A councillor said Gerrards Cross is going ‘downhill’ because of empty shops in the town and ‘too many’ charity shops, with another blaming online shopping for the decline of the high street.

Town councillors debated the issue at a full council meeting on Monday, with cllr Peter Roberts saying something needed to be done to improve the high street.

Asking other councillors if there was anything the district council could do to help the situation, he said: “Gerrards Cross is running down. It is going downhill, there is no doubt about that.

“We have two more shops closing imminently and we don’t want any more charity shops in the town.

“It will get worse and worse and worse. We have got too many [charity shops] now. Is there anything the district council can do?

“These shops are going to become more and more common within Gerrards Cross.

“Maybe when we have no commercial shops in Gerrards Cross, something will be done about it. We will have Tesco, Waitrose, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury’s and that will be it.”

Cllr Jennifer Woolveridge said the rise of online shopping is affecting high street stores and that charity shops fill the space of empty shops to “keep a presence.”

She said: “I think we are all at fault. Certainly my children, my husband, always buy online. They do not go shopping any more. We are all to blame.”

However, cllr Martin Baker disagreed, saying he thought the town was ‘thriving nicely’ in some parts and that the town council should be encouraging residents to shop in the town.

He said: “I refute that the town is going downhill, I don’t agree with that. In some respects we are actually going uphill. We are seeing changes but the town is actually thriving nicely in parts.

“There are two or three empty shops but not many. I think we shouldn’t be seen to be saying the town is going downhill, it is not.”

Cllr Baker said residents were keen to see traditional shops on the high street, as was the case when children’s clothes store Puddleduck closed down in Station Road.

He said: “We have some poor footfall and some shop owners are finding it tricky but people want the old traditional shops back in and that is certainly what we have seen in some areas, such as the butcher’s that have moved in when Puddleduck closed.”

Cllr Norman Holmes said while councillors should not be derogatory about the state of shops in the town, he said they should not be “kidding ourselves that everything is hunk dory either.”

He said: “I think we should be talking it up but also find ways to stimulate it. I don’t know if that falls outside of our brief, but I think it should be in our brief to see what we can do to stimulate the town further.”

Chairman cllr Chris Brown, said the town council’s focus should continue be on making Gerrards Cross an attractive place for people to visit and shop in, by “keeping it tidy, making it look good and working on entering Best Kept Village.”

Gerrards Cross was a joint runner-up for the Pushman Cup with Chalfont St Giles in last year’s competition.

Do you think Gerrards Cross town centre needs improving? Get in touch by emailing Stephanie.wareham@london.newsquest.co.uk.