S.Wales Evening Post - 28 October 2005
Swansea city centre has been given a big thumbs down by city residents, according to the council's own research. The survey backs the Post's own findings from its latest Set The Agenda questionnaire.
It found that city centre shopping was the biggest gripe with residents. A massive 80 per cent of respondents said that the shopping experience had got worse in the last 12 months.
However, it has emerged that the warning signs were already there for council leaders, who carried out their own research in April this year.Those findings revealed four in 10 people thought the city centre had deteriorated.
Around 50 per cent said their had been no change and just one in 10 thought things had got better.It was recently revealed that some 50 city centre shops are either closed, closing or advertised to rent.
The findings come on the back of a fight to put the heart back into the city centre.
Peter Birch, of Swansea Independent Traders' Association, said he had not seen any action since April.
He said: "It's quite a clear indication. 40 per cent is a very big number of people who are not happy with the city centre."I have not seen any improvement at all. Nothing seems to be happening.
"It's all right pushing paper but it's action that we need."
Mr Birch said recent announcements from the council were more encouraging, however.
"They have said that there is not going to be any more out-of- town development at the business parks. We will have to see if they stick to that.
"As retailers, we have been let down for the last 10 or 12 years.
"There have been some high- profile closures in the last six months.
"The administration has known that people are not happy with the state of the centre for six months.
"But they have not done anything to reverse that.
"I think that if there had been some hope for retailers then the ones that have left may have given us a second chance."
The council's survey also found that over 40 per cent of respondents rated the city centre as either fairly poor or very poor in terms of shopping.
It came ahead of last week's announcement that the old David Evans department store in Princess Way is going to be razed early next year.I
t was also announced that it would be replaced by a new retail six-store scheme.Council leader Chris Holley said there had been a lot of work going on behind the scenes.
He added: "We have got to have a legal framework to work to and it is no good saying something if we are not sure we can deliver.
"It has taken this amount of time, because we have had to clear our thinking after coming into power.
"I feel that 18 months since we came into power is not bad.
"We have had to get it right and overcome past failures. What's happened has happened and is history.
"What I'm saying is that we are taking steps to make sure things get better."
