Town Centre Health Check October 2023

Contents

INTRODUCTION

ILKESTON TOWN CENTRE

LONG EATON TOWN CENTRE

BORROWASH LOCAL CENTRE

SANDIACRE LOCAL CENTRE

BREASTON VILLAGE CENTRE

DRAYCOTT VILLAGE CENTRE

LITTLE EATON VILLAGE CENTRE

WEST HALLAM VILLAGE CENTRE

APPENDIX

 

Introduction

Since 2018, Erewash Borough Council has produced an annual health check document regarding its two town centres; Long Eaton and Ilkeston, and its two local centres; Borrowash and Sandiacre. Since January 2023 four village centres have been included, in keeping with the draft Local Plan produced by Erewash Borough Council in 2022. These centres are: Breaston, Draycott, Little Eaton, and West Hallam.

These reports help provide the Council with information on planning use class, business category and vacancy rates. This year business type and first/second floor use have also been assessed. Regular updates help to ensure effective monitoring of the Borough’s centres and reveal any patterns of change. Therefore, monitoring will now be conducted more frequently, on a six-monthly basis.

The information in this document is based on the latest monitoring conducted during October 2023.

The Council is now able to compare this report’s data with Oct 2018 – Jan 2023’s data for vacancy rates. Vacancy has increased in almost all the Centres, but a methodological change may explain some of the change: This report is the first to consider properties with long term unknown occupancy as vacant and some occupied properties that previously lowered the vacancy rate have been redesignated as first floor units and therefore do not affect the ground floor vacancy rate in this report.

This year planning use class has not been included in this report as there is little diversity in Centre use class and the new September 2020 use classes make historical comparisons difficult.

The reports for both Town Centres show their Primary Shopping Area (PSA) and whole area vacancy rates between January 2018 and October 2023. An additional comparison with the 2006 WYG Retail Needs Study Goad Centre Report can be found in the appendix. This is followed by data on the primary use category of ground, first, and second floor units. A 2018-2023 historical data comparison is also provided for ground floor units. Again the 2006 WYG Study can provide further comparison. Finally, there is a detailed breakdown of the business types within six Use Categories (Comparison Retail, Leisure Service, Other Commercial, Retail Service, Financial and Business Services, Convenience Retail. Other non-commercial is not included as the category is small and rarely contains more than one of each business type while residential and vacant are not included as they do not contain any business types).

The reports for the Local and Village Centres show vacancy rates with Jan 2018-Oct 2023 data for the Local Centres and Jan 2023-Oct 2023 data for the village centres. This is followed by the ground and first floor use category data. Historical use category data is not available for comparison, second floor usage has been excluded as it is rare, and most use categories are not large enough to justify business type breakdowns.

The 2006 WYG Retail Needs Study Goad Centre Report and annotated boundary maps for the Town and Local Centres showing the use category of each unit can be found in the appendix.

 

Ilkeston Town Centre

Three pictures of Ilkeston are shown left to right, they show: South Street in October 2023 viewed from outside the Town Hall, the Market Place in October 2023 as viewed from outside the King's Head pub looking on the right past the Town Hall, the old Co-op, and South Street with the library on the left, and Upper Bath Street in October 2023 viewed from the elevated graveyard of St. Mary's Church. Below are 2 graphs, the first shows the primary shopping area ground floor vacancy rate which has been trending upward since 2019 and is currently 19.2%. The following list is the vacancy rate in each year: 2018 10.7%, 2019 5.2%, 2020 7.7%, 2021 9.1%, 2022 15.2%, Jan 2023 15.2%, Oct 2023 19.2%. The second shows the whole Town Centre ground floor vacancy rate which dipped in 2021 but has been trending upwards since, is currently 16.0%. The following list is the vacancy rate in each year: 2018 13.5%, 2019 12.2%, 2020 10.6%, 2021 9.7%, 2022 12.3%, Jan 2023 12.8%, Oct 2023 16.0%.

Three pie charts are shown. The first shows the use category of town centre ground floor units, the largest categories are comparison retail, retail services, and leisure services all at roughly 20%. The second shows the use category of town centre first floor units, the largest category by far is Residential at 41.47%. The third shows the use category of town centre second floor units again the largest category by far is Residential at 56.93%.A stacked bar graph shows the use category of town centre ground floor units between Jan 2018-Oct 23. The largest changes are Retail services that have grown from 39 units in 2018 to 57 units in 2023 and residential which has shrunk from 26 units in 2018 to 10 units in 2023.

