Town centre needs mixed development to prosper
IWAS pleased to see my fellow Labour Councillor Matt Patrick express his strong reservations over the shock news that North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) is planning to buy Grimsby’s Freshney Place shopping mall (June 13).
For like him I also worry over the possibility that it could “become a taxpayer-funded money pit.”
Don’t get me wrong, I want to see a thriving town centre, which of course will include shops.
But we are living in an entirely different world to when Freshney Place absorbed the old Riverhead Centre in the early 1990s.
Even in America the shopping mall has lost its lustre, with many becoming as much a ghost “town” as the High Streets they largely replaced.
Why is this so? Well for one thing we’ve seen the rise of internet shopping, a trend that has been accelerated by the Covid pandemic that caused many shops to shut by Government dictat.
Once people get used to doing their business online, then they’re not likely to return to physical shopping and the problems of either finding a suitable car parking space or waiting for a bus that never turns up.
On top of this, we see more people wanting to shop close to where they live, another habit encouraged by the stay at home Covid advice.
Discount stores are frequently opening at locations within walking distance, ideal for those who don’t have a car.
We’ve seen in the past few days a new Aldi receiving its first customers on Scartho Top, while I can access both a Lidl and Tesco Express without having to queue for a bus.
Also, there have been other retail developments in and around Grimsby. If you haven’t travelled from Lock Hill into town along Victoria Street for a while, you’ll be surprised at just how many shops there now are.
Being served by buses and having their own parking facilities, they are just as convenient for shoppers.
Yet more outlets can be found along the section of Corporation Road before you get to the Duke of York Gardens.
So why should our money be necessarily used to prop up an ailing shopping precinct that doesn’t appear to meet people’s requirements in the 2020s?
To me it is clear that a mixed development is needed for Grimsby town centre to prosper, including homes for individuals to live in who will ensure that it is safe for everyone at all hours of the day.
I’m afraid a cinema is no answer, when audiences haven’t recovered from the compulsory Covid closures.
Film buffs increasingly stream movies online, which is one reason why they want faster broadband speeds.
Meanwhile, an older generation is content to wait a few weeks until they can purchase the appropriate DVD.
As for the market, it appears that shoppers are voting with their feet in favour of that in Freeman Street, which recently won a national award.
Perhaps we should let them decide where they choose to shop, which surely is in line with traditional free-market Tory philosophy!