< The Voice Winter 2007

Newsletter of the Vale of Evesham Commerce and Tourism Association (VECTA)

SMALL SHOPS COMMISSION
ESTABLISHED

ways to do this is to better understand how best to help the small shops in the high street.

The Conservative Parliamentary Enterprise Group have established a” Commission into Small Shops in the High Street”. This Commission has been set up to review the future of small shops in Britain’s High Streets with a view to helping with the regeneration of the country’s town centres. The Commission will consider the threats and opportunities facing independent shops. It will attempt to identify the help needed to support growth and prosperity by taking into account the key characteristics of successful town centres.
The five subjects to be considered by the Commission are: planning; parking and transportation; local taxes, rents and other allied costs; crime against business and the person; and retail competition.
The objective is to contribute to the regeneration of our town centres by the enhanced recruitment of small retailers; the broadening of choice; the reduction of public apprehension and the restoration of our town centres to their traditional role within our communities. A Report is to be compiled, reviewed and published.in March 2008.

“The set up of this Commission is further evidence of the political importance being attached to the 'survival of the High Street'.”

Many of Britain’s town centres are in decline, and across the country the numbers of shoppers are decreasing, put off by a combination of crime and poor planning policies that are rendering shops progressively more inaccessible. The numbers of independent retailers are also decreasing. Clearly all retailers must respond to the demands of their customers, but I also believe that Government can take positive action to help save our high streets. There are a whole range of important issues - such as planning, business rates and rents, crime against business, and regulation - where we need to consider Government’s proper role and look at how we can ensure that small businesses are able to compete fairly.

We also need to look at ways of encouraging best practice and innovation so that we retain thediversity and character of our high streets. To do so however we need to raise the number of people who enter them. A new approach is needed to regenerate these centres of our communities and one of the

Chairman’s Comment

In a global world, local, national and international authorities can all impact upon the viability of businesses in town centres. Of these the local authorities are the most important through the planning decisions that they make. Whether it be to raise the cost of parking and thereby risk discouraging shoppers from entering town centres, or granting planning permission for out-of-town retail development, thus taking business away from the centre, they have an overwhelming influence. Businesses must be aware of stages at which they can appeal and be more informed of how planning processes can affect them.
The Government’s White Paper on Planning, published in May this year, contains proposals to scrap the ‘need’ test for out-of-town retail developments, an option that could damage town centres by making out-of-town developments far easier to approve. How can we plan to attract small retailers back into our town centres ? Have planners helped or hindered the involvement of small retailers

in town centre development over the last few years?
The takeover of local convenience stores by supermarkets is said to be to the detriment of the small independent retailer. Small businesses face problems with below-cost selling, a process that is banned in France, a country notable for many of its independent retailers. How can we use large retailers to help a diversity of small retailers to operate in our town centres? Should there be a limit on the number of certain types of shops in town centres?
Well thought-out parking restrictions, coupled with sensible administration of those restrictions, can help to regenerate towns. In 2006 the Transport Select Committee noted a ‘…recognition that controlling car demand is fundamental to sustaining the attractiveness of the town centre, and that retail sales are being fuelled, not curtailed, by successful transport policies.’ How can parking and transport best support active town centre development? Do traffic free town centres help or hinder a diverse town centre retail environment?
Vernon Powell - Chairman of VECTA