海角视频

Like every town and city in the 海角视频 at the start of lockdown, Newton Abbot in South Devon emptied overnight.

The livestock market was cancelled, no-one set up their stalls in Market Square or Courtenay Street. The shops remained closed, except for the supermarkets, chemists and other essential retailers.

But when the shoppers started to return, the town slowly but surely welcomed new faces.

Sally Henley, Town Centre development manager said: 鈥淭here has been much talk about the creation of ghost towns with the desertion of office workers. That might be true of cities but we鈥檝e seen the opposite in Newton Abbot.

鈥淚n Newton Abbot, we have never relied on office workers. Our core customers in town are people who live and work locally so we haven鈥檛 missed a swathe of office workers. We have gained office workers who might have left Newton Abbot to go to work. While they have been working home, they鈥檝e come in to grab a few bits and pieces, take a breather and have a coffee or use the parks for a bit of space.鈥�

R suggests that some smaller town centres seem to have had fewer reductions in overall footfall than larger towns and cities. Shoppers are preferring to stay local while working from home and are keen to avoid public transport.

A Reinventing the High Street for Covid-19 Recovery report by Sustrans recommends that capitalising on the increased use of smaller high streets is a way to economic recovery along with reinventing high streets as places for people and ensuring equitable access for all ages and abilities.

59% of consumers in Britain have used more local stores and services to help support them during lockdown.

These trends are likely to continue with reduced public transport capacity and government advice to stay local remaining in place.

Mrs Henley said: 鈥淧eople certainly shopped local to begin with, using the butcher and the greengrocer but that has slipped a bit with people picking up their meat in the supermarket again while they鈥檙e there.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a hackneyed phrase but we need people to shop locally. I think the lockdown has shown people the value of their small shops and the value they have to the community as a whole.鈥�

And businesses have decided to open up on the high street during lockdown showing there is still opportunity to be had, she said.

But the issue of business rates remains a sticking point, she said. Until there is - the high street will always suffer.

Dr. Stephen Brand, associate professor of economics at the University of Plymouth, agrees.

He said that the future of all high street shops remains in question - and CV19 has been something of a red-herring, although nevertheless a very real effect to the majority of businesses.

He said: 鈥淭here is a far bigger issue 鈥� business rates 鈥� and this needs urgent reform if we are to sustain our high streets. The current arrangement is very outdated, arguably tied in to some very archaic rules.

鈥淚 would suggest that you need firstly to review business rates before you can begin to build an active 21st century high street.鈥�

Paul Crawford, chief executive of LiveWest, which manages 37,000 homes across the South West, with, said that many big employers will be looking at hybrid working arrangements for staff in the future that include time in the office and days at home.

And this will bring opportunities for smaller towns and villages.

And while there is evidence to suggest that city workers are relocating to rural areas because of new remote working arrangements, there is still huge pressure on decent, affordable housing stock in the region.

Mr Crawford said that the Covid-19 lockdown had halted work on its developments this year with 700 homes completed rather than the hoped for 1,300 homes. Of these, 200 are shared ownership, 80 on the open market and the rest for affordable rent.

He said: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the stock to meet the demand we are experiencing.

鈥淎t the moment, the housing market is being propped up by the relocation from urban areas to rural settings, low interest rates and the stamp duty holiday. But we are in a period of uncertainty because of Covid-19 and Brexit and the question for us is how do we continue to build homes for sale or shared ownership in an uncertain housing market.

鈥淲e know that house prices are rising and one of the challenges in the South West is house prices are 11-12 times the average income and that is not abating, in fact that is going to continue with continuing employment certainty in the region. For a lot of people, getting on the housing ladder is going to be a challenge.鈥�

In Camborne, one of the huge strengths has been a sense of community spirit.

BID Manager Anna Pascoe said:鈥淲e are lucky that our town mainly comprises small and medium businesses and so isn鈥檛 suffering the ghost town effect of areas with large offices and retail parks.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not to say there haven鈥檛 been lows this year. People are uncertain about what their future holds economically and, of course, there is the additional worry about loved ones and staff at risk from the virus.鈥�

The town鈥檚 food and drink retail outlets diversified to offer takeaways and home deliveries, and have, in the process, continued to reach customers new and old in a different trading climate.

鈥淚t has been heartening to see our wide range of businesses doing their best to understand and implement new rules, even when these have been introduced with very little notice. It has also been rewarding to further extend BID鈥檚 support role by providing risk assessment templates, cleanliness charters and advice about the grants and finance options available.鈥