Empty shops in Dewsbury is probably the worst possible headline when you are aiming to promote a positive message about Dewsbury. Yet it is also the headline that will be easiest to find for those interested in the subject and will also grab the attention of anyone interested in the future of Dewsbury..
Why do we want to talk about empty shops? Firstly, because it is the best measure of the health of a town centre and secondly because it is the basic information we need to know if we plan to do something about it. This was made clear by Ian NIcholson of the Vacant Shop Academy in his presentation to the Dewsbury Arcade group AGM in September. As he explained based on his lengthy experience of how to improve run down town centres, you need to know where you are starting from if you intend to improve matters.
This sparked interest from the Dewsbury Chamber of Trade who were already working on a database of potential members and with some tweaking and a good deal of footslogging around the town centre have now completed a survey to provide a starting point of factual data for those involved in the regeneration effort.
What do we mean by the town centre?
But before getting into the numbers we need to frame the discussion a little. First, what is the town centre? There are two possible descriptions. The obvious one is the area within the ring road. This area is quite severely run down while at the same time it contains all of the urban indulstrial achitecture described as some of the best in the country.
An alternative would include this area within the ring road plus the more recent retail developments (within the last 50 years!) around Railway Street and LInk Road, i.e. those larger supermarkets and retail outlets that were originally intended to be encircled by the ring road - before the ring road project ran out of money and had to be shortened to the current route. These retail outlets run from ASDA in the west to Sainsburys in the east. It is immediately obvious that all of this area is blessed with car parking and easy access
Illustrating the two distinct area of retail activity in Dewsbury
So we have two versions of Dewsbury to consider, the old town centre with poky Victorian streets and buildings., severely limited on-sreet parking and difficult access - but lots of history that we want to revive contrasted by the newer part south of the ring road with easy car access, free parking and everything necessary to attract the shopper - the two sides separated by the busy ring road.
The effect of easy parking is obvious in the image of the Rishworth centre below demonstrating that even at 11am on a Sunday morning there is lots of life and money being spent in Dewsbury town centre..
So here’s the numbers that reflect the two faces of Dewsbury
Note that we are aware than some of the numbers don't cross check. This is because they are calculated in different ways using functions of the spreadsheet. However, this is useful because the differences tell us that we still have wrinkles to sort out and send us back to in search of the errors.
The source spreadsheet can be found at the end of this article and the public are encouraged to advise us of any errord or ommissions by an email from the Contact page
There is clearly a wide difference between the two parts of Dewsbury town centre which needs to be considered by those driving the regeneration effort.
Some other data of interest.
We have a considerable number of establishments providing food, either to eat in or take-away. Of these only 3, soon to be 4, provide table service, sit-down meals. It might be argued that this reflects the lack of convenient car parking.
Of the 18 retail outlets south of the Ring Road they are all large, modern establishments with car parking and only 1 (former JYSK) is empty. These modern, warehouse style supermarkets deliver vastly more business per retail unit than any small town centre shop can do and occupy approximately the same amount of real estate with one tenth the number of businesses. Were there no ring road and the town centre was consolidated into one then it is likely that Dewsbury would be considered to have a healthy retail environment.
We have 19 businesses providing professional services e.g. solicitors, estate agents etc and none are empty.
We have a number of substantial, buildings, particularly the former banks of Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and Natwest that were occupied until recently and presumably in reasonable condition that are central to activity in the town centre. At the same time we have older, heritage buildings that deserve attention in the Old Post Office, the Old LIbrary and the Park Mansion in Crow Nest Park. Not to mention the Police Station on Aldams Road and the LIbrary both of whcih will shortly become vacant when the constabulary move to their new premises on Halifax Road and the library moves to the Walsh Building next to the Town Hall.
You might read this as a tale of doom and gloom. However,there is hope. The work on the Arcade is obvious and there is every indication that will be open by next spring when work will also start on the refurbishment of the Market. Assuming these are successful then they will provide a counterweight back towards the north of the town and provide a reason for people to visit.
The Arcade project is community led and it is the community that will decide whether the regeneration of Dewsbury is a success or not by their actions. We have the town centre that we have creaated for ourselves by our own shopping habits. It will be down to us what we do with the refurbished version. The old adage of 'Use it or Lose it' will no doubt spring to mind.
This continues to be a Work in Progress based on the data sheet shown below. The Chamber of Trade will continue to maintain this information but if you notice any errors or change of occupany of any building then please drop a line to sec@dewsburychamber.co.uk to help us keep this as accurate as possible. Many hands make light work!