Friday 1 July 2011

Tenbury Futures' PLAN B

Thanks to all those who sent back People's Plan/Cattle Market development ideas for consideration & discussion on the Tenbury Futures blog. There were some great ideas returned and we didn't publish all of them on here but selected a few that we felt we could visualise and which would prompt further discussion. On the back of these ideas and along with the earlier 'Community Questionnaire' results, we've produced our vision of how we'd like to persue re-development of the Cattle Market site with our 'Plan B'.   

Central to this plan are the range of values that we possess within the Futures group - these include those of developing and enhancing facilities for the local community, improving Tenbury's tourism appeal and creating a sustainable, healthy and vibrant environment in the town for people to live, work and visit.

[Download "Plan B" as a multi-page .pdf file by clicking on the link below]

[Click to download PLAN B]


Mary Portas' New Review of High Streets



Mary has been asked by central government to do a review of our highstreets and look into what makes them vibrant places for people to shop and on the flip side the challenges to them [such as out of town and large supermarket competition].

You can see her website and the initial discussions on this [here].

Channel 4 Documentary on Tesco's Working Methods:

15 comments:

  1. One word -Brilliant, lets hope Tenbury Futures can persuade the land owner to think twice before selling to Tesco ,which we all know will decimate the independent stores .

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  2. Shrewsbury Hydro will be owned by residents in Shrewsbury and nearby who wish to subscribe for shares. There will also be a local community fund set up to use some of the income from generating electricity. Projects include video and data links from the turbine to local schools to demonstrate at first hand the amount of green renewable energy produced and the saving of CO2 emissions; also, the installation of local charging points for electric cars/motorbikes so they can be fed with electricity produced directly from the water power of the river. It is intended that the small turbine house, faced in local stone, will be open to visitors and will be an interesting addition to the attractions of the River Severn.

    Why not Tenbury???

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  3. This seems a good ref for Shrewsbury Hydro:

    http://www.energyshare.com/shrewsbury-hydro

    It'd clearly a feasible idea for locals to 'own shares' in such projects. Interesting too that they applied to BGas initially for funding for surveys to take place..

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  4. A last-minute attempt to persuade the Government to allow local authorities to step in to save independent shops disappearing from the high street will be made in the House of Lords this week.


    Amid mounting concern about the plight of small retailers in the face of spreading supermarket chains, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs have drafted amendments to the Localism Bill designed to safeguard the character of neighbourhood shopping streets.

    Under the Labour proposals, which are backed by the Association of Convenience Stores, councils will be required to put in place a retail-diversity scheme based on the wishes of the local community. Similar proposals by the Liberal Democrats will also seek to tilt the balance of power back towards local authorities, which are often unable to oppose the arrival of a large supermarket.

    In May, the Government announced it was setting up an independent inquiry on the issue under Mary Portas, a retail consultant who presents Mary Queen of Shops on BBC2. It is not expected to report back until November. Labour said it hoped to put the safeguarding of traditional shopping areas on a statutory basis before then. Jack Dromey, shadow minister for Communities and Local Government, said local councils should have a duty to help popular small shops survive.

    Mr Dromey said: "Unless we have retail diversity and councils charged with ensuring the interests of small retailers are paramount, then what you will have is that dreadful combination of the continued decline of the high street all over Britain and its Tesco-isation, particularly of the South of England."

    Opposition to the growth of supermarkets has recently resulted in rioting in Bristol and high-profile challenges to the arrival of big stores in places such as Cambridge. Meanwhile, the number of vacant shops has tripled to 14 per cent since 2007.

    The Liberal Democrat Lord Greaves said it was important not just to save town centres, but district shopping streets. "This is an issue that people really care about," Lord Greaves said. "The amendment we are putting down would put the emphasis on the character of a local development."

    In April, a report by ResPublica, a think-tank close to David Cameron, called for a levy to be imposed on the big supermarkets which could be redistributed to small shopkeepers in the form of rate relief.

    Greg Clark, the Planning minister, said last month that the Government was considering cutting red tape to encourage "meanwhile uses" of empty shops to breathe new life into declining high streets and stimulate entrepreneurship.

    According to figures from the British Independent Retailers Association, in 2009 there was a net loss of 5,204 shops. The following year this figure dropped to 2,298 while 298 disappeared in the first five months of 2011 – mostly due to rising rent.

    Case study: Abdul Arain: Cambridge shopkeeper leading the fight against the 'Big Four'

    Campaigners in Cambridge say their city is in danger of becoming another clone town. Opposition is mounting against plans to open a Sainsbury's supermarket in a former snooker hall not far from a new Tesco in Mill Road.

    To draw attention of the issue, a local shopkeeper Abdul Arain is standing against Lord Sainsbury to succeed the Duke of Edinburgh as chancellor of Cambridge University.

