The Queen of Shops’ Review on the Future of our High Streets has certainly provoked much discussion, national and local. Some of her proposals can be applied to our own ‘High Street’ here in Herne Hill, especially in the light of discussions about the next developments in and around the Railton Road pedestrianised area.
Nationally, the Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM) have responded to the Portas Review with a Manifesto for Town Centres and High Streets, available to download at http://tinyurl.com/72nahcd. And 17 January saw a very useful debate in the House of Commons, which can be read in full in Hansard, the daily record of Parliamentary debates, at http://tinyurl.com/7ap6y8r. The Government’s response to the Portas Review will appear this Spring.
Meanwhile, here’s a question: do we have a “High Street” - or a “town centre”?
A bit of both, maybe? Herne Hill’s layout makes our community more like a village or small town than a typical High Street, which suggests long straight row of predictable shops, owned by national or global chains, clustered side by side.
In contrast, our shops reach out along Half Moon Lane, Norwood Road, Dulwich Road and of course the fine semi-pedestrianised area of Railton Road, with a few outlying clusters up Herne Hill itself, round the corner on Milkwood Road, in Rosendale Road and further along Half Moon Lane. The road layout of Herne Hill, with everything channelled under one railway bridge, can be frustrating for drivers and traffic planners, but it makes for a very convenient shopping layout, as nothing is more than a few minutes from the centre.
More important for us all, too, is the fact that most of our shops are individual, distinct small businesses, often family-owned, thriving on the hard work and vision of their owners and staff, and succeeding - or at least surviving - by serving our community. There are one or two outposts of national or London-wide chains, in the grocery and estate agency sectors. But in their different ways, most premises are unique, and this adds enormously to the joy of shopping in Herne Hill.
And it’s not like some picturesque tourist villages (or even some ‘Villages’ nearer home), tricked out with shops selling little the locals want to buy, or charging ludicrous prices because ground rents make this inevitable.
We have an amazing variety of shops, catering to almost all our needs. It makes for a business cluster that sustains our community, attracts regular footfall, and increases business for all.
So would Mary Portas approve? She would probably be delighted, but might want to repeat some words of advice:
- Consumers’ expectations get more demanding every year. The small businesses that survive will need to focus on what she calls Experience, Service and Specialism.
- And we, as consumers, need to be aware that where we shop will, in the long run, determine the choices we have. It may be worth paying a bit extra to support a small local business.
- Landlords have a key role to play. They seem too happy to take their rent rises and but leave sites standing empty for years, like missing teeth, instead of working with enterprise to attract new tenants, if only on a short-term basis, maybe as pop-up shops.
- Markets? Street markets can really add life an area and draw in shoppers and visitors who might normally go elsewhere. It’s timely that, through the Herne Hill Forum, and in consultation with local shops, a consultant is now looking at the possibility of encouraging street markets (along with other initiatives) in consultation with existing traders.
There’s lots more in the Portas Review: but we might end with an important idea voiced by the Town Centre Managers: “Town centres are often the heart of communities [and] small businesses are the lifeblood of the town centre itself”.
Join the debate and share your thoughts with other Herne Hill residents!
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