Orpington has a typical High Street which is fairly long, stretching from Orpington war memorial in the South to Priory Gardens in the North. Fairly central in the High Street is the Walnuts a covered shopping area with a number of different size units, seating and small soft play area and public conveniences. This building is approximately fifty years old. The developers are wanting to demolish this building
The High Street over the years has lost its more well known stores in part due to the Nugent development and also the building of a large Tesco. The High Street is still home to some larger, national stores such as WH Smith, Robert Dyas, Wilko and Boots.
Orpington has a number of charity stores as well as coffee shops, cafes, restaurants, hairdressers, barbers and nail bars. Orpington also has budget shops such as Poundland, Saver, Wilko and B&M.
The vacancy rate in the High Street is reported to be approximately 11% by Orpington 1st. However the land owned by Areli and/ or marked for development which includes the Walnuts Centre, Magnets in the High Street down to Peacocks and in the Walnut Square, Poundland down to CEX the vacancy rate is 40%. Businesses are living with uncertainty which has led to many closing and the Walnut Centre has lost a number of shops. Larger businesses when looking to make savings are choosing to close units on land owned by Areli ie Wetherspoons and Wilko. There has however been some welcome news regarding Wilko who were due to close after Christmas 2022, but now that Areli have withdrawn their planning application and therefore the demolition of the building which Wilko occupies will be delayed, Wilko plan to remain trading for the foreseeable future.
Orpington is in a fairly affluent area and many of the neighbouring areas would be described as affluent where people have high levels of disposable income. It would be fair to say that these people are often not choosing to spend their money in Orpington. This would be for a variety of reasons including neighbouring areas are more attractive, Petts Wood, Chislehurst and Locksbottom being examples of this. These areas do not have a strong retail offer, with few clothes shops for example but they offer a better ambience. As a campaign group we are convinced that a large housing development consisting of high rise, high density buildings will do nothing to attract people to spend their leisure time in Orpington given the alternatives on the doorstep. Local residents who want to enjoy a shopping experience frequent Bluewater and Bromley. It is recognised that large well known stores are no longer choosing to place themselves in High Streets.
As a campaign group we spent a great deal of time meeting shoppers outside Sainsburys, Tescos and WH Smith. Many of those we spoke to were elderly and/ or disabled and they relied on being able to easily access shops close to home and in some cases had moved to the area for the amenities close at hand. Shoppers repeatedly said that the shops they valued most were the budget stores such as Poundland, Savers, B&M and Wilkos. These shoppers said they came to Orpington to access these stores. They were very concerned about the loss of these stores as a consequence of the redevelopment. Many of the people who currently use the Town to shop do not have high levels of disposable income and are attracted to come into Orpington because of the affordability of the shops described.
Areli in their former planning application highlighted their retail offer which would be found in small units on the ground floor of the tower blocks and would include boutique style shops offering artisan bread, small home made wooden furniture , candle makers and other small businesses offering niche goods/ gifts. There would also be market stalls selling food and some further coffee shops and small eateries. The rent paid would be dependent on profit made which would be a welcome initiative. The residents that we spoke to were concerned that these shops did not reflect what they wanted from Orpington, were too niche and that potentially too expensive for them to utilise. There is a concern that the developers are looking to gentrify the town and by doing so marginalise many of the people who currently use the town centre.
It is acknowledged that Orpington Town Centre needs regenerating, however this needs to be done sympathetically with far fewer units built than was originally proposed by Areli and the ambience improved by providing soft landscaping. This includes green space, trees, plants etc. Tower blocks and high density housing will not make Orpington a more attractive place to shop and spend leisure time. There needs to be a mixture of shops including some boutique style shops, farm market as well as budget stores as this will maximise footfall and ensure the appeal is broad.