What Next for Buckingham 2009

7/29/2019 What Next for Buckingham 2009

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What Next for Buckingham?By Marcus Busby CertHE, DipHE PDC.

email:[email protected]: 07776 19444410/02/2009" TRADERS, residents and council lor s in Buckingham are cal li ng for a debate over

the town centre's fu ture fol lowing the closure of Woolwor ths."Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser, 23/01/2009 Page 1.

What are our options? What resources do we have available? What is going to help

the economy; our local businesses? The people; residents and visitors? And the actual

town centre; its appearance, its quality and its usefulness? I write this with the intention of providing some helpful information and hopefully

some points for discussion regarding "What Next for Buckingham?" I would warmly

welcome any invitation to be part of, or report any discussion groups that are planned

or may arise over the coming weeks.We should consider that no particular individual, group, company, organisation or

authority is to blame for our current situation. It is something that has happened

gradually; having reached a point where our previous solutions have become defunct

and are in need of appraisal. In addition to this, new problems have arisen that need

identifying, addressing and solving.I have been a resident of Buckingham since 1987. I moved away in 2000 to study full

time, returning last year. I studied Town Planning, Landscape Design and

Environmental Protection, followed by three years of independent research, which

focussed upon how to ensure the future vitality and viability of our town centres. I

interviewed over 150 people and collected data from just over 250 people. Although

those I spoke to were on the South coast of England, they face many of the same

problems as Buckingham and indeed the vast majority of our communities, from

village to city settlements.Much of the focus of debate seems to centre on generating more money by

encouraging people to "come and shop." Whilst this is a genuine concern, I believefocussing solely on this falls short of the mark. Towns and the people who live in

them are about much more than this. If the town centre is the Heart of a Community,

are we really so One Dimensional that the heart of our existence is "Shopping"? For

many, being human is about much more than this. We have a greater reason to exist

and no matter how repeatedly the news refers to people as "consumers," personally, I

do not wish be labelled that way. In my mind, people are creators, not consumers. It would appear that the general consensus is that many high streets have the same

shops with the same stocks at the same or similar prices. Town Centre

Homogenisation is the technical term for this. It means there's nothing to be proud of,
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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nothing to make a name for the town centre, no surprises to hunt down, nothing

different that people will actually travel miles to see and experience. "Where did all the flowers go?"

If we are to have a debate, I would like to propose some preliminary questions foreverybody's consideration and hopefully for open discussion:What is a town centre?What does it represent?Why do we visit some places and avoid others -What have they got that attracts us?What are Buckingham's attractors and detractors?

Can we increase and decrease these respectively?What is unique about Buckingham?Can we preserve this uniqueness/character?What do we like and dislike about the town centre?How do we use our town centre?Who uses our town centre?To address any problem that has arisen, the following may a helpful formula for

success:Identify the problemswhat are the problems?Identify the causeswhat are the causes of these problems?Identify the solutions/alternatives to these causesWhat are the

alternatives/solutions to these causessuggestions and ideas?Making it happenMaking these ideas happen, and highlighting examples of

it happening.The town centre faces problems that have arisen over time, so these will be solved

graduallyany injury takes time to heal, requiring constant monitoring, attention and

nurturing until, often, it heals better, stronger and with more resilience than before.

Some I nformation

In 2005 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published the Governments policies

for town centres. These are some very useful guidance notes, available on the internetby searching for "Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning for Town Centres."To summarise these policies, and to quote paragraph 1.3, "The Governments key

objective for town centres is to promote their vitality and viability"

What is vitality and viability? If these are the key objectives, it is very important that

we understand exactly what they are.The Oxford English Dictionary definitions are as follows:-

VITALITY:vital force, power or principle as possessed by living things. AndVIABILITY: being capable of living; and able to maintain a separate existence.


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The two spider diagrams below may help clarify what these two terms represent:

The promotion of vitality and viability is thekey objectiveaccording to the

Government. In my mind it also sounds like good common sense - for everybody's

interest.


