I have been reviewing the Mary Portas Report on town centres. She has come up with 28 recommendations to support and improve town shopping centres. The Business Department of the government is now considering her comments, and is inviting our ideas before finalising their response. I am seeking your thoughts and opinions before finalising my submission to Ministers.
There are limits to what central government can do. Each shopping centre is different. Local Councils have more control. They decide on car parks, roads, transport links, planning permissions, changes of use, town promotion and town improvement. Central government can and should look at the volume of national regulation that can get in the way of new and smaller retailers. It can and should look at the overall balance of taxation, as business rates can be a considerable claim on revenues from running a shop.
The most important thing Councils can get right is making it easy to get into the town centre, and easy to park if you go by car. Wokingham has free car parking at the Council offices on Saturdays. Waitrose and Tesco offer their customers free parking all the time they are open. These arrangements help a lot, as most people want to be able to put the weekly grocery shop straight into the boot to get home. I would like the Council and shopkeepers to look again at whether we need some extra short term shoppers parking in existing public car parks that could be free. You could be given an exit token by a shop when you made a purchase which would cover your first hour’s parking, or some such arrangement. Further junction improvements to make the flows easier and safer would also help. The Council do have plans to sort out the cause of many a traffic jam, the station roundabout and level crossing gates. A general review of blockages would be helpful.
Mary Portas is a fan of the all purpose town centre. She thinks allowing change of use or granting planning permission for leisure and health services as well as traditional shops adds to the variety and to the reasons why people might come into the town. That seems like sensible advice to town planners. She also favours energetic town management. Wokingham achieves a lot through a combination of Council activity, both Borough and Town, and voluntary actions by charities and shop keepers. The various fairs and markets, Christmas lights, cultural events and civic ceremonies punctuate the year and give people further reason to come into the centre. Retail is detail. Successful town centre promotion requires continuous effort to create events and to gain publicity so people have it in mind to come in.
She is also a fan of the market as an institution. Wokingham is already well served with regular market stalls, and with a monthly substantial market with a wide range of offers. It would be good to build this up more. The market provides fresh fish, greengroceries, craft products, local farm meats and a range of other items. It always seems popular and well supported when it is in town.
I recommend the Portas report to our Councillors and Council officers. It contains some good advice. I look forward to hearing from more of you before I put in my ideas to the government. The Portas review reminded me how much local people can do for themselves with the help of their Council.