MARY PORTAS REVIEW OF HIGH STREETS

[leenewham]

If you get a chance, listen to her and read the report. There are some great recommendations there and it's fantastic to hear her talk about encouraging new, independent businesses rather than just attracting brands. Perhaps she follows some of the posts on here! "Too many fried chicken shops…put off investors" she says. I hope Richard reads it!

http://www.bis.gov.uk/news/topstories/2 ... tas-review

Summary of recommendations
1. Put in place a “Town Team”: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets
2. Empower successful Business Improvement Districts to take on more responsibilities and powers and become “Super-BIDs”
3. Legislate to allow landlords to become high street investors by contributing to their Business Improvement District
4. Establish a new “National Market Day” where budding shopkeepers can try their hand at operating a low-cost retail business
5. Make it easier for people to become market traders by removing unnecessary regulations so that anyone can trade on the high street unless there is a valid reason why not
6. Government should consider whether business rates can better support small businesses and independent retailers
7. Local authorities should use their new discretionary powers to give business rate concessions to new local businesses
8. Make business rates work for business by reviewing the use of the RPI with a view to changing the calculation to CPI
9. Local areas should implement free controlled parking schemes that work for their town centres and we should have a new parking league table
10. Town Teams should focus on making high streets accessible, attractive and safe
11. Government should include high street deregulation as part of their ongoing work on freeing up red tape
12. Address the restrictive aspects of the ‘Use Class’ system to make it easier to change the uses of key properties on the high street
13. Put betting shops into a separate ‘Use Class’ of their own
Page 5
14. Make explicit a presumption in favour of town centre development in the wording of the National Planning Policy Framework
15. Introduce Secretary of State “exceptional sign off ” for all new out-of-town developments and require all large new developments to have an “affordable shops” quota
16. Large retailers should support and mentor local businesses and independent retailers
17. Retailers should report on their support of local high streets in their annual report
18. Encourage a contract of care between landlords and their commercial tenants by promoting the leasing code and supporting the use of lease structures other than upward only rent reviews, especially
for small businesses
19. Explore further disincentives to prevent landlords from leaving units vacant
20. Banks who own empty property on the high street should either administer these assets well or be required to sell them
21. Local authorities should make more proactive use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers to encourage the redevelopment of key high street retail space
22. Empower local authorities to step in when landlords are negligent with new “Empty Shop Management Orders”
23. Introduce a public register of high street landlords
24. Run a high profile campaign to get people involved in Neighbourhood Plans
25. Promote the inclusion of the High Street in Neighbourhood Plans
26. Developers should make a financial contribution to ensure that the local community has a strong voice in the planning system
27. Support imaginative community use of empty properties through Community Right to Buy, Meanwhile Use and a new “Community Right to Try”
28. Run a number of High Street Pilots to test proof of concept

So, have you read it and what do you think? It would be interesting if the guys behind the Greyhound, local traders and Cllrs had a view on this. This is an important report and deserves debate.

[G-Man]

Fantastic stuff Lee, you actually beat me to it, and I would never have been as in depth as you

Stad out points after a quick scan, apart from lowering business rates, are:

1. Put in place a “Town Team”: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets
2. Empower successful Business Improvement Districts to take on more responsibilities and powers and become “Super-BIDs”
3. Legislate to allow landlords to become high street investors by contributing to their Business Improvement District
4. Establish a new “National Market Day” where budding shopkeepers can try their hand at operating a low-cost retail business
16. Large retailers should support and mentor local businesses and independent retailers
17. Retailers should report on their support of local high streets in their annual report

Lets see what others more in the know have to say...come on people pipe up!!!

G-man

[simon]

Although it hasn't really been highlighted in news reports of Portas' report, the main thing that has regenerated Rotherhams High Street has been the rent subsidies for new retailers. By offering a 50% rent subsidy for the first year and 25% for the second, Rotherham has been able to attract a number of independents and small local chains.
Lee said elsewhere that occupancy wasn't the issue in Sydenham, it was more the type of shops that opened (pawnbrokers, small supermarket franchises and fast food outlets). I agree, but the the rents on Sydenham Road are so prohibitive as to only offer those businesses types of business a chance, through clustering, canibalisation and opening hours and price competiton.
If LLB were to offer subsidies to retailers they could restrict them, as they do in Rotherham, to the types of business they want to attract. They could, for example, only offer the subsidy to small local chains and independents offering goods or services that were different from those that are already offered.
Of course, the subsidy would cost money. But say we had three shops that were given 50% in the first year and 25% in the second. With Sydenham Road rents at about £20k per year for a decent unit that would cost £45k. Sounds a lot, but not much compared to the cost of the infrastructure work that we are stil awaiting commencement of and less than the projected cost of a mosaic at the Narborhood Centre.

[leenewham]

I totally agree with you Simon.

In the report they talk about BIS groups (I met with the one in Kingston which is the only area I know of in London that has increased footfall every year for the last year and has only one empty shop).

Mary's talk of strong traders, BIS groups and traders to make Town Teams is key. I've seen the difference this has made in Barnet, Kingston, Muswell Hill, Harringay Green Lanes, Hanwell and others. Some other boroughs are investing in Town Centre managers. I think it's the most important step towards to so called 'vibrant high street'.

Parking is an interesting point. Most local authorities seem to insist on half hour free periods. Supermarkets tend to put parking periods at 2 hours. What can ou do in 30 minutes? Get your hair cut? Have a meal? Wait to get your laundry done? Pedicure? A weeks shopping? Have a coffee? You will be pushing it. Why don't councils conduct surveys for how people shop rather than just imposing 30 minute limits everywhere? Luckily we have a free carpark, but it's not the same as parking in the high street. Chatting to people by a parking metre in one London borough that has a 30 minute free waiting period every single person parking and trying to work out how long they would be parked for said they hated it and said it was a pain, pretty much what all the local traders had said.