Beloved 90s shopping centre to be demolished as traders bemoan ‘brutal’ 6-month deadline to leave
TRADERS are fuming over a "brutal" six-month deadline to leave a beloved '90s shopping centre which is set to be demolished.
Shop owners at Park Mall shopping centre in Ashford, Kent, have said they fear for their livelihoods after the council gave them just half a year to vacate the complex.
The mall and neighbouring Edinburgh Road multi-storey car park are due to be flattened early next year as part of plans to build more housing in the area.
Traders in the centre, which is home to a combination of independent and chain stores, say they have been blindsided by the speed of the decision.
They have until the end of August to leave Park Mall and were told in a meeting on Tuesday afternoon how Ashford Borough Council (ABC) plans to turn the site into homes in the years to come.
However, it remains unclear how many properties will be built at the centre which has seen a number of closures in recent years, including the high-profile loss of Wilko in 2023.
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Russell Geen, who has run The Little Teapot cafe since 2016, told KentOnline how he feels the unexpected decision won't help the town centre.
He explained the council had been discussing the plans for a number of years but it had never come to anything until now.
Russell also cast doubt on plans by ABC to set up a temporary car park, to substitute the loss of the Edinburgh Road multi-storey, which he claims is intended to be turned into housing eventually.
However, he believes the council will keep it as a car park, which would be futile as the heavy losses of "unique shops" in Ashford in recent years gives little reason for shoppers to drive and park in the town centre.
Bosses at ABC have said they will set up an "interim surface-level car park while exploring ideas for what the area could be transformed to in the future".
The council, run by a coalition between the Ashford Independents and the Green Party has long held ambitions to turn the shopping mall into homes.
ABC has held the leasehold for Park Mall since 2015 but recently acquired the freehold after the authority's cabinet agreed to the move in December.
It says it has allowed traders six months “to try and give them time to find alternative premises”
Joe Bartlett, director at Baby Art Studios, slammed the notice period as "brutal".
He claimed there are "no real plans for relocating traders" and fears shop owners will be pushed into private landlords who "will hike up the prices."
He said: "The council is just ripping apart what’s here and replacing it with a car park."
David Hebditch, owner of Baby Art Studios and neighbouring Bump2Baby Scan, is calling for ABC to give compensation to all tenants.
He described the council's behaviour as "unforgiveable", and vented frustration at what he feels is a short space of time to make a major move.
David wants ABC to give traders 12 months of notice instead, as well as a compensation package for setup costs.
He claims the council also knew in December when the decision was made but only told traders late in February, meaning they had two-and-a-half months less time to react.
Louisa Bennett, owner of Salvage Studio, also slammed the tight timeframe, saying it was particularly challenging for businesses that support vulnerable adults in the community, like hers.
She also explained how difficult the announcement had been on her company, since it had only settled in the site in October.
'STATE OF SPIRALLING DECLINE'
ABC has said it is now aiming to submit a planning application for the demolition of both Park Mall and Edinburgh Road car park.
A spokesperson for the council told said: "We hope that tenants are able to find units elsewhere and remain in the town centre.
"There are currently many vacant units in the town centre.
"As we explained in our face to face meeting with tenants, we want to help tenants as much as we can, and will provide advice, signpost to financial support available in terms of empty property grants, put them in contact with local commercial agent Stafford Perkins who can provide details of other empty properties available in the town centre and work with them individually for their specific needs and situation."
Three stores - O2, Kamsons and Greggs - will remain open as they "maintain an attractive and active presence and will not impede the wider redevelopment of the site”.
In response to fears over the sudden deadline, a spokesperson for ABC explained: "Each tenant has a different lease agreement with us, but all of the leases include a break clause, allowing us to give notice, just like any other commercial landlord would.
"Some tenants’ leases only have a month or two-month notice period, however we have extended this to six months, to allow them more time to move."
The spokesman also said how Park Mall has been “in a state of spiralling decline for several years and is operating at a significant loss”.
Edinburgh Road car park has seen its top storey cordoned off due to anti-social behaviour and its lifts are regularly out of service.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
The spokesperson added: "This move would reduce the council’s operating losses on Park Mall and pave the way forward for the onward redevelopment and regeneration of the site.
“If Park Mall and Edinburgh Road car park were to remain and continue operating in their current format, the council would need to allocate a significant budget to maintenance and upgrade works over the next one-two years to ensure the buildings meet all the necessary compliance standards, and we feel this is not sustainable.
“When we purchased the leasehold in 2015, more than a decade ago, we were always clear in the short term we would try and revive the shopping centres’ fortunes, but the longer-term plans would probably not include retail, due to the changing nature of town centres and shopping habits, like we have seen up and down the country."
The spokesperson continued: “This was reported at the time and in subsequent articles in the local media over the years, including recently when Wilko closed, which has had a big effect on footfall.
“The reason we have now proceeded with these plans is due to the opportunity to purchase the freehold from the previous owners coming up.”
Some traders have already indicated they are considering relocating to other towns in Kent such as Folkestone or Maidstone, while some fear they may just close for good.
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The authority says it is “difficult to provide an exact timescale” for demolition, but is “more likely to be early next year”.
It says traders have been given six months’ notice so the site is completely clear by October.