A nearby council scheme to improve shopfronts has raised an interesting question for Stone, what should our own High Street look like in the years ahead?
Lichfield District Council is working on a new design code and grant scheme aimed at helping city centre businesses restore and improve shopfronts in a way that reflects the city’s historic character.
The scheme does not affect Stone, but it has prompted a wider question that many towns continue to face, how do you support modern businesses while also protecting the look and feel of a historic high street?
Lichfield District Council says £900,000 has been set aside for its scheme through the council’s capital investment programme, with the money expected to support improvements over the next two years. The council says the scheme will focus on independent businesses and heritage led improvements within the city centre conservation area.
The programme is intended to support work such as restoring traditional shopfront features, reinstating architectural details, improving signage and lighting, and making accessibility improvements where appropriate.
The plans were recently called in for further scrutiny by opposition councillors, who raised questions about how the scheme would work, who would make decisions, and whether there was enough heritage expertise involved.
Councillors were told that the design code is almost complete, with a recent consultation receiving 153 responses from businesses and residents. Only 10 responses were not supportive of the scheme, and 11 businesses had already been in touch about taking part.
Stone has its own mix of traditional buildings, modern shopfronts, empty units, independent businesses and changing retail needs.
Some people may welcome more attention on design and heritage, especially in parts of the town centre where older buildings remain an important part of Stone’s character. Others may feel businesses need flexibility, particularly at a time when many high street traders are already facing rising costs.
There would also be a funding question. If Stone ever looked at a similar idea, should support come from council budgets, external grants, property owners, landlords, businesses, or a mix of different sources?
During the Lichfield discussion, Councillor Ann Hughes said the design code needed to be “a menu of possibilities” rather than focusing only on one particular historic style.
Councillor Paul Taylor also raised a concern about protections for businesses that lease properties, asking what would stop a landlord receiving grant money for improvements and then increasing the rent because the shopfront looked better.
Those are the sorts of questions that could apply well beyond Lichfield.
Would a similar approach help Stone High Street look more consistent and attractive? Should grants be available to support better shopfronts? Or is the character of a town centre better when businesses are free to reflect their own style?
We’d be interested to know what readers think.
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1 comment
John
As a regular visitor to Lichfield ( and Stafford) it is glaringly obvious that councils have allowed wholly inappropriate development for decades with new build monstrosities amidst traditional ” historic” shopfronts. For Lichfield their is enough shopfronts such as this to preserve as is the case in parts of Stafford. Lichfield is a thriving visitor attraction,Stafford is in serious demise but surely the predominance of charity shops,vape shops and dodgy barbers in Stone needs addressong with some attractive retail outlets before tarting up shopfronts ? The saying ” you can put lipstick on a pig but it remains a pig” comes to mind. Give us some stores that we actually want first. Having a historic front on a ” Turkish” barbers or a vape shop seems a bit daft to me.