Minutes:
“It is now almost a year since Marks and Spencer closed their store in the Howard Centre to the concern of many residents. Can the Council advise and give tangible examples of how discussions are going with the owners and managers of the Howard Centre and other key stakeholders to relet or repurpose space in that development? For instance, in meetings between M&S and council leaders, M&S reported that they had shared with the council their requirements for a larger Food Hall unit in a highly accessible location. Following the departure of M&S, Next and other retailers there is now circa 150,000 sq. feet of space available out of a total space of 230,000sq. feet meaning 65% of the space is available to let.”
Answer:
“The Council takes great pride in all of our town centres and neighbourhood centres across the borough, and the investment this council has made in recent years to strengthen them for our residents and businesses. Members will recall that that I made my feelings known at the time and wrote to Marks and Spencer's, which led to a meeting involving myself and officers of the council, the Howard Centre, and Directors of Marks and Spencer's. Indeed, members of all parties were united in their disappointment at the closure of M&S which was commercial decisions taken in privately owned units.
Whilst the challenges facing traditional town retail from the trend towards online shopping, the resurgence of out-of-town retail, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemics are well documented, with few town centres seemingly immune from impact, it was still disappointing to lose such a well-established retailer from Welwyn Garden City Town Centre, which were for reasons outside the council's control. Whilst there are clearly challenges facing the future of our town centres, I'm incredibly proud of the work the council is doing to promote both Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield Town Centres. Whilst the council recognises there are vacant units across the borough, they are all privately owned units and the council has 100% occupancy rate in its retail units, working hard with its tenants throughout the pandemic and beyond, to help them continue trading. Comprehensive investment programmes are being delivered through the Hatfield 2030+ and the Welwyn Garden City 2120 regeneration programmes, with recent improvements in Anniversary Gardens, Stonehills, Campus West Car Park, The Commons Multi-Storey Car Park, White Lion Square and One Town Centre to name but a few. These projects all helped to increase dwell time and footfall and support the town centres as they adapt to the challenges highlighted earlier.
The council does not currently own any land that would be suitable for an accessible M&S store elsewhere in the town, but we have put them in touch with agents that we use for any potential sites that are owned by third parties and have offered to help appropriately with any planning application requests that come forward. We also made it clear to M&S that they were welcome to maintain a dialogue about their plans. In relation to units in the Howard Centre, council officers meet regularly with the centre management team and letting agents to support and advocate for the units to be brought back into use. However, it would be wrong for us to pretend this is something the council could control. The Howard Centre is privately owned, and it would not be lawful for the council to try to let space directly. There has been positive recent engagement with our asset managers appointed by the owner and the council is supporting them to explore a wide range of potential users for the space. We will continue to engage positively and proactively with all stakeholders and the Regeneration Programme referred to earlier, together with our support for the Welwyn Garden City Bid and the funding we have secured for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund all have a combined effect to attract investment into the town centres.”