Death of a town - one week on
Blimey. What happened?
I never imagined my little rant would bring us to this position; a week on from my original blog I seem to have become a voice of dissent against the Council and powers that be. I've read every comment, listened to every part of the debate that I can and even spoken to the local MP about the issues raised. 8 days later this is what I've learned.
Radio Northampton and Councillor Bullock.
I was interviewed by Tom on Radio Northampton on a rainy Tuesday morning last week and one of his questions was 'Am I being harsh on Kettering town centre now in what appears to be a long term plan?' My answers remains the same - the quality of the town centre remains very low. The market has died and there remain a proliferation of charity shops throughout the town. Following me, as the voice of the Council, was Counsellor Bullock. I don't think they could have found anyone more inept at putting the Council case across. His claim was that 90% of the shops in Kettering are occupied. This may be true, but what types of shops? We still don't want to shop there. The question of street surveys has been completely ignored and I feel it's a valid point. They are a royal pain in the neck to be asked, every day you go into town, if you could give your opinion or get you to sign up to the RSPCA, the Anti-Hunt League or Greenpeace. Please leave us alone - we have survey fatigue. The second point that Counsellor Bullock made was that 'in real terms parking fees have gone down'. This was the equivalent of pointing both barrels of a shotgun at your head and pulling the triggers. Sunshine, they've gone up; they are more expensive than anywhere in the county and there is less reason to park here. One of the counter comments on the Facebook was of a lady who never pays to park when she goes to Kettering, she has found the free parking. Well done to her, but she in in the minority. Parking must be tackled.
The factual stuff.
Some people disagreed with me about Market St and the market square; they do indeed look pretty, but they are completely ineffective. I have been mostly jumped on about the double roundabouts. I didn't say they weren't effective, I said I didn't see why that money couldn't have been better invested in bringing the town centre up to scratch rather than improve the routes out of the town. I like Philip Hollobone; he works hard as the Kettering MP, he has the odd barmy idea (ban the burkha), but his heart is in the right place. At least that's how I feel. He gave me a long email reply and we had a good chat at the FSB breakfast on Friday morning. I've also received lots of emails and comments on the blog which have filled in things I didn't know when I wrote my original rant. Between all of this I have learned that Kettering town centre has many owners, not one owner. Corby is very unusual in this aspect of having one owner to make a simple decision. The Labour government decided the road system should be as it is and that no plans to improve it will happen before 2013. They also decided the electronic signs were a good idea. The car parks are mostly privately owned and KBC only gets 7% of the revenue from the car parks. The Newland Centre has new owners and is going to pump many thousands into making it more attractive to shoppers. Having learned all of this I have to wonder. If you sell off all your assets at some point you're not going to have anything else to sell. If you go down to the gold buyers in the Newlands and sell your jewellery soon you will run out. What do you do then?
Is Whitehall next?
Exactly as I said last week. Get creative. Get entrepreneurial. And find someone to be a spokesman for the council instead of the terrible person they found last week. I'm sure his family love him, but he is totally out of touch with the populace. Kettering is a dying town. Internet shopping is mentioned for the decline of the hight street across the UK, but the statistics don't bear that out, other than in December. You and I like to feel what we are going to buy, whether it's a shirt or an orange. There will always be a place for shops, but you have to entice the customer in. Why should they leave their comfortable home to give you hard earned cash - what have you done to get that cash? Why would people want to come into Kettering and spend their money? It seems that shop rates are set by central government as well, so do we take this crusade to Whitehall?
If you don't like it, it's time to do something.
Infact, what do you want to happen? I can get a meeting with Cllr Russell Roberts, the council leader, and I can chat with him and tell him how much everyone has had enough, but will anything change? Honestly, I don't know. It is clear that many people are upset and 95% of the comments agreed with what I had to say. I've started the debate, let's now create some action. Politicians and business owners always react to the public if there is enough of the public to create a fuss. Please share this blog, let's get some action going and see if we can make a difference. Feel free to add me on Facebook, email me through the website or send me messages. I do get back to everyone. Let's go for it!
Death of a town
Kettering - what happened?