    Mr Arain, who owns the Al-Amin grocery store in Mill Road, said the university should be in the "vanguard" of the local community. He said: "Local shops, the butcher, the baker, the newsagent, are reduced to one multiples outlet. There's a compounding effect. People who would normally invest in that area and take pride in that area, are gone. The consequences are antisocial behaviour, an area deprived of its soul."

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  5. “...If it [superstore] comes it will close most of the shops, all Tenbury will be left with is Tesco & charity shops it has happened in so many other towns when will people ever learn.”

    Mrs B, Greete - on the Cattle Market questionnaire.

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  6. “...There are superstores conveniently located nearby. I and millions of others are sick to death of being monopolised and having our choices taken away.”

    Ms B, Eardiston - on the Futures Cattle Market questionnaire.

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  7. “Anything other than a supermarket the size of Tesco. I have seen it in other areas where these developments have decimated the local shops & the towns have turned into charity shop ghost towns.”

    Mr B, Tenbury Wells - on the Futures Cattle Market questionnaire.

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  8. “In the first 3 months they have devastated the local high street to the tune of a 35% to 64% downturn... They are actively targetting the local Boots store [35% to 40% down] and the local Co-Op [formerly Somerfield 65% down]. Most other retail businesses are experiencing between 15% and 30% decline... some 4 months after Tesco opening.

    The biggest problem has been the reduction in footfall, people are using Tesco as a one-stop shop and not walking or even driving into the old town centre... I believe that in your case [Tenbury] both the Town Council and the Chamber of Trade are currently in favour - the question they must ask themselves is WHERE is the increase in customers that Tesco will happilly predict going to come from - hardly Ludlow or Leominster.”


    Highstreet Shop Keeper, Llandrindod Wells ~ approx 4 months after a new Tesco Superstore opened on the edge of the town.

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  9. “The development should bear in mind Tenbury’s qualities as an original, unspoilt market town with a strong local community and reflect it’s agricultural heritage which will attract visitors [today’s best commercial option].”

    Mrs M, local resident on the Futures Cattle Market questionnaire.

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  10. “It would be nice to have the holly and mistletoe sales back in Tenbury as [the town] is well known for this and it does bring in trade to the town...

    The Riverside is one of the most beautiful icons of the town and I cannot believe that it has not been utilised to it’s full potential. This area would be adored by both locals and tourists and should house: cafes, bars, ice-cream parlour, gift shops and craft stalls etc.”


    Mrs H - local resident on the Cattle Market questionnaire.

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  11. “An opportunity to create a really attractive social & recreational area for Tenbury.”

    Mr K, Burford - on the Futures Cattle Market questionnaire.

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  12. “We should value the riverside and not mess it up. The area is a beautiful part of the town.”

    Mrs H, Tenbury Wells - on the Cattle Market questionnaire.

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  13. All these people have spoken; will Tesco listen?

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  14. Beverley is a market town situated in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The East Riding of Yorkshire Council made the decision to approve a new Tesco store in September 1999 in light of a number of studies about the impact of the proposed development. These initial studies highlighted the following:
    There was a clear quantitative and qualitative need for one additional food superstore in Beverley.

    The new store should be located on the edge of the town centre and facilitate linked trips between the store and the town centre.

    The proposed store would sustain and enhance the vitality and viability of the town centre.
    The new Tesco store opened in 2002. An independent retail study looked at the effects of the store on the town centre a year after it opened.
    The study concluded that:
    There was a significant increase in the vitality and viability of the town centre between 2000 and 2003 and this reflects to a large extent the influence of the new Tesco store on the health of the town centre.

    The Tesco store has improved availability of food shopping in Beverley, it has improved car parking provision in the town for shoppers and it has reduced the leakage of trade out of Beverley for food shopping.

    The presence of Tesco has not deterred new investment in the town centre, for example a new Marks & Spencer Simply Foods store opened during this time.

    The evidence is that the attraction of Beverley as a place to shop has increased, especially for food shopping, and Tesco appears to have provided the opportunity for linked trips to the town centre. Two-thirds of Tesco shoppers make linked trips.

    The overall vacancy rate in the town centre has decreased in the last 2-3 years. Whilst this is mostly due to general retail trends, it can be partly attributed to the effect of opening the Tesco store on the vitality of those parts of the town centre nearest to the store and the benefits of linked trips.

    There is no evidence 'on the ground' that Tesco has had a negative effect in its first year of trading. On the contrary, it appears to have made a positive contribution to the health of the town centre.
    The full report is available from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

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  15. An interesting report.. When read in detail though it actually says that there was a short term increase in the Vitality and Viability index after Tesco's build but after that it had "fallen back slightly again". The only report we could find was dated Feb 2009 though - no report immediately after Tesco's build in 2002.

    the 2009 report doesn't attribute all this scenario directly to Tesco's involvement though as Tesco claim on their website page: "Talking Tesco: How We Compete".

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