St George's Walk traders still struggling (From Croydon Guardian)

St George's Walk traders still struggling

1:00pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

By Kirsty Whalley »

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Despite efforts to revive shops at St George’s Walk, traders are still struggling.

The once thriving small parade of shops off the High Street has become derelict since property giant Minerva’s £500million Park Place development collapsed.

The deserted area is set to benefit from £52,000 in central government funding to help re-invent vacant premises in Croydon and Minerva say they are working with the council to come up with an alternative to the Park Place scheme.

In an effort to revive the businesses, landlords Minerva and Chaseville Plc have been offering shorter term tenancies, with affordable rents.

Most of the units on the west side of the walk have been taken on by new businesses and independent traders.

However the east side of the walk remains deserted with boarded-up shop fronts and at least one smashed window.

Chris Ross, owner of Surrey Goldsmiths on the east side, is part of a group of traders who have taken the council to the Lands Tribunal for their part in the parade’s decline.

They argue the authority mishandled a Compulsory Purchase Order they issued for the area in 2005.

Mr Ross said: “This area will not come back until it is completely redeveloped.

“The place has been smashed up, it is terrible, in Central Croydon it is disgraceful.”

He and other traders have become increasingly concerned about vandalism, grafitti and antisocial behaviour in the area.

When they reported one incident to the council they were told CCTV in the area was not working.

A council spokeswoman said: “I’ve been advised that the CCTV camera in St. George’s Walk is in the process of being replaced.”

The Croydon Economic Development Company has been working to attract businesses to the area.

A spokesman said: “The CEDC has been working hard to reduce the number of empty commercial properties in the borough and offer affordable business accommodation to local entrepreneurs.”

A recent spot check showed five double units and two single units remained empty on the west side of the walk with 17 shops open for business.

On the east side of the walk only seven businesses were open and trading. The rest of the units were boarded up.

One of the businesses, a food shop, which is only open part time, had smashed windows which had not been repaired by the landlord.

Traders on the parade agree something needs to be done to clean up the area and admit they were struggling after the Christmas period but business seems to be picking up.

Jackie Ravate, who runs A&J Florists, said: “We are renting from Minerva, there was talk of Minerva putting some money in to do it up.

"Something needs to be done."

Michelle Fisher, who works in the new hair salon Dynamic Hair and Beauty, said business has been slow.

“It was dead when I first started, quite a few of the shops down here are closed,” she said.

A spokesman from Minerva said: “Since the Council determined the development agreement in May, Minerva has been working hard to breathe life back into St George’s walk and the surrounding retail and we remained committed to getting all the remaining units occupied.

"We have focused attention on getting a variety of users in there to create interest.

"In addition, we are also focusing on the High Street units and Park Street.

"The Police unit for 2-4 George Street will be signed up shortly which will bring a greater Police presence to the town centre as a whole."

Comments(32)

mcblount says...
1:36pm Fri 19 Mar 10

Howeverm, the Madeira Delicatessen is still doing fine. Great food, lovely shop, wonderful "espressos" which are a lot cheaper than some of the other cafes and a lot nicer.