March of charity shops needs to be addressed (From Bucks Free Press)

March of charity shops needs to be addressed

12:40pm Friday 10th February 2012 in Comment

GO into almost any of our High Streets these days – Wycombe, Risborough, Chesham, Marlow – and there is no doubt there are more charity shops there now than there were a decade ago.

And is it any surprise? We are in the midst of an economic downturn, after all.

Businesses are failing, leaving vacant premises to haunt our town centre streets. If they weren’t being occupied by these shops they may well just be left to rot, waiting for a new tenant that is not likely to arrive anytime soon.

And consumers don’t have the cash they once did to spend on new goods – for many the prospect of buying cheaper clothes and furniture at a charity shop is a vital lifeline.

But by the same token, Cllr Roger Colomb surely had a point this week when he suggested withdrawing a Wycombe District Council subsidy which excludes charity shops from paying business rates.

To encourage too many charity shops means that our streets become filled with them, which, while very worthwhile in themselves are hardly the mark of a thriving, dynamic local economy. Will they really attract out-of-town visitors to our streets to spend their cash?

And if we don’t get that all-important influx of money hitting our high streets, how can independent business – or even beleaguered chain stores – possibly survive? It’s a difficult debate, one that doesn’t have an easy answer but we think Cllr Colomb was right to raise it this week. To ignore the issue would be uncharitable to the future of our town centres.