Your Say survey results: Your town

Shoppers are slowly abandoning town centres in the West Midlands because they are worse than they were 10 years ago and continue to struggle.

That is the result from the second day of the Express & Star Your Say Survey, the biggest independent analysis ever carried out in the Black Country and Staffordshire.

Town centres in the West Midlands have declined over the past 10 years as more and more people have moved to shopping online or in out of town retail parks.

More than 87 per cent of E&S readers say their towns are either "much worse" or "somewhat worse" than they were at the start of the 21st century.

Only seven per cent say the town centres are the same as they were in 2003 while just 4.5 per cent say they are somewhat better and only 1.2 per cent "much better".

Our question about how towns are faring resulted in 48.2 per cent saying they were struggling and 34.7 per cent saying they were not as good as they used to be. Just over 11 per cent said town centres were adequate for their needs while only 5.1 per cent said they were good.

And there is an overwhelming consensus about the top priority to make town centres better – attracting and maintaining a good standard of shops.

More than 65 per cent of people say improving the quality of the shops on offer would persuade them to shop locally.

And a significant figure, around 26 per cent, say that cheaper parking is their main priority when it comes to visiting shops.

Our survey also reveals that out of town centres such as Merry Hill – which offer free parking – now take more than one third of the trade in the region.

While online retailers continue to grow, at the expense of high street names such as HMV, Jessops' and Blockbuster, the internet has yet to overtake the traders operating out of shops and is the first choice for 16.3 per cent of our readers.

The figure also includes those who use catalogues as their main tool for shopping.

This should give comfort to retailers in shops who are able to offer face to face customer service and give people expert advice on their purchases.

Traditional market traders also face a fight to attract our custom.

Only 2.8 per cent look to the market first when it comes to clothes shopping, according to the Your Say survey.

Meanwhile, 65.8 per cent of people say there are far too many betting shops in town centres.

A further 32 per cent say the number is about right – and just two per cent of respondents to the survey would like to see more. At a time when many shops are closing, bookmakers are one of the few trades opening up new businesses on the high street.

Despite the general decline there is still optimism that town centres can be revived and even thrive again.

Phil Barnett, chairman of Wolverhampton Business Champions, said: "Shopping centres are doing a lot of work to attract new businesses in.

"The survey shows that shoppers will come in if there are the big high street names they are looking for.

"This isn't going to happen overnight and town centres are in for the long haul."

Adrian Bailey, West Bromwich West MP and chairman of Parliament's Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, added: "Retail habits are changing. I think town centres have to change as well.

"I still believe that quality shops, if they remain located in town centres, will draw people in.

"But town centres will increasingly be seen as places to go for leisure and entertainment if they have the right mix of venues and restaurants."

But figures concerning the lack of use of traditional markets have prompted Express & Star historian Carl Chinn to call for action.

He said: "It's a real concern for me.

"Markets are part of the appeal of a town centre and I despair at the lack of action of successive governments to do enough about this.

"Vibrant, boistrous markets are not just about selling goods, they are places for socialising and entertainment.

"Thriving town centres are about more than trade, they are about social well-being."

Out of town centres such as Bentley Bridge in Wednesfield are the most popular choices for 22.2 per cent of people seeking entertainment, such as the cinema and bowling alleys.

One of the benefits that comes with going to out of town centres is the lure of free parking.

However, the majority of people, 35.3 per cent of our respondents, say they now rarely go out at all.

Local pubs, despite many struggling to stay afloat due to competition from the supermarkets, still pull in more than one in five people for a pint.

Attracting people into town and city centres has long been an aim of councils across the region and the only way to afford to do so is to bring in a private partner who is prepared to invest the money.

But there has been major disappointment with the decision to abandon long-awaited plans for Wolverhampton's £300 million Summer Row shopping centre, leaving the city council working to attract new private investment in the area in the form of offices, shops, hotels and housing.

Our survey reveals that almost 44 per cent per cent of people believe the biggest priority for town centres is a better shopping environment while more than 18 per cent believe there should be efforts made to provide more jobs.

A further 14.1 per cent want cheaper car parks while 13 per cent want their town centres to be safer.

Family-friendly measures would please 8.5 per cent. Only just over two per cent of people have concerns about public transport links into town centres.

Major supermarkets have changed the face of town centres such as Walsall and Rugeley and Sainsbury's will shortly be under construction in Wolverhampton while Tesco is also set to revive the former Royal Hospital.

