Changes to the tax regime and heeding the demands of investors and business owners are vital if Scotland’s neglected and struggling town centres are to be revived, MPs have been told.
They heard of a failure to balance competing interests, or understand what local businesses and communities want and need.
Leigh Sparks, professor of retail studies at the University of Stirling, said there was a need to rebalance a system that favours online operators and retail parks.
“It is easier and cheaper to build out of town, and easier and cheaper to operate out of town,” he told the Scottish Affairs Committee.
“Amazon has 26% to 30% of the retail market and that is no longer in the taxation system. We have not matched that taxation through the rates system, or by supporting small businesses.”
Prof Sparks was among witnesses giving evidence to the committee’s inquiry into the future of Scotland’s high streets.
He questioned some of the data provided, such as a focus on falling footfall which did not reflect how people shop, nor the wider activity that goes on in town centres, some of which had adapted to change and were doing well.
Nevertheless, he said radical action on tax policy and the development of out of town facilities had to be addressed.
“We say we want thriving high streets and expanding businesses and we want them in town centres, but the fiscal signals are the exact opposite,” he said.
“We have got to reverse the damage and make it easier and cheaper to build, work and operate businesses in town centres.”
Prof Sparks said he did not support calls for free parking in town centres. “If we were serious about levelling the playing the field we would be looking at out of town parking charges, levies at out of town workplaces and shopping malls. These would also benefit the environment.”
He called for action to improve the condition of town centre buildings and more transparency about their ownership, arguing that they are “neglected, partly because we don’t know who owns them.”
Colin Borland, Scotland director at the Federation of Small Businesses, said businesses were not adequately consulted on changes proposed by local authorities.
He said that in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street “there is apparently a grand plan for it to be a cultural quarter. Who decided that?
“I am quite sure it is the council that decides what it is going to be, and that is what we going to get.
“The way it was done – it took a long time and it looks exactly the same as it did when they started.”
Mr Borland said he was also concerned by slow decisions by local councils on licensing and change of use permissions.
Responding to a question about about the impact of bank branch closures, he said his members who are cash-focused have difficulty depositing cash. Advisers in local branches have also been lost.
The closures of these branches had contributed to the loss of workers who would shop and eat in town centres,” he said.
James White, professor of planning and urban design at the University of Glasgow, said the narrative about the death of the high street was overblown when it was more a case of transition and adaptability.
However, there were clear challenges that needed to be addressed to allow more high streets to prosper and policymakers had to review how they allowed developments that may cause further damage to town centres.
“We have to be careful about what is given permission. In the nineties we saw the development of centres like Silverburn and Braehead, but there have been developments of small retail parks of just four or five shops and drive thrus.
“As soon as one of those is built it is another nail in the coffin for going into town.”
Prof White said the planning authorities needed to encourage a greater mix of occupants in town centres, with more housing and leisure.
“We need higher density, not necessarily high rise, but high density – above the high street – to make town centres, not just retail destinations, but to provide datacentres and new neighbourhoods.”
He said one missing factor in Scotland was a housing agency similar for Homes England that would be an enabler in making this happen.
There had been hopes for the build-to-rent sector, but this had been put on hold by rent controls which forced investors to switch into student accommodation.
He said this was one way to put people into city and town centres but it was not sustainable as students are transitory and this strategy did not provide the mix of young and old and families needed to create a neighbourhood.
Prof White said the authorities needed to work closely with those providing the finance for developments who were changing their own strategies to meet current circumstances.
“The shock of [shop] closures has led to different types of investors coming in to town centres,” he said.
Investors were not just holding retail in their portfolios but were embracing other activities, such as hospitality and leisure, and other types of contract.
“They are more nimble… looking at how to use a building, different types of leases. That different ‘actor’ has helped some cities become more dynamic,” he said.
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