Campbeltown - Regeneration ! Where did it all go wrong ?

[StephenJ]

On reflection, if I were to read the phrase "a big, fat lie" as "over-optimistic" might that be closer to the spirit of what you actually meant?

[maxmix]

As you guys are now talking about the Tesco that never happened...

I wonder if it had went ahead, would it of actually helped the little specialist shops that are / were in Campbeltown town centre...

If you remember the posts about locals who travelled to the large Oban Tesco for their weekly shop and to fill up with fuel...

It may have worked the other way, Campbeltown could have got busier, at least the town would have seen more people coming especially from outlying areas, instead of heading to Oban...

We wil never know now

Back on topic, my main concern is what has happened in the last year about the regeneration !

Was there not funding for this and I thought it was happening month in month out...

Maybe someone actually 'In the know' or a local Councillor could explain what is actually happening now !

maxmix

[StephenJ]

Maxmix, as you say it is all hypothetical when it comes to the proposed Tesco. While it's possible that specialist shops may have done better with more shoppers travelling to the town, I don't think the current local retail landscape has enough of the type of differentiation required to feel the benefit. It would arguably have increased the overall retail activity happening within the town so in terms of overall employment it may have made things better but employment while vital is not the only factor to take into account. Main Street and Longrow effectively ARE "the town" so if they go the heart and soul of the town goes too. Saddell Street was another "high street" with a variety of shops not so long ago. It hasn't morphed into a row of delicatessens and organic bakeries 20 years on...

Small retailers can't really compete on price so they have to add value in other ways. Location and convenience are one way so there will always be 7-11 type shops dotted around. Customer service is another way. The supermarkets are heading towards self-checkout to cut costs, which is impersonal and inconvenient. Customer service, expert knowledge/repairs/tailoring and unique produce can all play a part.

Specialist shops nowadays also have to compete with specialist websites, and Amazon is moving towards same-day delivery (perhaps not quite so much an issue in Kintyre), removing the local advantage of instant gratification. If I was setting up a specialist shop anywhere I would think having a website to get to a wider market would be essential.

It's probably likely that a general re-imagination of public space will happen because this is an issue across the country. Small art galleries, museums, cafes with live music, gaming venues are just some of the alternatives to retail. If retail is not feasible then perhaps going all-in on tourism is they way to go? I think that is perhaps what argylltourist is getting at with the pedestrianisation idea? The weather is probably the biggest obstacle to encouraging public congregation of that type (that and the logistics of getting from Dalintober to Ralston without Main Street). Another problem with tourism is the seasonality - do we really want the town centre shutting down for the winter?

As for the regeneration, was/is there a publicly available list of things that were meant to happen?

[JEM]

I actually met a couple who had been to visit Campbeltown for the first time in a couple of years last weekend.
They had a lovely time, enjoyed eating in new places, browsing the shops and going to a music event.
They thought Campbeltown and the area was looking really good (shop front improvements, new hotels, floral displays) and to them, all the building work going on added to the bustle and gave the town an air of optimism.
No doubt the good weather helped, but it shows that not everyone has a negative view of Campbeltown, or thinks that the regeneration programme has gone wrong.

[Niander]

I was up Wick they have a fantastic well stocked Tescos up there a real pity it never went ahead down here!

[muppetanimal]

Marina .... the people of Tarbert run their harbour for the benefit of their town, and the target market is the tourism/leisure sector. Campbeltown harbour is under the control of the Council.

Tesco .... the new store never happened, so the 200 (yes 200) new jobs they were going to create never happened and the petrol competition for the County Garage failed to materialise.

Empty shops .... I suppose every town has them, and in recent years I have noticed the growing numbers of charity shops and big companies bookies shops(paddypower, betfred, hills, corals, etc)in other towns, often with several in close proximity to each other. Who traded from these sites before and why are they no longer there? ... huge supermarkets selling everything that they can are probably part of the answer, the internet is a large part of the rest of it for online shopping.

Empty shops (2) ... and other premises, Campbeltown has in its centre a large number of Victorian buildings that (quite frankly) have seen better days. Many of them are listed, not an advantage if you are restricted in what you can do with them and when there are practically no sizeable grants available to tackle major structural problems such as roofs etc. Added to this is that the owners of closed and/or failed businesses will not be awash with funds for building renovations and you have a self-perpetuating situation. Do not suggest that the banks are queuing up to provide loans to help out, I can assure you that that will not be happening this side of doomsday.

Apart from the obvious what can I say? Oh yes, have a nice day