GHOST TOWN
One in five shops want out 40 per cent see business fall TSB closure is latest blow
One in five businesses on Cambuslang Main Street have considered leaving the town, the Reformer can reveal.
A shock survey undertaken by Cambuslang Community Council reports that 20 per cent of stores have looked at shutting in the past three years. We can also reveal 40 per cent of shops have experienced a drop in business.
Community council members have now called on government and South Lanarkshire Council chiefs to step up to the plate in order to sort out the town’s busiest road.
The report comes on the back of TSB’s announcement they will close their doors later this year which means there will be no banks in the town from June onwards.
Community council treasurer, John Bachtler, said: “The state of Main Street is a damning indictment on South Lanarkshire Council’s failure to listen to businesses who have been complaining about the state of the town centre.
“Our survey shows what is at risk. Politicians and officials, from both South Lanarkshire Council and the Scottish Government, need to step up to the plate.”
Cambuslang Community Council say the town’s Main Street has reached “tipping point”.
Figures obtained through their Cambuslang Business Survey revealed 40 per cent of businesses on the road have experienced declining business performance over the past three years.
Only 14 per cent said their business performance had improved.
Worryingly, one in five businesses are considering moving out of the town altogether.
Along with parking and crime as problems that affect the Main Street, the current street layout is also deeply unpopular among shopkeepers.
Most are critical of the fact that the single-lane service lane is frequently blocked by a stationary bus or delivery van stopping to unload. Others say other traffic is diverted away from the shops, making it impossible for drivers to stop for an impulse purchase.
Insufficient spaces and time for parking top the list of problems experienced by retailers in Cambuslang Main Street. Other important issues are related to security – crime, vandalism, antisocial behaviour – and the declining footfall and level of trade on the Main Street.
The Reformer spoke to shopkeepers and residents earlier this month who said the Main Street’s parking facilities were inadequate and the variety of shops was a concern.
The community council’s report backed up those claims by revealing 15 hair and beauty service shops dominate the Main Street, while more than 10 takeaways, seven pubs and four betting shops also line the road.
There are eight vacant retail units, 10 per cent of the total stock of shops which is above the 2016 average for Scotland.
John Bacht le r, t reasurer of Cambuslang Community Council who, together with other members, coordinated the survey, said: “The state of the Main Street is a damning indictment on South Lanarkshire Council’s failure to listen to businesses who have been complaining about the state of the town centre.
“For years, businesses have been urging the council to do something about the lack of parking, the shabby appearance of the Main Street and the need for better security.
“Our survey shows what is at risk. Within a few weeks we will have lost three bank branches, giving people still less reason to use the Main Street. The survey indicates that up to a fifth of shopkeepers are thinking of giving up, accelerating a vicious cycle of decline.
“Politicians and officials, from both South Lanarkshire Council and the Scottish Government, need to step up to the plate. Cambuslang Community Council are calling for a town centre regeneration task force which will demonstrate to local businesses that things will change. We need to see the same urgency and commitment as they showed with the threatened closure of the Tata Steel plant.
“We need a business improvement
Community Council want action plan after survey
plan to drive commercial revival of the town centre, and we recommend extending the boundaries of Clyde Gateway to include the regeneration of Cambuslang.
“We also need fresh thinking about remodelling the Main Street that will give the community of Cambuslang a town centre of which they once again can feel proud.”
The majority of businesses on the Main Street are well-established. Around half have been operating on the road for at least 10 years and well over a third for more than 20 years.
However, the profile of the Main Street has changed substantially over the past two decades. The number of shops selling foodstuffs and groceries has declined in recent years, only one clothes shop remains, there is no longer a supermarket in the centre of the Main Street, and the last of the bank branches have announced closure plans.
The Main Street retail sector supports some 350 jobs, 171 full- time and 183 part-time, and an estimated turnover of between £8million and £11million. But the community council believe losing more shops would accelerate a “vicious cycle of decline”.
In the report, Cambuslang Community Council said: “The results show that the Main Street is in trouble and may be reaching a tipping point.
“The changing fortunes of the Main Street are partly due to changing shopping patterns. Three edge-of-town supermarkets, which collectively have as much floorspace as the Main Street, have drawn trade away from the town centre.
“The rapid rise of online shopping, estimated to be approaching 22 per cent of retail UK-wide, and different shopping tastes are also important factors.”
The survey was run from November 2016 to January and achieved 73 responses, equivalent to a 95 per cent rate from the 77 businesses approached for the survey.
To view the report visit www. cambuslangcommunitycouncil.com