Council Defend Town Centre Vacancy & Business Rates Concerns After Facebook Hammering

Over 200 comments have been left by the people of Wrexham to Facebook posts by Wrexham Council over the issue of empty shops in the town centre, with many being less than complimentary.

Issues with business rates, car parking, footfall and empty properties have since been addressed by Wrexham Council – who state they own only six ground floor retail units in the town centre and that work is ongoing to encourage more businesses to trade in the area.

The subject of vacant town centre properties in Wrexham Town Centre has been a hot topic of debate in recent months, with several big stores including Blue Inc, TK Maxx and The Body Shop either recently closing or relocating to out of town retail parks.

A clothing store on Regent Street, a cafe in the bus station and the Cooperative Bank have also left the town, or are set to leave the town centre in the next few months.

The number of shops that have closed in the past six weeks has caused serious concern for many in Wrexham who are concerned that nothing is being done to help ‘save the town’ or encourage more businesses into to area to trade.

During a recent consultation Wrexham Council experienced criticism via their Facebook page when asking members of the public if they felt there were too many vacant shops in the town centre, with many more actually taking part in the consultation itself.

The response to the post (asked first here with 125 comments and asked again here viewable here with 78 comments) saw clear concerns from the public about several issues in the town centre – largely the number of empty premises, out of town retail parks, car parking issues, and footfall. Another comment made regularly on in response to Wrexham.com posts relates to concerns with rents and business rates.

Following the ‘feedback’ Cllr Neil Rogers, Lead Member for Economic Performance and Regeneration, responded to the comments and addressed what Wrexham Council are doing to help regenerate the town.

Cllr Rogers said: “The council has been criticised for the number of empty shops in the town centre, but out of 466 ground-floor units in the town centre, the council owns just six, between Henblas Street and Chester Street.

“The vast majority of properties will be owned by independent landlords, and we have been in continued discussions with landlords to keep them up-to-date with our plans for the town centre.

“Members of the public may also not know that business rates are not set by Wrexham Council, and are set every five years by the Welsh Government, based on the rental value of properties. The last valuation of properties to set business rates took place in 2008. Another review was meant to take place in 2013, but this was deferred by the Welsh Government.

“Alongside other authorities and organisations, Wrexham Council has lobbied the Welsh Government over business rates in a bid to have them lowered and encourage more businesses to come to the town.”

During February’s Town Centre Forum Meeting, Chairman Nigel Lewis noted that vacancy rates in Wrexham are ‘no worse than the national average‘, with Mr Lewis stating that an estimated 85%-90% of ground floor retail space in Wrexham is occupied.

This figure was also noted on a Wrexham.com Facebook post, however when we asked for the data none was provided and it was described as a ‘guess’, and the 90% figure was explained as being for ‘a different town’.

A Town Centre Action Plan has also been formulated by members of Wrexham’s Town Centre Forum ‘Steering Group’ – and while details are sparse at present, the plan aims to tackle issues with football, vacant properties and events.

Speaking about the number of empty properties in town and what Wrexham Council are doing to target the problem, Cllr Rogers added: “We appreciate that the sight of empty shops is not an encouraging one, but as was pointed out at a recent meeting of the Town Centre Forum, the vacancy rates in Wrexham are no different from any other town of its size across the UK.

As Councillor Rogers is reiterating the figures from the Town Centre Forum Chairman we asked Wrexham Council if they could provide such data to substantiate the figure, which we pointed out was described as a ‘guess’ to us, at the time of publication no reply has been received.

Cllr Rogers went on to say: “Moreover, we recently saw the jewellery chain Pandora move into premises in Wrexham – they will have done their homework before moving into the town and their coming here is a sign of confidence in the high street economy in Wrexham.

“As a council, we have also worked with town centre business partners, Businessline, Coleg Cambria and Glyndwr University on entrepreneurship schemes in a bid to encourage up-and-coming businesses. The council’s own Business Support Teams are also on hand to provide support and advice to new businesses.

“We are also very pleased with the success of the Street Festival, which has only grown in popularity since beginning in 2015, and will continue to work with them to support them where we can.

“And recent moves by my executive board colleague, Cllr David A. Bithell, the Lead Member for Environment and Transport, to change our parking tariffs will help draw shoppers into the town centre.

“I know the sight of empty shops is a dispiriting one and if there were a magic button we could press to bring traders into empty stores, believe me when I say we would press it. As it stands, I believe we at Wrexham Council are taking all the steps we can to achieve that goal.”

*Note – although a popular suggestion when discussing vacancy rates in town, in reality it’s probably not that easy to knock Eagles Meadow down or stick a roof on it. Even though our mock up of a roof as an April Fool’s did prove popular….

Pic: Some of the comments left on the Council’s Facebook page.