Planning, Tamworth's town centre, retail and leisure

     I tend not to comment on planning meeting or decisions after my points have been made in the meeting, but I feel it might be time to start doing so; well at least I'm going have my say on a few recent things not just planning committee meetings but also some of the wider issues that affect Tamworth.
    It is often tempting for the public and committee members to say things like "I'd prefer to see a shop here instead of this application for a cafe" or "I think this land is better suited to shops than housing" but the committee can only consider the application in front of them for approval or not, the committee cannot refuse an application just on speculative desire, if it fits policy it's difficult to argue against.

In January we had planning meeting with 4 applications for discussion and decision. 1 was a change to existing, 1 was a new application following refusal of a previous scheme, 1 was a change to a scheme and 1 was final details about a foot bridge.

 One was for a new footbridge over the Birmingham Derby railway line giving pedestrian access to the Anker Valley development keeping pedestrians off the carriageway.  The main controversy on this one has already been aired and discussed with the Anker Valley development and at previous committees so was simply around final details on the bridge itself. Previously the committee had been asked its collective opinion on the style of the footbridge and what would be acceptable or not such as a high arch bridge or low profile, enclosed roof etc.

But the application that garnered the most discussion was that of the new multi-use development adjacent to the co-op garage opposite the former site of the Jolly Sailor public house. This was the 4th time the committee had been presented with information of the development. They received an issues paper, which is an opportunity to raise issues which the committee feels are important prior to application, then a planning app which in this case ignored the comments made by the committee at issue paper stage. This first application was refused as it did not meet either policy or the views given by the committee. The cycle was repeated and this time the new design and plans were approved. For the committee this was an important applications as not only does it sit next to the old Co-op garage site which will be coming forward for development at some point it is also located on the route of one of the Gateways to the town centre which the borough and county council have been investing in through the gateways project over the last 6 years. Evidence of this can be seen in the works done to Ladybridge surfacing, changes to the pedestrian crossing on Riverdrive and also the works around Tamworth Train station roundabout.  The ultimate goal is to marry up the 2 different offers of Ventura Park and the town centre and walking onto the Train station.

Tamworth Borough Council and many other groups and individuals have been grappling with the challenge of keeping the town centre vibrant in an ever changing world of retail and leisure.
There are a few things than need to be stated before we go too far.
 
Tamworth Borough Council-

• does not set business rates
• does not own Ankerside or most of the town centre properties
• does not and did not own the land formally the precinct
• does not operate bus services
• does not maintain or build highways (but Staffordshire County Council does)
• does not have any control of what planning applications are received but all must be considered
• Retail has changed and is still changing rapidly

The issues start with what does Tamworth have to offer. Tamworth has Ventura Park as we know it locally but it's actually a collections of sites, This area is one of the biggest retail attractions of the Midlands, it's not on the scale of Trafford Cnetre or the Bullring or the big city high street experience but in fact there is a lot more there than we realise and take for granted. I know people who travel to Ventura park as an activity in shopping and tell me they have been to Tamworth. And actually the traffic issues are nowhere near a bad as we say or think they are I travel through there at various times of the day without problems, in fact I often choose that route to get to the town centre between 4:45pm and 6pm.

So what's the blocker for the town centre? Why aren't these shops there?
Retail has changed and is still changing rapidly, the retail units on offer in traditional town centres are simply not as suitable as they were in the past. There are different demands on vehicle access, different demands on safe pedestrian areas and the size of retail units in demand has changed significantly.

As mentioned earlier the planning committee at Tamworth often receives planning issues papers where a developer will allow early discussion of a proposal and get a feel for the bigger issues the committee will have on a development, this week we have had sight of an application for changes to car parking at Ventura and a the redevelopment of the Gungate Precinct. Yes it's another outline permission maintaining the outline permission given in the past.

 So what should be done ?

In the past I have had some of  my ideas reported in the Tamworth Herald including a tramway from the station along Victoria road to the town centre and a series of venues 'New Orleans' style along this route. yes maybe this was just blue sky thinking but it was still an idea.

As I have mentioned before retail is changing in a way no one predicted, or at least didn't predict well and in the longer term I do worry about all retail shops with the progression of internet shopping so what should be built in Tamworth?

I was walking through Ankerside this week looking at the shops that were open and noted a number of jewellery shops, hair and beauty outlets, and opticians. This got me thinking could Anker side move away from traditional retail and become a place to be pampered? hair salons, perfume and make up outlets, Jewellery outlets, nail bars, tanning salons etc etc, this would probably need so proactive chasing on behalf of Ankerside management but it's just food for thought.
And whilst I'm just imagining the opportunities here's another, should the Henry Boot development on the precinct be mixed retail and leisure or should it be heavily weighted on leisure and becoming a match for Star City in Birmingham, More leisure, restaurants, cafes, venues and a few retail outlets that fit the theme of the development, maybe even some nice flats and apartments similar to the top of Ankerside. Again this would take a shift in the approach of the owner.

I'm hoping the above stimulates some thought and debate outside the "another nail in the coffin" or " we need a Primark" or " too many card and phone shops". You never know the glass might be half full if we make it half full if we use the town centre for retail it may stay as a retail centre, its a bit like  local pub if they are empty the pub will close.

Consumer sovereignty will prevail