Pity poor Chepstow, dubbed the 'worst high street in Wales' against some pretty stiff competition.
At first it looks like a typical tale of declining high street fortunes in the days of internet shopping, but this,
She explained she visits neighbouring Monmouth and Abergavenny and said signs of the pandemic have “almost completely disappeared there”. “But not here..."
suggests the problem is more specific to Chepstow and a glance at the first comment gives a clue,
"Part of the problem I suspect is that Chepstow has become a commuter town so many people who have moved to the area will shop elsewhere."
Yes, it's the removal of the tolls on the nearby Prince of Wales bridge AKA the New Severn Bridge that has done for Chepstow. House prices have gone up and the demographic has changed as the town has become a dormitory town for Bristol, just like that bridge long ago and far away in London where the removal of the tolls simply resulted in all the domestic rents going up to compensate. Meanwhile, no doubt, all the commercial rents on the High St are still at the levels set by the town's previous prosperity.
A grim document
2 hours ago
6 comments:
Wow, Chepstow is in Wales. I live and learn.
It makes sense that abandoning tolls increases Chepstow rents. But why has it changed people's behaviour? Why were people unhappy with the total rent payable before (house rent + tolls) and behave differently now (higher rents + no tolls)?
What is the difference? Houses just outside London where I live are a bit cheaper than a hundred yards up the road because Essex Council Tax is about twice as much as London Council Tax, I don't care, swings, roundabouts.
You've mentioned this phenomenon* before - better transport is good overall, but tends to benefit the largest connected town and is detrimental to High Street in the smaller connected towns. People do the sensible thing and go to where the most shops/offices/cinemas etc in "the centre" are and the smaller towns become dormitory/commuter villages.
* Da-da dadada.
Funny this - it's not that far from Crickhowell, which is the most popular High Street in the country!
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/nov/16/butcher-baker-and-revenue-maker-crickhowell-named-uks-best-high-street
'The Bear' is an outstanding hotel there, but Chepstow has a great racecourse too!
S, Crick to Chep is a 45 min drive (says Google Maps). So that's so far away as to be unaffected by the pull towards Bristol.
I saw a great YT video about half a dozen American towns along a valley - they were ten to fifteen miles apart. Any closer and the larger would have swamped the smaller. Any further away and a new High Street would have sprung up in between.
There's a basic disconnect in modern (UK) thinking. Government and businesses have concentrated their establishments into bigger hospitals, schools, offices, and shopping malls... and then they wonder why people must drive personal cars to shop or work.
Basically we have all conspired for cheaper goods and services, but this is antithetical to the idea of local High Streets of small traders. Unless you can afford to go 'artisan'.
"But why has it changed people's behaviour?"
AFAICS, the implication is that it hasn't changed people's behaviour, it's changed people. The sort of person who used to live in Chepstow and work and shop in Chepstow has been outcompeted in price, thanks to the removal of the tolls, by the sort of person who lives in Chepstow and works and shops in Bristol.
"You've mentioned this phenomenon* before - better transport is good overall, but tends to benefit the largest connected town and is detrimental to High Street in the smaller connected towns."
Yes, there is that, too. Good spot, I hadn't thought of the removal of tolls as a highway improvement, but I suppose it is.
B, good explanation.
Post a Comment