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Tanaka Business School, Sheffield University and Imperial College London, entitled

'Research on the relationship between wel l-being and sustainable development'

published August 2006 calls into question the effectiveness of the current attempts at

sustainable development, asking if they are actually helping people live happier, more

wholesome lives. Do we really need to invest more of our energies into providing new

shopping centres when so many other factors contribute towards happy, safe, healthy,satisfying lives, and is the proportion of our resources used in the construction of

these national retailer malls an effective means of ensuring a better future for our

own, and subsequent generations?

Some Ideas and Suggestions

An open discussion group and forum needs to be established to collect, collate and

evolve ideas. We need a place to meet and some interested people with ideas and

suggestions. Even if we have none, we should still do this and who knows what might

come out of the ether?

The pie chart below (2pages) shows the percentages of shop types in Buckingham

town centre. There has been concern that the town has too many estate agents, fast-

food outlets and charity shops. The pie chart shows the percentages for each of these.

Specialist and others represents 10% of the town centres shops, this includes shops

such as Dukes music shop, the fishing shop, Busiprint, funeral directors, where there

is only one of this type of shop.

The greatest proportion of the retail units is inhabited by hair and beauty shops

Buckingham town centre has 15 of these, representing 9% of the total shops. This is

closely followed by 12 estate agents or 7% of the total shops in Buckingham town

centre. My fianc and I counted seven fast-food outlets representing just over 4%,

whilst there are six charity shops, representing 4%. We counted 10 empty premises.

This means at least 6% of the total shops in the centre are empty.

At a glance, for passers-by, the town may appear to have quite a few empty premises,

charity shops and estate agents. However, the proportion of these is not necessarily as

great as it seems. I believe it appears this way because of the location of these shops

they are in prime spots on the actual high streetthe main parade, which is on full

view topassing trade or visitors from the road. Perhaps this isnt the image

Buckingham needs to portray to its potential visitors if we are to attract more visitors.

My partner and I both thought the town centre as a whole had an excellent variety of

shops, and compared to other centres we have visited, not too many empty premises.

However, this doesnt mean that business isnt down and with raising rents and rateswe need to work hard to keep our independents in businessto avoid the

homogenisation and national names seen in so many other towns.

To do this, I believe we need to build on Buckinghams name and its reputation. The

town needs to provide a unique experience that other towns or shopping centres dont

have. Therefore I believe it would be useful to identify the unique characteristics of

Buckingham and its town centre, and invest in them. I have seen an excellent booklet

advertising the shops in the town, and there have been many calendars produced over

the years with beautiful pictures of the towns many unique features.

I could be accused of grinding my own axe here, but I believe that by enhancing the

actual environment of the town centre, it would add to the town centre experience.This is something that newly constructed shopping centres cannot dothey simply


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cannot recreate a town centre experience. We have the market square and the cattle

market area, we also have a river and some substantial park areas in close proximity

to the town centre.

Stony Stratford has recently qualified for Britain in bloom. They invest a great deal of

effort in making the town centre look niceadding to the experience of visiting the

town centre. For many people a trip to the town centre is just as much a leisureactivity as it is a shopping activity. When we are relaxed and comfortable and having

a nice day, we stay longer, we might have a coffee or a sandwich; we might even buy

a new jumper, gift or memento if we are having a nice day. We all know how horrible

it is to go into a mobile phone shop and feel pressured into the sale on a larger scale

the focus of the town centre shouldnt necessarily be just to park the car and shop.

I suggest interested people investigate Transition Towns. The website address is

www.transitiontowns.org. The transition town model is a national movement designed

to revitalise local economies and towns, providing people with opportunities to

prosper. Although the transition towns movement is focussed around environmental

concerns, its proven formula can still work even if the primary concern is not theenvironment, for the focus is on building communities and sustainable local

economies:

The number of communities involved in the project is ever increasing with many localities in theprocess of becoming "official" transition towns. Transition Towns has even featured in the plot line of

the long-runningBBC Radio 4series The Archers, which illustrates the media attention and rapid

growth the movement is generating.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_Towns)

All it requires is a small group of like-minded people to turn their town around. Thereare already over a dozen examples of successful towns including the city of Bristol,

and the town of Totnes. News and examples are available on the website. There is

also a book written by Rob Hopkins entitled 'The Transition Handbook" published by

Green Books.

