Community seeks to buy its high street shops

18 hours ago

Martin EastaughSouth of England, Watlington

News image — Watlington Community Property hopes to give the community greater control of its own town centre.

BBC A parade of shops on a high street with red brick upper floors. — Watlington Community Property hopes to give the community greater control of its own town centre.

AT A GLANCE

A double-fronted detached shop building on the corner of a street. The upper floor is built from red bricks with large windows. The ground floor features two shops, either side of a central doorway. The one on the left is called So Sustainable, the one of the right is vacant with a 'for sale' sign in the window. — The group's top priority is to buy 2 High Street, on the busy corner with Shirburn Road.

A large shopfront with a white strip above reading Watlington Arcade. Two of the three large windows have stilla hem Swedish Home Style printed on them. The writing on the third window reads Ickle Bitz Toys And Collectibles . — The second priority for the group is to buy 6 High Street, Watlington Arcade.

A vacant shop unit with black strips above and below the plain windows. Above the shop is a red brick floor with a for sale sign attached. — The group also wants to buy 26 High Street, a former bicycle repair shop.

A community group wants to buy three high street properties, with the aim of giving local people greater control of their town centre.

Watlington Community Property (WCP) is already halfway to its £600k fundraising target, through pledges from locals in the town.

The group is going through the legal process of becoming a community benefit society - a not-for-profit organisation which allows communities to own assets collectively.

Steph Van de Pette, founder member of WCP and owner of the So Sustainable shop on High Street, said: "I think it's really important that we support high streets and this is Watlington's way of doing that".

Steph Van de Pette has shoulder-length auburn hair and tortoiseshell glasses. The shelves of her shop behind her are filled with large storage bottles. — WCP founder member Steph Van de Pette said: "Watlington's such a special place and I want to help protect that for the future".

"High streets are in decline right now. Lots of buildings are changing hands and if we can bring those into community ownership we can provide security of tenure for those business owners and help this lovely independent high street continue to thrive" she said.

The group is hoping to buy 2 High Street as its top priority, which is where Mrs Van de Pette's shop is located. It is also targetting 6 High Street, also known as Watlington Arcade, and 26 High Street which is a former bicycle repair shop.

WCP is currently only asking for pledges of money, but expects the minimum investment amount to be "in the region of £500".

Plunkett UK, a Woodstock-based charity that supports more than 870 community-owned businesses nationwide, has been working with the group.

Chief exec James Alcock said: "You have to go into this with open eyes. You have to know what you're investing in and expect there to be an element of risk".

"But for me the greatest element of risk is not doing anything and... seeing a high street that continues to decline".

WCP chair Robin Fieth said community ownership would "create a really long-term sustainable future [with] a landlord who's going to be here for the long term and going to be supporting independent retail".

"This is such a vibrant community and it depends on its high street very much, so what we're asking the community to do is to get involved in the creation of its own future" he said.

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