Give Gosport the Portas treatment, say town leaders
SPEAKING OUT Ian Welland from the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce visits Gosport shopping precinct. Picture: Ian Hargreaves (120454-1)
THERE have been fresh calls for Gosport to receive special help from TV shopping expert Mary Portas.
Government ministers have announced plans to set up 12 pilot towns to test ideas from Ms Portas on how to help dying high streets.
If chosen, Gosport would try a list of 28 proposals she put forward and would benefit from a share of £1m to help turn the high street around.
Town leaders are now putting together a bid for Gosport to be included in the Portas pilot scheme.
But despite the calls, figures released yesterday show the town is actually doing better than most.
The leader of Gosport Borough Council Mark Hook said: ‘The main message for us is that Gosport is open for business.
‘If someone like Mary Portas could come in and give some help and advice then that should be welcomed.
‘She has made 28 recommendations.
‘Half of those are things for the government to look at, like business rates which aren’t set by the council.
‘Businesses would benefit from things like that.’
Figures released yesterday show that nationally one in seven high street shops sat empty last year. But in Gosport, the figure is a more promising one in 10.
Roughly one in 10 shops in Havant and Waterlooville sits empty while in Leigh Park it is one in five.
In Fareham’s West Street it is around one in 20.
Cllr Hook said he was delighted Gosport bucked the trend but said the figures shouldn’t scupper the town’s bid to be a Portas pilot.
‘We would like a thriving town centre and I think Gosport would be an ideal candidate for the pilot,’ added Cllr Hook.
‘What’s pleasing is the number of shops that have opened recently.
‘At the moment 163 out of 182 shops are open, but we would like to see 182 out of 182 shops open.’
Gosport’s MP Caroline Dinenage started the calls by urging the government to choose Gosport in Parliament.
She said: ‘Gosport would be a brilliant pilot town.
‘My vision for Gosport is something that capitalises on our unique location.’
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Friday 25 May 2012
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There are 13 comments to this article
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Scumstomper.
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 02:58 PMCapt Hook says "At the moment 163 out of 182 shops are open, but we would like to see 182 out of 182 shops open." What a laugh!! Maybe, if 150 of the 163 that are open weren't tattoo parlours, turkish barbers, nail clinics, charity shops or discount stores, we may get closer to the 182!! Fact is, it ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Not unitl the the fat lady sings and she's legged it to Gunwharf....
The Gosport One
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 01:18 PMand today on BBC news webiste Weymouth 'committing suicide', says retail expert Weymouth council has blamed shop closures on the economic downturn Mr Burch also blamed car parking charges for deterring people from visiting town centres. and so back to Gopsort, perhaps, Lynda Dine, Head of Economic Prosperity, Tourism and Culture Gosport Borough Council would like to comment about the similarities and what steps are being taken to address these issues plus an update about the Masterplanning for the Town Centre and Waterfont regeneration.
Gosport Bloke
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 02:57 PM@10 - his name would rhyme with smegbin would it...lol
Gosport View
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 09:02 AMCouncil Watcher - There is only one sqabbling councillor in Gosport and we all know who that is. The remainder, whilst respecting their positions, work together in the best interests of our town.
Bored Rigid
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 01:16 AMHogwash! Walk down Gosport High Street with its bleak windswept appearance, empty shops, charity shops, one pound shops and boarded-up post office. It's a pale shadow of the bustling shopping arcades in other towns. People will pay for parking where the shops are worth visiting but Gosport's are not. Free parking was the one thing that attracted shoppers into Gosport and Mark Hook scrapped that.
Pentip
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:23 AMThere are hundreds of one and two hour free on road car parking spaces in and around Gosport's town centre and very many 20p for one hour and 50p for two hours council car parking spaces as well. All this parking is probably the cheapest of any town in the South. Two hour parking in the supermarkets is also free. That's helping trade, not harming it. In contrast, for example, It's £1.60 an hour in Fareham, very expensive in Portsmouth and you pay to park on the roads there as well. Statistics released this week show Gosport's shops are doing significantly better than the national average. If they are to continue to survive in these difficult times it will only happen if they receive the support of shoppers. It's up to you!
CouncilWatcher
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 04:13 PMWhile Fareham and Portsmouth Councils have invested in their town centres Gosport has been left behind. The Market has gone down the pan and far too many shops are now charity shops, estate agents or offices. Mark Hook's car park charges don't help either. Yes please do bring Mary Portas in to shake things up. She won't stand for any nonsense or the 'do nothing' attitude of squabbling Gosport councillors.
Gosport and proud
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 04:04 PMi remember 25 years ago seeing plans for Gosport centre to have a glass roof over it, the first phase was to pedestrianise it. Remembering back to 'traffic' days it is much better as it is now. My humble opinion is the only issue is the quality of brands in Gosport (please note i said brands, the contents of the shop is not in question!) Fareham, Gunwhard and Commercial Road all have new big brands coming all the time, e.g. Fareham and Debenhams, etc. The last big brand Gosport had was KFC! obviously i'm still enjoying the taste of that but we have very little big brands who are putting the adverts on tv to entice people to the town. Please can we move away from charity shops, they are limiting your demographic straight away! Make better use of the space we have and do something decent with the bus station as mentioned! Also is it time walpole park where the fair usually sits is developed?
beiroot
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 03:51 PMBuy the old Ark Royal for starters and make the gateway to the town more attractive!!
pugman106
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 03:45 PM@2 - open up the high street to traffic.absabloominglutely.what a top idea,cmon hooky.make it happen
Gosport lad in exile
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 01:37 PMPlease correct me if I am wrong here...but I believe Farehm have a brilliant system by where they offer empty shops out for free to charity shops, not like your Oxfams and Barnados, but to Scouts and other charites. If a property is sitting empty surely this is a better idea than what we currently have. I would assume this would be why Farehm has a 1 in 20 ratio for empty shops.
seejay32
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 01:26 PMPlenty of bars and restaurants in and around the High Street, including an empty bar facing the harbour. We should scrap the market, it's only a shadow of its former self, open up the High Street to traffic and make the place as vibrant as it once was. Also, force owners of shops like the former Curry's spruce them up. Clifton Cards premises and the former mobile phone shop look very neat and tidy, so it can be done. Owners of premises should look at the rents they are charging, often it's these which cause businesses to call it a day. We have to pull out all the stops, because the likes of Tesco would like nothing better than a monopoly in the town, with all the independents long gone.
beertokens
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 12:36 PMgosport has lagged to far behind portsmouth and fareham when it comes to having a decent town center . instead of building a hotel at holbrook would it not be better to knock down the old bus station and put a few nice bars and resturunts on the front
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