The city centre challenge

It had been a while since I last took a stroll along Reform Street in Dundee city centre. But a trip with friends to McManus Galleries had us pass that way and I was shocked at just how rundown it looked and felt. For one of the main thoroughfares into the very heart of Scotland’s fourth city, I found it in a very sad old state indeed.

At a rough guess, more than half of the shop units in what should be a prime retail location are lying empty.

There will shortly be another void when Costa ups sticks for a new High Street location.

The former premises of Time Lifestyle Boutique made for a particularly depressing sight.

Owner Nicola Donnelly had built it into a beacon for independent shops in the city but her dream came to a juddering halt earlier this month when she was forced to shut the doors.

In a blogpost that I hope Dundee city centre managers have read and taken in, she cites lack of footfall, high rent and rate costs as contributory reasons to the shop’s failure.

None of these are issues unique to Reform Street – or even Dundee for that matter – and do not in themselves explain the obvious lack of vibrancy in the city centre.

But in her blog, Nicola also expresses fears that Dundee city centre is being neglected in favour of the waterfront development.

And, perhaps more worryingly, she contends that Dundee city centre is “not seen as a place you want to spend a Saturday afternoon” and there are few public events offered to draw the crowds. I think there is merit in that charge. Bar the odd food and trinkets market, there are very few major attractions that have the power to draw people into the city.

One that did draw the crowds was Oktoberfest, a “hop-soaked” five days that attempted to recreate Munich’s world famous beer festival in City Square.

And while I enjoy a beer as much as anyone else, I do wonder how helpful such an event was for the bottom line of traders in the area.

But it is easy to grouch from the sidelines without offering suggestions of how to improve the situation.

Last year, commercial occupants of the city centre – including Reform Street – voted down a Business Improvement District (Bid) proposal that was designed to improve footfall, reduce crime and make the area a nicer place to be.

I was of the opinion at the time that a Bid for the whole city centre was too great a leap to take and I was not surprised when it was defeated.

But I wonder if a more targeted scheme – such as a distinct proposal for Reform Street and Albert Square – would be a better bet and more likely to achieve the reforms needed.

Councils don’t have the spare cash to lavish on underperforming areas. So, like it or not, private concerns are going to have to help themselves.

On Reform Street, that probably starts with the remaining businesses (both large and small) talking with one another and coming up with a realistic and measurable improvement plan.

That’s not an easy thing to stitch together and, while progress will likely be slow, the situation can be improved if the willingness is there.

So I send out my challenge to the businesses of Reform Street – and all other similar precincts – to pick up the regeneration baton and run with it. Ultimately it is in your best interests. And hopefully when our friends return for their next visit in 2018, they will find a vibrant and rejuvenated city where people like Nicola Donnelly’s dreams can come true.

For one of the main thoroughfares into the very heart of Scotland’s fourth city, I found it in a very sad old state indeed.

Time has been called on Nicola Donnelly’s independent boutique. The loss leaves another void on Reform Street.