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Mayor's megamalls 'killing high streets'
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Affairs Editor31 Jan 2008
Ken Livingstone has been accused of jeopardising London's high streets by giving the green light to dozens of huge shopping centres.
Approval for 51 major retail developments was granted by the Mayor between 2002 and 2006, according to figures obtained by the Green party.
The malls given permission will together have about 5.3 million square feet of shopping. With other centres in the pipeline, as much as 10million square feet could be built over the next five years.
Critics fear this will accelerate the "cloning" of high streets by making it harder for independent stores to compete.
Jenny Jones, Green party member of the London Assembly, said local shops would struggle to survive against "the corporate might of identikit shopping malls filled with bland high street chains".
She added: "Once small shops and local services disappear from our high street, local residents often have to travel farther to shopping malls, putting further strain on public transport and roads."
The consumer boom convinced many big developers to sink billions of pounds in new centres to rival Brent Cross and Bluewater. The biggest, at 1.6 million sq ft, will be Westfield London in Shepherd's Bush, due to open by Christmas.
There are serious concerns about its effect on Uxbridge Road, which has an extraordinary range of independent stores. Other developments due in the coming years include Stratford City, the new Elephant & Castle shopping centre, Battersea Power Station and the former railway yards around King's Cross. There is also a plan to double the size of Brent Cross.
Independent shopkeepers who fear they will be driven out of business by the malls point to the experience of traders near other shopping centres outside London.
Shamim Uddin, who runs a fruit and vegetable shop in Elephant & Castle and has campaigned for better protection for traders, said: "When Lakeside opened they put all the small retailers in an area called Brompton Walk with low rents but it has been in steady decline as there was no necessity for shoppers to go to that end of the building. "If that doesn't work what chance has a London high street got?"
A spokesman for the Mayor said he recognised the importance of smaller traders and retailers. He has proposed that developers must include in their plans "affordable premises" for small shops.
The policy is expected to be enshrined in his London Plan later this year.
Reader views (6)
I wonder if Ken was drunk when he came up with this plan. The "I don't need to survey them to know what's best for Londoners" theme of Ken's autocracy is starting to get rather tiresome.
- St, London, 08/02/2008 16:33
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It's as plain as the nose on your face: get all the high street shops to close will be a dream come true for developers. Good one Ken!
- Bertie, Romford, 05/02/2008 14:45
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Dear Ken - rather than waste everyones money on more shopping, which only makes everyone unhappy - could you please build a proper sports centre in central London - one with pools, pitches, courts, climbing walls, running tracks and all the community activities that go with it.
Spend the budget you currently waste on the policing and rehabilitation of asbo kids on something good for everybody....London will thank you for it.
- Alex, London, 04/02/2008 15:51
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So let me get this right - more:
Superdrugs
Boots
Barrets
Accessorizes
Tops Shops
Basically chain hell. Thanks Ken, kill London's soul why don't you!
- Sarah Jenkins, London, 04/02/2008 13:16
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It's a shame that Southwest London does not have a decent large shopping mall. Why are all the new ones in the north and east?
Come on, Ken. Build something spectacular in the Kingston/Surbiton/Wimbledon area!
- Harry, London, 01/02/2008 10:25
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These get called "redevelopment" but really they are make-overs done by companies who will make a lot of money. So every shopping centre is claimed to be redevelopment for an area in effect all that happens in some shops get replaced by the same shops in a prettier building with parking
I doubt any local community will benefit, more traffic and jobs in community markets moved to mcJobs in dull Malls
- Marc, hammersmith, 31/01/2008 15:15
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