£51 million Shrewsbury shopping centres purchase defended by Shropshire Council leader

In a written question to Council leader Peter Nutting, Labour councillor Kevin Pardy, who represents the Sundorne ward queried whether the decision was right.

He said: "Why is Shropshire Unitary Council and in particular Councillor Nutting risking Shropshire people’s money at a time when national retail outlets are struggling, failing and withdrawing from town centre malls in preference for out of town retail parks and online retail?"

Councillor Pardy said that, in recent months, a number of shops had announced plans to close, or had closed, including Toys R Us, New Look Mens, Ann Summers and Maplin. And he added that the House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer stores were facing an uncertain future.

But Councillor Nutting has rejected the suggestion, and said the council's purchase will build the economy of the town and the county.

He said: "The purchase of Shrewsbury’s main shopping centres will support the economic growth and regeneration of Shrewsbury town centre. It will support the development of Shrewsbury as a ‘destination’, help provide an improved and attractive retail and leisure offer, and secure employment for Shropshire residents both directly and indirectly.

"The council believes that it has a really important role to play in helping to shape the future sustainability of the town. This is particularly important given the changing retail environment and the ability to have control of the shopping centre assets to deliver change for the benefit of the locality and the wider council area."

He added that while it was true a number of High Street stores had closed, it was due to a variety of factors including a fall in the pound and a failure to restructure some of the businesses' corporate debt.

Portfolio

Councillor Nutting added that with regards to House of Fraser, the company was seeking a voluntary agreement and was looking to 'restructure its store portfolio'.

However the outcome of this was unlikely to be known until next month.

He said: "There is no indication of the Shrewsbury store closing at this current time."

Turning to Marks & Spencer Councillor Nutting said that only 15 full line stores had been planned for closure.

He said he had been told by the company that the Shrewsbury store 'trades well and that there are no plans to close or downsize the town centre store'.

Shropshire Council completed the purchase of the Darwin Shopping Centre, the Pride Hill Shopping Centre and the lease on the Riverside Shopping Centre along with the Riverside Medical Practice earlier this year.

While the two main shopping centres are to be revamped, the Riverside is likely to be demolished to make way for a mixed-use development including a car park. There are also suggestions that the land could be developed for a hotel, restaurants and leisure facilities.