Four pie charts are shows. This first shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the convenience retail use category that occupy ground floor units, discount general retailers are the largest business type occupying 5 units followed by alcohol retailers and Bakeries with 3 units each. The second shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the leisure service use category that occupy ground floor units, drinking establishments are the largest business type occupying 18 units followed closely by takeaways with 17 units then Cafes with 12 units. The Third shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the Financial & Business Services use category that occupy ground floor units, Estate agents are the most numerous categories occupying 9 units. The fourth shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the other commercial use category that occupy ground floor units. while there are only 8 units in this category medical services and Education are the largest type occupying 2 units each.

Two bar graphs are shown. The first shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the comparison retail use category that occupy ground floor units, furniture and charity shops are the most numerous types with 8 units each. The second shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the retail service use category that occupy ground floor units, hair dressers are the most numerous type with 19 units followed by general beauty with 10 units then trade shops with 7 units.

 

Long Eaton Town Centre

Two pictures of Long Eaton are shown, they show: The High Street on a market day in October 2023 as viewed from outside Savers looking towards the Market Place with a flower stand on the left and the Marketplace in October 2023 viewed from between the pedestrian crossing and the taxi rank, looking down towards the war memorial. Below are 2 line graphs, the first shows the primary shopping area ground floor vacancy rate which has been trending slightly down since 2023 and is currently 11.8%. The following list is the vacancy rate in each year: 2018 7.0%, 2019 8.7%, 2020 14.5%, 2021 13.0%, 2022 13.3%, Jan 2023 12.5%, Oct 2023 11.8%. The second shows the whole Town Centre ground floor vacancy rate which has increased slightly after plateauing between 2021 and Jan 2023, it is currently 12.1%. The following list is the vacancy rate in each year: 2018 6.7%, 2019 9.9%, 2020 14.3%, 2021 11.2%, 2022 10.5%, Jan 2023 10.4%, Oct 2023 12.1%.Three pie charts are shown. The first shows the use category of town centre ground floor units, the largest categories are comparison retail and leisure services at roughly 20% each. The second shows the use category of town centre first floor units, the largest category by far is Residential at 36.92%. The third shows the use category of town centre second floor units again the largest category by far is Residential at 62.5%.A stacked bar graph shows the use category of town centre ground floor units between Jan 2018-Oct 23. While there is some fluctuations there were no significant changes in use class distribution over the years.Four pie charts are shows. This first shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the convenience retail use category that occupy ground floor units, discount general retailers are the largest business type occupying 5 units followed by small shops with 3 units. The second shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the leisure service use category that occupy ground floor units, takeaways are the largest business type occupying 15 units followed by Cafes with 11 units. The Third shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the Financial & Business Services use category that occupy ground floor units, Estate agents are the most numerous categories occupying 11 units. The fourth shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the other commercial use category, medical services are the largest category occupying 4 units.Two bar graphs are shown. The first shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the comparison retail use category that occupy ground floor units, charity shops are the most numerous types with 9 units followed by apparel with 7 units and then furniture with 5 units. The second shows a breakdown of the types of businesses within the retail service use category that occupy ground floor units, general beauty occupies the most units at 11 followed by hair dressers with 10 units.

Borrowash Local Centre

An image shows the view along Nottingham Road towards its intersection with Station Road in January 2023. To the left is a line graph that shows the whole Local Centre ground floor vacancy rate which has increase since 2020 and is currently 13.5%. The following list is the vacancy rate in each year: 2018 2.5%, 2019 0.0%, 2020 0.0%, 2022 4.5%, Jan 2023 11.4%, Oct 2023 13.5%. Below are two pie charts. The first shows the use category of local centre ground floor units, the largest category is retail services at 27.03% followed by leisure services at 18.92%. The second shows the use category of local centre first floor units, the largest category by far is residential at 66.33%.