What of Woolworths?Let's face it, its not coming back. With the current economic climate, the premises

might be empty for a while. So perhaps we could persuade owner Paul Turkleston to

allow us to use the site, or part of the site, as a central office for the revitalisation of

our town? A place for meetings, discussions and a place to gather ourselves and our

ideas for the path ahead?One very important aspect of any community is the economy. This includes many

factors, from money, to food. If we are to build our local economic resilience, or

sustainability, we should be considering how we can maximise our potentials.

The food economy is the most fundamental human requirement, along with water. I

imagine that a shop which acts as a focal point or central-outlet store for all local

farms and farmers shops might help both local farmers and people who want to eat

unadulterated local food; this could potentially generate a very reasonable income.
http://www.transition.org/http://www.transition.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Radio_4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Archershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Archershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Radio_4http://www.transition.org/


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ShopTypesinBuck

inghamTownCentre

SpecialistFood-Butchers,

Veg,

Healthfood,

Deli,

Bakery

5%

Take-away/Fast-food

4%

Charity

4%

Restaurant

5%

Dentist,Optician,

Pharmacy

5%

Pub/Hotel

5%

Vacant/Empty

6%

Clothing/Shoes/Accessories/J

eweller

y

6%

Gifts/Toys/Books

6%

BanksandOffice

7%

EstateAgents

7%

H

airandBeauty

9%

Specialist/Othe

rs

10%

Sp

ecialist/Others

Ha

irandBeauty

Es

tateAgents

Ba

nksandOffice

Gifts/Toys/Books

Va

cant/Empty

Cl

othing/Shoes/Accessories/Jewellery

Re

staurant

De

ntist,Optician,

Pharmacy

Pu

b/Hotel

Sp

ecialistFood-Butchers,

Veg,

Health

food,

Deli,

Ba

kery

Ta

ke-away/Fast-food

Ch

arity

Co

mmunityServices

An

tiques/HomeFurnishings

Ca

r/Repair/Fuel

Ho

meServices-BuildingSupplies,

Elec

tricalPlumbing

Ca

f

Kitchen/HomeImprove

Florists

Ho

liday

Dr

yCleaning


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Or, perhaps the store could act as an indoor market with a number of small stalls

much like a micro-scale town centre. This allows for diversification; the large

premises being able to support many smaller businesseswith the potential to

increase opportunities in enterprise and entrepreneurship. A diversity of outlets, much

like a diversity of crops for a farm, means that if one area/crop/stall fails, there areothers which will still prosper; an empty stall can fill quickly and stalls could even

alternate or take out short-term contracts. This could allow people to experiment with

potential shop/stall types.

Many small sticks are stronger, more resilient and more flexible than one big stick.

Our local economy should reflect this.It is fine to have national supermarkets available to the town, but it is also important

to have the option of supporting local producers at the same time as eating healthy,

seasonal and fresh food. Personally, I am uncomfortable with the level of dependency

we have on imported food, especially with a weakening pound (), meaning we have

less international buying power. The poor nutritional value of mass produced,intensively farmed food is also a concern along with the financial and environmental

costs of collection, shipping and distribution. There is a significant amount of

scientific evidence that proves food produced in this way is economically and

nutritionally inefficient. In fact, each calorie of imported food costs at least 90-100

calories in its production, shipping and distribution process. This is very inefficient

and better solutions exist and are being practiced at this moment.

I have spoken to at least five separate farmers from Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire

and Herefordshire, as well as listening to many on the television, and it is evident that

there is extreme frustration regarding the paltry prices producers are being paid by

certain supermarkets, only to find their food is marked-up in price, allowing the

supermarkets to take the profit for themselves.

