Letter: It's time planners used some foresight for Shrewsbury
On a recent visit to Shrewsbury – the place my wife and I still regard as our home town, we were shocked to see the vast number of empty shops and to feel the general air of negativity in the town.
Surely the news from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) that towns in the West Midlands can expect to suffer a further quarter of retail stores closing in the next five years, must force the town and county planners into an urgent rethink of Shrewsbury's future – and in particular finally ditch the ludicrous plans for bringing even more retail into the town with the redevelopment of the Riverside Shopping Centre.
The CRR report highlights exactly why developers and pension and investment funds are moving far away from backing such schemes in the future. It also succinctly signposts the way forward for Shrewsbury, when it says – start redeveloping these problem town centres to turn failing and empty shops into good residential accommodation, create more service/entertainment/leisure outlets, and/or provide offices, doctors' surgeries, classrooms/meeting rooms or other facilities.
Many people such as ourselves would like to return to Shrewsbury in our retirement and to live in a vibrant town centre.
Let's see some real vision from the planners in terms of entertainment and leisure including far greater attempts to bring Shrewsbury's marvellous history to life and making the most out of the River Severn.
With the provision of a boat lock at Shrewsbury weir, just imagine how glorious it would be for smaller Rhine style cruisers to take tourists on the old trade route from Frankwell Quay, Shrewsbury to Bristol, taking in Ironbridge, Bridgnorth, Worcester and Gloucester on the way.
Over many recent years our planners have allowed themselves to be dominated by the rule of the Shrewsbury retailers. Now it is time to reclaim our town and take Shrewsbury into an exciting new future. The final words from the CRR report says it all – Action now will prevent the transformation of retailing from becoming a long-term crisis for town centres.
John Davies
Wheaton Aston
