Over the last two years, the council has been meeting regularly with tenants of the Elephant and Castle through a forum called the Shopping Centre Liaison Group. In addition, several other meetings have been held with shop owners from the Walworth Road and the market traders. Throughout 2005 and beyond, the council will increase the number of meetings with local businesses and will try to reach as many as possible that will either be directly or partially affected by the regeneration plans.

Will the new Elephant and Castle shopping areas respond to the needs of the local community?

The retail research undertaken by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the London Borough of Southwark shows that out of every £10 spent by Southwark shoppers on comparison goods (i.e. goods other than day-to-day essentials), only £1 is spent in Southwark. To that extent, the needs of the local community are not being met at the present time. Not only are local people having to travel further to shop, it also means that the borough as a whole is losing the benefits of jobs and opportunities for investment in the local environment, as a consequence of this loss of income.

Town centres are stronger and more sustainable where they contain a mix of shopping types, i.e. a mix of national multiples, specialty shops and local outlets. It is noticeable that Bromley, Croydon, Kingston, Kings Road and parts of the West End which many local people travel to display this range of shopping types, as well as incorporating a mix of other leisure, arts and civic uses.

 


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