Twickenham bucks trend as more shops open (Twickenham & Richmond Liberal Democrats)

Twickenham bucks trend as more shops open

February 28, 2010 12:00 PM

table • SHOP vacancies in Twickenham are falling, with a further 12 premises being opened for business in the last four months, bucking the national trend which is seeing more retail outlets remaining empty.

The total number of vacancies in the borough has also reduced in the last four months, with the vacancy rate dropping to 8.2 %, significantly lower than the national average of 12 %.

Cllr Geoff Acton, Cabinet Member for Environment on Richmond Council, said:

"This is encouraging news and suggests that Twickenham, as well as the rest of the borough, is beginning to recover from the recession. In the past four months we have seen a number of new shops open up in Twickenham. These include a sweet shop, a barbers, a carpet retailer, and a bike store. We also expect the former Woolworths site to be occupied by Poundland, which has been one of the high street's most prominent success stories over recent years and hugely popular with local communities. A recent survey from the GLA shows that Twickenham is in fact one of the healthiest town centers in London. There have also been encouraging signs across the borough, with shops opening in East Sheen and Richmond, while Teddington remains healthy, with only eight out of 165 retail units remaining vacant. There are no empty shops in St Margaret's and there is a new coffee chain opening in Hampton Hill.

"While this is good news, we know there is more to be done. Ensuring town centers are vibrant and economically sound is something we have put at the fore of the Council's agenda. We have invested over £65,000 in the Town Centres Opportunities Fund in the last year, which provides funding to help business and traders associations carry out promotions, events and improvements to ensure our centres are attractive places to operate. We will also continue to work to with local traders, town centre managers, businesses and residents associations to ensure further improvements are made."

Twickenham Town Centre Manager, Liz Rice, added: "The Council has been working closely with the Twickenham Town Centre Management Board, especially during the recent downturn, to see what can be done to revitalise the town. It is good to see these positive signs of recovery but there is still work to be done. We are clear that vibrant and thriving town centers are vital for the health of the local area."

"The Council is currently consulting borough wide on its proposed town planning framework. The consultation will run up to 12 March. Part of this consultation looks at what retail provision residents would like to see in the future. We urge local people to get involved in this exercise. For details of the consultation and to take part please go to: www.richmond.gov.uk/development_management_dpd "

Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats: