18 October (Part 2) - Business up - except in Erith
The
Places webcast began with Councillor James Hunt pontificating on footfall in
shopping centres but this was yet another technical problem. Whilst the recording was the same the
following morning it has been subsequently corrected up to a point; it still lacks the
on-line indexing.
The first subject for discussion was the Business Improvement Districts. The
Council has looked again at the BID Strategy written in 2019. Councillor Cheryl
Bacon (Conservative, Sidcup) said that shop vacancies were high and so was
footfall. The latter appeared to be “incredible”; how confident were managers in the statistics?
Vacancies come from a manual shop front count every six months. Footfall is a
best estimate based on mobile phone data. Shoppers are no longer counted by
sensors but phones are tracked and the trend is upwards. Spend data has been
requested from the GLA but it “has fallen on deaf ears”.
Councillor June Slaughter (Conservative, Sidcup) was also “surprised by the rosy
picture”. It has been a difficult time for High Streets, Covid, the financial
situation, on-line shopping and the High Streets now look very different to a few years ago. Many more eating places.
Parking is a big disincentive to shopping in Sidcup. The spaces are mainly
reserved for residents. Councillor Slaughter was disappointed that Sidcup BID had complained
about communications with Councillors. She was not sure what more Councillors could possibly do.
The Sidcup BID manager was clearly perplexed by the comment. It may have
appeared in the report but she disowned it.
Councillor Philip Read said that coffee shops are all very well but “they are
peripheral” and not what attracts footfall; that is down to proper shops - the anchor
tenants - attracting people who want to buy.
In Erith the decline began when a Labour administration in the 1960s replaced the
traditional shopping centre with “a concrete monstrosity that nobody but them
liked”. Restricting road access had done nothing to help either. Many
residents have decided that it is easier to go elsewhere. Without improved
access Erith will fall further from favour. The strategy is disappointing for
Erith which needs constructive thinking. It was not a poor relation before it was razed to the ground.
The responsible Council Officer dithered and blustered but the Cabinet Member
was less reticent. Cafer Munur said that there was no money available to fix Erith’s problems.
Philip Read was clearly disappointed. The closure of Avenue Road ensures that
the bulk of local residents who should be able to drive to the shopping centre
in five minutes now find it quicker to go to Bexleyheath.
Councillor John Davey took a similar view. “Tinkering around the edges will be a failure.”
After 23 minutes the revised webcast returned to Councillor Hunt who was
being sceptical about the mobile phone data. In Sidcup large numbers of phone owners
use the railway station without spending any money and in Bexleyheath huge numbers of
school children swarm through the shopping centre every weekday. What is the the effect on footfall data?
The Council Officer resorted to bluster again. The numbers cannot be split off
but “some of the schoolchildren will be spending”. The BID manager confirmed
that some do. HMV and snacking are attractive to them.
The new M&S Food Store in Sidcup has reported that trade is more than 20% above
expectations but Council Licensing fees are a serious disincentive to running
events. Market traders and the events arrangers have simply given up and gone away.
Bexley Council has not responded to any question on the subject.
The BID Strategy referred to Nuxley Village, a term which annoys every Bexley
purist because the place doesn’t exist and Councillor Read rightly wanted to
ensure that the Council does not give the term an official blessing.
This is what he had to say…
Barely audible interruption from Councillor Bacon removed.
Note: Somewhere on BIB I am on record as saying that I only shopped in Bexleyheath once a year - for last minute Christmas presents. Now I am there once a week at least and the reason is two fold. A much quicker bus service and a decision to use Amazon as little as possible. 200 orders and many more items last year, four so far in 2024.