Modern laws create 'clone towns'

Modern planning and the building of out-of-town shopping centres means that Britain is losing its identity with town centres becoming ghost towns, according to one expert.

Matthew Knowles, a spokesperson for the Federation of Small Businesses, says that UK towns are becoming clones of each other because it is only chain stores which can afford the high rents to open up in them. And furthermore, he warned, this problem is set to continue.

The government is facilitating the development of large businesses by abolishing the needs test in town planning, which will be replaced by an impact assessment created by local authorities.

"Parking charges are very high in town centres, whereas they're free at the out-of-town centres. Now what we've been seeing recently is a sort of doughnut effect around towns where there's nothing in the middle and everything's around the outside," said Mr Knowles.

He said consumer choice is dying out because independent retailers are shutting down.

"The government and the Competition Commission need to look at it from the consumer choice point of view where if people want to go somewhere other than a supermarket, they're increasingly finding that that's not possible," he added.


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