Three hundred jobs will be created in Rugeley when Tesco opens its new superstore in Power Station Road later this year.

Despite the investment and jobs promised by supermarkets, a narrow majority of E&S readers believes they do not help to improve our towns.

According to our survey more than four in 10 people do not believe that supermarkets are having a positive difference while around 37 per cent believe that they are. Yet with just over one fifth, 21.5 per cent, undecided on the benefits or disadvantages of supermarkets, it shows the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons can still win people over if they have the right project.

The community living around the Royal Hospital site in Wolverhampton and the general consensus among residents in West Bromwich is that the investment provided by Tesco is going to be beneficial in the long run.

In West Bromwich Tesco has funded the new £10m police station and was the first to sign up for the £200m New Square development. Primark, Next, JD Sports, Bank, Arcadia, Nandos and Prezzo, will all open at the site as well as an Odeon cinema. Overall the scheme will create around 2,000 jobs. Jonathan Simpson, corporate affairs manager for Tesco, said: "We see ourselves as a huge force for good.

"We've got fantastic new stores on the way and we're bringing great qualtiy food and products to people who want convenient shopping.

"We've helped to improve local high streets by working with local traders to increase footfall.

"In West Bromwich we've worked with Sandwell Council and provided community facilities so we believe we have a very a positive effect on town centres."

Parking fees remain a cause of concern and controversy and increases are still likely due to councils being faced with budget cuts.

Among our respondents 34.8 per cent of people think charges are far too expensive while a further 32.6 per cent class them as "a bit dear".

Only 29.7 per cent of people think parking charges are reasonable and 2.8 per cent believe they are cheap.

Charges are likely to go up in Cannock Chase from April with increases also planned in Dudley as a way of coping with cuts in government funding.

The leader of Dudley Council, Councillor David Sparks, told a committee of MPs recently that parking charges were influenced by the pressure on council budgets.

Councillor Sparks, chairman of the Local Government Association Transport Board, said: "Dudley and Sandwell were the last metropolitan local authorities to introduce parking charges.

"The reason why we had to introduce parking charges was that central Government insisted we introduced them, because if we did not, they were going to cut our transport grant.

"So we reluctantly introduced parking charges and then increased them.

"We have had continually to increase them since, in order to make up for the cuts we have had to our budgets.

"We have very little freedom to manoeuvre.

"But the essential point is that if you have an overall pressure on your budget, it is inevitably going to influence your decision as to whether you increase car parking charges.

"Most people will be reluctant to increase car parking charges. Some people will not be, but most people will be and therefore you would only do it reluctantly. "

In Wolverhampton fees for parking at night were introduced in 2010 and were met with opposition from restaurant owners and traders.

The fees were eventually scrapped and the city council has since reduced its parking fees and frozen them for two years.

The cost of an hour's parking fell from 60p to 50p at School Street, Market and Fold Street car parks last April while 13-week season ticket fees at Oxford Street and Church Lane fell from £90 to £80. Stafford Council has frozen its car parking charges since 2007 and is using this fact as it tries to negotiate to get more national chains to move into the town centre.

But the council's leader Mike Heenan believes that rents are as much of an issue as parking charges.

He said: "The first thing that really is an issue and has been for some time, which is out of the control of the council, is the level of rent in the town," said Councillor Heenan, who was a founding member of Stafford's Chamber of Commerce.

"The rents in the main street and throughout the town have been kept fairly high in recent times. There hasn't been any reduction in them, but I think that is about to happen. I'm hoping that will encourage more people to come in to the town."

Council parking charges in Kidderminster, Bewdley and Stourport are also being frozen.

Institute of Advanced Motorists chief executive Simon Best said councils up and down the country were making a fortune from parking.

He added: "Councils are making record-breaking profits from parking, while cutting road safety spending on life-saving services such as, education for young drivers, cycle training, and safe-routes-to-schools schemes."

Meanwhile private operators have begun reducing fees. NCP in Freer Street, Walsall, introduced a £3 all-day charge last summer to replace the original £7.50 fee, along with free spaces on a Sunday.

The private operators also brought in a similar price in Station Street in the town centre in the run-up to Christmas. The company is now also looking at slashing the fees to £1 for drivers who park for up to an hour, and £2 for those using the car park for two hours or less.

Fees have also been cut at the Wulfrun Centre and Pipers Row in Wolverhampton by NCP.

The changes in Walsall have helped spark a reduction on council-owned car parks which have introduced £3 a day spaces.