Bournemouth shops shutting because of Amazon and Castlepoint, says councillor

Cabinet member for transformation, resource and governance, Cllr Jeff Hanna, commented on shop closures in Bournemouth town centre yesterday.

Cllr Hanna said during a live Q&A with Cllr Millie Earl: “The way in which we are all doing our shopping is changing, and that’s affecting town centres right across the country.

“A lot of us are doing online shopping. We all know about Amazon being extremely busy and Amazon is taking a lot of the business from shops that we would otherwise have shopped in.”

He also said: “Getting to Castlepoint and parking in Castlepoint is convenient for a lot of people in that area and, again, Castlepoint has sadly taken business away from Bournemouth town centre.”

Cllr Hanna went on to say that members of the public often hear about shops closing, referring to the recent closure of Superdrug in the town centre, but not so much about the shops that are opening.

He said: “Vacancy rates in 2020 in Bournemouth town centre were at 18.2%. That’s now improved and the vacancy rate has dropped to 15.5%. So things are actually improving in those terms even though the public perception seems to be that things are getting worse.”

In an attempt to ensure shop closures are being replaced with new businesses, BCP has become one of four areas in the country trialling a high street rental auction scheme.

This means that if a building or a shop has been left empty for 365 days within a two-year period, the council will be able to work with the landlord to fill the space.

If they cannot come to an agreement, independent traders or local groups can bid for a tenancy between one and five years for the premises.

Cllr Hanna said: “There will be a real incentive to the landlord to fill the space.”