If the ability to provide ourselves and our communities with adequate and reasonably

priced food is lost through the bankruptcy of farmers and the centralisation and

monopolisation of agricultural production, we lay ourselves victim to ever-increasing

food prices. We simply must support our local farmers and regain control of our food

economies.

Events

15 traders met outside the 'Lets go round again' shop in freezing conditions onMonday 2nd February to protest at the lack of support being given by the local council

for local business.On Monday 16

thFebruary 2009 from 6pm onwards, there will be a meeting of local

traders regarding the future of the town. This will be held in the Woolpack pub on

Well Street, Buckingham. All councillors, the Town Mayor and interested parties

are invited.In addition to this, and regarding the above points about farming, I would like to draw

attention to a television program to be aired Friday 20th

February on BBC 2 at 8pm

entitled A Farm for the Future. This is part of the Natural World series and features

permaculturethat is Permanent Agriculture. Permaculture also encompassesdesigning and adapting settlements to create a permanent culturea balanced and


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ecologically sound solution to the post-industrial and post-consumerism

socioeconomic decline of our communities.

Conclusion

The town centre is the heart of the community. It is vitally important for both local businessesand people. It must continue to be an attractive place to ensure our community remainsprosperous and inviting. It is the focal point of what Buckingham has to offer, it should do usall proud.The 'thing' that is so vital to preserve and enhance, in my opinion, is the 'experience.'We should aim for this to be as positive as possible, whatever we demand, for visitors and

residents alike. If a visitor has a good 'experience' we build a positive reputation and ourprosperity increases. If we as residents have a good experience, our sense of esteem, pride and

belonging increases. We naturally invest more time, energy or money into our town and itbecomes a destination that people will travel to, in order to experience it. Their thoughts andwords will be positive in reference to our town and the town will gain merit, subsequently, its

economic sustainability increasesit becomes a focus of positive energy which can only

bring positive results.We must remember that growth and development doesn't only involve building new shops orservices, growth can also mean maturing, evolving and adapting.I believe that successful towns are successful because of the entire experience they provide just like visiting a person we like or admire; if we enjoy our visit, we see them again andagain, taking gifts, presents, news and ideaswe ask them advice, respect them, and tell

everybody we know that they are very special.If we are to consider our town as this fine person that we long to visit we should consider,who is Buckingham? And what qualities would we travel miles to experience?

References and Suggested Fur ther ReadingReportsPlanning Policy Statement 6: Planning for Town Centres - ODPMHigh Street Britain: 2015 - Parliamentary Small Shops GroupResearch on the relationships between well-being and sustainable development. - - FinalReport for DEFRACentre for Well-being in Public Policy

Web siteswww.transitiontowns.orgor search for 'transition towns'www.time.com/time/reports/environment/heroes/heroesgallery/0,2967,corbett,00.html

www.context.org/ICLIB/IC35/Browning.htmhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/sep/10/ethicalliving.transitiontowns

BooksThe Transition HandbookRob HopkinsEcotopia - Ernest CallenbachVideos and TV Programmes

All the following videos are available to watch onwww.youtube.comandwww.video.google.com

The Power of CommunityGlobal GardenerPermacultureThe End of Suburbia
http://www.transition.org/http://www.transition.org/http://www.time.com/time/reports/environment/heroes/heroesgallery/0,2967,corbett,00.htmlhttp://www.time.com/time/reports/environment/heroes/heroesgallery/0,2967,corbett,00.htmlhttp://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC35/Browning.htmhttp://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC35/Browning.htmhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/sep/10/ethicalliving.transitiontownshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/sep/10/ethicalliving.transitiontownshttp://www.youtube.com/http://www.youtube.com/http://www.youtube.com/http://www.video.google.com/http://www.video.google.com/http://www.video.google.com/http://www.video.google.com/http://www.youtube.com/http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/sep/10/ethicalliving.transitiontownshttp://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC35/Browning.htmhttp://www.time.com/time/reports/environment/heroes/heroesgallery/0,2967,corbett,00.htmlhttp://www.transition.org/

Documents

What Next for Buckingham 2009