Trying to get in, and out, of Kettering this week has lead me to writing this piece. The A6 all snarled up, can't get out of Warkton Lane, honestly, it's a nightmare. Sitting in the traffic made me think about this town that I've been involved with, personally and in business, for the past 27 years and I'm firmly convinced unless something dramatic happens the place may well die. The town centre anyway; there are destination places: Wicksteed Park being one of them, but why would you wake up on a Saturday morning and think to yourself 'let's go to Kettering'? It's expensive to park, the one way system makes it difficult to navigate (unless you know the town) and once you get there what do you have to look forward to? A slew of charity shops and market researchers and charity organisations hassling you through the High Street. It's unbelievably off putting.
Market Street and the market square
The latest developments in the town have been the redesign of the market square and the pedestrianisation of Market Street. Anyone who had a business down there last year I feel so sorry for, at least one folded. The restaurants in the market square lie empty; I heard today the only interest there has been has been another Subway. I like Subway, but the town doesn't need another one. The Market Street project baffles me. How much did it cost and what was the purpose? It worked well as a thoroughfare before, particularly if you had banking business to do, now the drive past trade for many of the shops there has gone. They are left with a walk way which the Council are terrified of cold weather because the surface that has put down is lethal in icy conditions. On the bright side there are blue lights in the pavement! Millions has been spent on the town and it serves only to highlight that the powers that be have absolutely no idea how to revive it.
Tesco, Tesco, everywhere
If Marks and Spencers left Kettering town centre there would be no blue chip stores in the town. Instead throughout the town Tesco dominates. The massive out of town store and three other Tesco Express'. Guess which major store chain announced less than expected Christmas profits and had £5 billion wiped off it's share price? Of course, it was Tesco. A sign that Kettering Council has backed the wrong horse again. Obviously Tesco is still the number one retailer, but it has a lot of work to do to regain the customers it has lost. Exactly like Kettering itself. Asda moved in, but even that is a shadow of the Corby store.
Does anyone understand this?
The football club has left, and struggled, on and off the pitch, since its move to Nene Park. All the planning of Kettering seems to be one short term plan after another. The price increase in parking is ridiculous. £1.10 for an hour? It's 50p for 2 hours in Corby, free in Wellingborough and in some car parks in Northampton free for the first hour there too. Does no one at the Council realise the folly of this policy? They even put up the price of Pop and Shop, from 10p to 30p. Why? What message does it give consumers? It say's 'this is a town that doesn't care'. The road information signs coming into the town. Whose bright idea was that? Absolutely useless. The only time you see them is when you are in a traffic jam because someone is digging up the roads again. The double roundabout at the bottom of Northampton Road. Why? To help the flow of traffic? Was it that bad? Hadn't the lights worked for years down there? Everywhere you look in Kettering you see a waste of money or no money. A high street of charity shops doesn't build confidence in a town. The only sector that seems to be thriving is coffee shops. It began with Kanega in Montagu Street ten years ago and now they proliferate. How long will they all last? The town on a Saturday night is a shadow of itself, 'Rehab' has closed down; 'Abacus' and 'Decades' appear to be doing all right and the 'Earl of Dalkeith' is part of a chain (Wetherspoons) that know hows to keep customers.
Who is it getting it right?
What to do then? Develop strong leadership from somewhere. Corby is leading the way with its swimming pool, the Cube and all the shops it's attracted in the past decade. Kettering seems to look on in envy. Kettering looks like the wayward cousin who can't understand why its local rival is doing so well. Kettering offers virtually nothing to a consumer, other than some great independent shops (places like 'Chopper' and 'Exhibit 21' in Montagu Street) and destination places as I mentioned earlier. Writing this actually gives me the answer, I wonder how many people from local government can work it out? The answer is that Chopper, Exhibit 21, Wicksteed and any other place in Kettering that is doing well focusses on their customers. They ask what does the consumer want? They encourage their customers to visit them. They make their environment warm, inviting and make you want to spend money with them. People of Kettering Council learn from these people or you have had it. Dead, buried and gone and I think that would be a terrible shame for a market town, that not that long ago, was a nice place to visit.