What is this blog about?
The inspiration for my blog this week has been the thought of Lockdown ending and hopefully, on 12th April, many amenities in our villages, towns and cities (in England) opening up again. I am lucky to live between two villages, near a town and not too far from London. Clearly many businesses will have suffered as a result of the pandemic, but many will survive and inevitably there will be change. This blog explores some of the issues about changes in shopping trends, especially during the pandemic, the devastating effect on high streets and how we can help by using our LOCAL amenities and spending LOCALLY. The blog will touch on the changes in land use and how a circular economy might be developed to Lessen Our Carbon And Live.

Planning this blog! 

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Why am I writing this?
I am doing this to inspire us to think about what we can do to support our local communities coming out of Lockdown. To think about how and where we spend our money? Do we want our high streets and communities to return to how they were (unlikely) or would we like to see a shift in thinking and behaviour towards a more sustainable society?

Who is this for?
Everyone. Our communities have a special character and culture which, simply put, are made up of the residents and people who work in the area. For a community to thrive it relies on the population, employment, local business/industry and entrepreneurs. People generally want to feel a sense of belonging and be able to meet up with others (we have really missed this). A community needs medical and health services, education and libraries, sports, recreation and fitness facilities as well as all that the high street may offer.

Shopping
Even prior to the pandemic people were shopping more online and less in local shops, also going to out of town retail parks. Shopping online has become a global phenomenon; during the past year up by 34.7% from 2019. eCommerce now accounts for more than 30% of retail (It was 18.6% in July 2019). During the pandemic we had a ’Shop Local Week’. Can we keep this going to support our local businesses?

The High Street
As a child (I am 64!), I remember the butcher, baker, greengrocer, grocer (I married his son!!) … there were no shopping malls - I remember Brent Cross opening in 1976 (the first shopping mall in the UK) and my mum taking me there for a ‘day out’!! There were no supermarkets that I remember. It was exciting when a boutique - Chelsea Girl - opened in the town, next door to the Wimpy Bar (what a novelty) and HMV - where we spent many hours listening to ‘records’! It was also a high street that had the first cash point in the UK. There was and still is a Department store - how long will this survive?

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Over time, some high streets have had a proliferation of banks, building societies, Estate Agents. Others have become full of cafes and restaurants. Between 2015 - 2018 there was growth in accommodation and the food sector and increased employment in pubs and bars. Sadly many high streets have become 'Charity streets' with many shops also boarded up. A quick ‘Google' reveals many articles on the decline of the high street. High streets vary greatly across the country based on the spending power or ‘wealth’ of the population (unless they are a major tourist attraction of course). Retail ranges from 11%-63% depending on the area (ONS link). Of the “Hub” towns, which there are 182, 179 have high streets. These towns are often ‘free-standing’, with a market town heritage and a historically important trading route. I may be naive, but wouldn’t it be great if our high streets could thrive again and have a mixture of uses to meet the needs of their community? The review of high streets by Mary Portas in 2011 made 28 recommendations.

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The future - planning changes
There are planning changes on the horizon, as from September 2020 some of the Use Classes were amended - the ability to change the use of land. One of the main drivers for this is to encourage the repurposing of buildings on high streets and town centres without restrictive planning permissions. Naturally this is controversial, but I believe the idea is to encourage a wide variety; retail, restaurants, finance, professional, commercial, sport, recreation, fitness, medical and health services, creches, day nurseries .., offices to be ‘interchangeable depending on the market'. However, there are other recent reforms in Permitted Development Rights which allow developers to demolish/repurpose vacant office and industrial buildings and replace with residential and increase upward extension of some properties. This is already having an influence on town centres - watch this space!

The Circular Economy
There is much written about this (see ELLEN MACARTHUR Foundation) and a short but clear explanation can be found on a TED talk on YouTube. This is not just about turning a linear economy into a circle, but a complete rethink of how our economy could work to become more sustainable.

Challenges/solutions

• Foster local economy - jobs, opportunities, innovation & growth, businesses (rates relief)
• Funding of infrastructure and investment in capital projects
• Support our neighbourhoods, increase sense of belonging, encourage meeting places e.g. community assets
• Planning reforms - mixed use to reflect changing retail and business, repurposing of buildings
• Reduce car parking charges in towns
  The list goes on ……

What will you do coming out of lockdown? I would love to hear from you in the comments section.

Plogart Pat

Images are from:

• Chelsea Girl - The Sunday Times
• Wimpy Bar - The Oldie
• HMV - Chronicle Live
• Brent Cross - Pinterest
• Banks - The Mirror
• Restaurants - Real Business

References can be found in all the links