre market / shops footfall.
Next, in the planners infinite wisdom, they decided to make the market stall holders register to pay VAT.
It will be more profitable for you all, was the cry from the powers that be.
They also upped the years on a market stall lease.
Despite objections, many did register for VAT, only to find that months later, when they were considerably out of pocket, they couldn’t unregister for VAT!
As a result, stall holders that had been on the market for many years, packed up and quit.
No longer does the market have an underwear stall, a sewing stall, an “allsorts” stall that sold everything from cards to camping kettles, from brasso to donkey stones. They simply gave up.
They have been replaced with numerous vape stalls, a broken biscuit stall and an old dvd stall.
On the outside market, a butchers stall has closed down, the cigarette stall now only opens twice a week, for minimal hours and the clothing stall holder, that traded there for donkey’s years, has packed up all together.
The outside stalls are now empty, simply cannot make any profit to cover rents.
The planners in their ivory towers then decided to pass a tesco new build on the edge of the town centre.
At this point, I think they started to take the piss.
Of course it wouldn’t affect the town centre and would bring many new jobs to the town centre.
New jobs were not forth coming, they simply replaced jobs that the market and small businesses created in the town centre, just as people told them it would do.
As time has gone by, the national retailers have slowly disappeared from the town centre arndale.
Jewelers, marks and sparks, farm foods, bodycare, boots, etc. to be replaced by bookies, charity shops and a heritage centre taking over the town centre arndale’s centre piece shop.
Even the poundshop super savers has gone.
Shame it’s not open on a Saturday when I attend.
Now even some of the discount stores have closed down, some of the ace charity shops, that used to be at the top of the town, have gone also.
So the next big thing for the town centre, adjacent to the market hall is the town hall… I know, said the planners (that obviously do not live/shop anywhere near the town centre) we’ll rip up the paving around the front of the town hall and at great expense to the public, we’ll invest in slate paving for the whole area, making it a pedestrian area where we’ll have cabins for pop up businesses and special events, that will bring people into the town centre again!
Despite objections, this was done.
The result: One weekend in every ten, there is an event on with pop up stalls, like the soapbox derby or a food festival, which is the same as every other town centre nearby strangely enough, but that’s all.
After a year, the log cabin style pop up shopping stalls have all but disappeared, yet more market hall stallholders have disappeared and even the charity shops are struggling now.
The second Saturday left before Christmas (today) I was down in the town centre… absolutely deserted.
The open plan area has no cabin style stalls, completely empty, the outside market has lost most of it’s stalls (just one fruit and veg holder, one egg stall and one half of a stall selling jos-sticks, is all that there is.
The inside market is losing it’s butchers and deli stalls after Christmas.
On the plus side, there is another heritage stall opened on the inside market, which sells virtually nothing.
The carpark where the bus station used to be is always full, which is surprising as custom is very thin on the ground, so I’m assuming that the remaining stallholders are parking there instead of customers?
The place is an absolute hole.
What was once a thriving working class town centre is no more.
The supermarket and successive town councils have killed it all.
The question is, much like the NHS CEOs we never hear from or answer questions, why do we never hear the names of these bland frontmen and women that bring about these absurd policies that destroy jobs, trade, custom?
Who’s paying them to be incompetent?
They should be demoted and made to sweep the town centre every Saturday, then they can see the damage they’ve done first hand.