Sandiacre Local Centre

An image shows the view from Grasmere Street over the canal in October 2023. The Red Lion Pub is to the right. To the left is a line graph that shows the whole Local Centre ground floor vacancy rate which has risen sharply from its previous plateau and is now 16.7%. The following list is the vacancy rate in each year: 2018 10.0%, 2019 7.7%, 2020 5.6%, 2022 5.6%, Jan 2023 5.6%, Oct 2023 16.7%. Below are two pie charts. The first shows the use category of local centre ground floor units, vacant units, residential, retail services, leisure services, and comparison retail all occupy somewhere between 15-20% of units each. The second shows the use category of local centre first floor units, the largest category by far is residential at 62.32%.

Breaston Village Centre

An image shows the view down main street from outside the pre-school down towards the Green in January 2023. To the right is a table that shows the village Centre ground floor vacancy rate which is currently 2.2%, it was 3.3% in January 2023. Below are two pie charts. The first shows the use category of village centre ground floor units, the largest category is residential which occupies 30.43% of units, followed by leisure services with 19.53% and then retail services with 17.39%. The second shows the use category of village centre first floor units, the largest category by far is residential at 76.92%.

Draycott Village Centre

An image shows the from Station Road looking down towards Victoria Mill in January 2023. To the right is a table that shows the village Centre ground floor vacancy rate which is currently 4.6%, it was 3.3% in January 2023. Below are two pie charts. The first shows the use category of village centre ground floor units, the largest category by far is residential occupying 54.55% of units. The second shows the use category of village centre first floor units, again the largest category by far is residential at 80.77%.

Little Eaton Village Centre

An image shows the Little Eaton Co-op in January 2023. To the right is a table that shows the village Centre ground floor vacancy rate which is currently 0%, it was 0% in January 2023. Below are two pie charts. The first shows the use category of village centre ground floor units, the largest category is other commercial at 37.50% followed by retail services at 25%. The second shows the use category of village centre first floor units, the largest category by far is residential at 80%.

West Hallam Village Centre

An image shows the units of the Dales Shopping Centre that overlook the Village in January 2023. To the right is a table that shows the village Centre ground floor vacancy rate which is currently 12.5%, it was 18.8% in January 2023. Below are two pie charts. The first shows the use category of village centre ground floor units, the largest category is leisure services at 18.75% followed by vacant units, residential, retail services, comparison retail, and other non-commercial all at 12.5%. The second shows the use category of village centre first floor units, the largest category by far is residential at 75%.

Appendix

 

2006 Data

A Town Centre study was carried out in 2006, it is included here as a baseline to highlight changes.

Ilkeston

2006

Oct 23

Change

Convenience Retail

25

9%

17

5.90%

-8

-3.10%

Comparison Retail

86

29%

58

20.14%

-28

-8.86%

Retail Services

38

13%

57

19.79%

19

6.79%

Leisure Services

45

15%

56

19.44%

11

4.44%

Financial & Business

32

11%

28

9.72%

-4

-1.28%

Unknown/Vacant

32

11%

46

15.97%

14

4.97%

Residential

21

7%

10

3.47%

-11

-3.53%

Other Commercial

4

1%

8

2.78%

4

1.78%

Other Non-commercial

10

3%

8

2.78%

-2

-0.22%

Long Eaton

2006

Oct 23

Change

Convenience Retail

21

8%

16

6.45%

-5

-1.55%

Comparison Retail

92

36%

52

20.97%

-40

-15.03%

Retail Services

31

12%

37

14.92%

6

2.92%

Leisure Services

45

18%

45

18.15%

0

0.15%

Financial & Business

38

15%

31

12.50%

-7

-2.50%

Unknown/Vacant

15

6%

30

12.10%

15

6.10%

Residential

7

3%

19

7.66%

12

4.66%

Other Commercial

3

1%

13

5.24%

10

4.24%

Other Non-commercial

4

2%

5

2.02%

1

0.02%

The highlighted categories show where there has been a >4% change over the 17 years.

 

Annotated Boundary Maps

Sandiacre Local Centre

A map showing the boundary of Sandiacre Town Centre with dots showing the use category of each unit.

Long Eaton Town Centre

A map showing the boundary of Long Eaton Town Centre with dots showing the use category of each unit.

Ilkeston Town Centre

Map Ik

Borrowash Local Centre

A map showing the boundary of Borrowash Local Centre with dots showing the use category of each unit.

Unannotated boundary maps can be found on the map portal by select the Planning (Policy Data) category then tick the box next to Town and Local Centres.