Paul Roach, Town Manager stated he did a health check on the Town Centre by assessing car park usage, foot fall and shop unit vacancy. He added there were footfall counter at both shopping centres and Peascod Street in Town. The shopping centre counters were being renewed so there was no picture on the movement figures from these currently, the counter in Peascod Street had been installed three years ago and the figures showed that from January 2016 to January 2017, footfall was up 1.3% in Town and that had increased a lot over the last two months; this was possibly due to the better weather.

The Town Centre Manager stated there had been approximately 8 million people in Peascod Street in 2016 and the footfall was on target to be increased by 2% for 2017. The average visitor numbers were 66k every week up to 175k in a week depending on what activities were taking place. The two shopping centres were expected to be slightly higher than that and most Councillors received the figures at least every quarter.

Car park monitoring and the coach park from April 2017 was up 75% in April 2017, possibly due to Easter being earlier; and 5% down in May 2017. The June figures were not expected to be available until the week commencing 10 Jul7 2017 but, although he was expecting them to show an increase. It had been a positive start to the year.

Vacancy rates showed that Windsor always tended to punch above its weight and the last six months, the rate had steadily increased in vacant units. Equally, there had been a lot of new units that had opened up. The vacancy rate where there was no owner, no tenant and was closed was 5.3%. However, the national average for unit vacancy was 12% so Windsor was well below. However, since October 2016, the current rate of vacancies in Windsor had almost doubled.

There were approximately 370 units in the Town Centre which were monitored and retail was shrinking and becoming difficult for retailers. That was not just down to internet sales but, sales from mobile phones were up by 20%.

There had been eight units which had closed which included coffee shops, shoe shops, fabric shops and a pub. But, there were more shops that opened in the same period, of which, one was a nail bar. There had always been a lot of change in the shops so would have been a concern if a shop opened one month but closed again the next. There had been long term vacancies such as the Chicago’s site but that was reopening as a soft play centre for children. The Windsor, Eton & Ascot Town Partnership Board (WEATPB) looked at schemes and supported the council retail rates scheme, also.

Both shopping centres had two marketing agencies to develop events with the council and WEATPB and there was now a list of events and they were reviewing markets to improve or add to them. King Edward Court was looking to develop more temporary artisan stalls and meetings were already underway to plan the Christmas programme. The challenge was in the form of new shopping centres in nearby borough’s such as the Lexicon in Bracknell.

Rob Large, Property Service Lead stated Fenwicks was leaving the Town Centre in the autumn and there had been rumours that it was to be turned into apartments; he reassured the Forum that the site would remain as a retail unit. The Royal Borough owned the freehold and received a percentage of the gross rates from site. For those concerned, he was unable to announce anything at the Forum but, a very experienced retail agent was working very hard to get the right retailer in situ. Investments were being made to make the unit more attractive and more easily seen from the main shopping area in King Edward Court.

Cllr Shelim stated that Windsor needed a cinema and the Fenwick site would be perfect. The Property Service Lead stated that although the Borough owned the freehold, agents owned the leasehold on a long term basis. For it to work, the site had to retain a shopping unit there. Others were also interested in a cinema and he was happy to discuss the position with them. He added a cinema would not come without a lot of restaurants and restaurants would not come without a cinema, it was a difficult situation.

Susy Shearer stated there were two empty units next to Fenwicks which had been empty for a number of months as it did not get a lot of passing footfall. The Property Service Lead explained that the overhang above Next would be knocked down to make the area more visible to increase footfall.

Susy Shearer stated there had been no mention of an independent shopping area in St Leonards Road on the sign post at the bottom of Peascod Street. Paul Road said there were plans to turn the sign post into a directory board.

Susy Shearer asked if it would be possible to install benches in King Edward Court as there had been some installed in the past and would give people places to stop and rest. She also made reference to a fund set aside some years ago for an art installation outside the Travelodge and wondered when the art installation was going to be installed and if not, what happened to the fund.

Paul Road, Town Centre Manager said he would look into what happened to the fund and find out if an art installation was going to be installed and the Property Service Lead agreed to look into if benches could be installed in King Edward Court.

v  Action: Paul Roach, Town Centre Manager to investigate the art installation and whether or not money had been put aside for it.

v  Action: Rob Large, Property Service Lead to look into benches being installed at King Edward Court.

Helen Price stated footfall could not be banked and therefore, wanted to know what the town was doing to increase spending. She added there was not a clear idea of what direction the Town Centre was heading in. there was so much going on in Maidenhead, so that was where all the energy was going and Windsor seemed forgotten about. David Scott, Head of Communities and Highways confirmed that Windsor had not been forgotten about but, the current focus was on Maidenhead. A lot of thought was going into how Windsor could develop. Legoland was a large attraction that increased visitors to Windsor, along with Windsor Castle and the Royal Collection which helped to attract visitors.

Residents said that a lot of retail units had flats above them and landlords should be persuaded to modify and redecorate them to keep Windsor a vibrant and well looked after town. They would also like to see all the clocks working, especially those on the High Street.

Cllr Bhatti queries the eight units that had closed in the last six months. The Town Centre Manager responded that although eight had closed, nine had opened up so it was a net gain of one.

The representative of Legoland said she was disappointed to hear that all resources were going into Maidenhead, and that she did not want Windsor to be forgotten. The Head of Communities and Highways confirmed that this was not what was said or was happening, and that Windsor would continue to be included in development plans and had not been forgotten.

Marjorie from Windsor 2030 said there was a very small but committed group of people in Windsor 2030 and the group met every other week and were contributing to the Local Plan. The focus was on maintaining the profile of Windsor, maintaining office space in Windsor and encouraging anyone in the area including businesses, visitors and residents to join the group. She added that she would like the council to support attendance. The Chairman invited Windsor 2030 to attend a future Forum and give a presentation on the work they were doing.

The Town Centre Manager said the bus stop on the high street had its power supply moved which also supplied the clock. The new power supply to the clock had been installed so it should be in good working order now.

The Property Service Lead stated there was a consultancy piece of work being put in place and that would consult with local groups on some regeneration projects. Once consultants had been appointed, they would be instructed to contact all local interest groups.

Marjorie asked if there was any incentive for independent retailers to be more centralised to help stop the high street looking like just another generic high street. The Town Centre Manager confirmed that St Leonards Road was a niche and cluster of shops together that were independent. In terms of the centre of town, landlords wanted the most for their money. The council have had new independent shops rates waived to help which some had taken advantage of. The Property Service Lead confirmed that it was market forces. The units were owned by investors and if the demand was there, property values rose unless the units stayed empty long term.