Blog: Dumfries High Street is transforming thanks to people power
The fact that the nation’s high streets are changing is unavoidable. The challenge is to ensure that change is for the better - and that’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve in Dumfries.
The pace of evolution was highlighted this week as data compiled by the BBC demonstrated the changes which have taken place in the retail and leisure sectors across the country since the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020.
It showed how the physical presence of retail has declined. But the service and hospitality sectors - be they beauty salons or cafes - have grown in prominence.
We, of course, know all about the changes to retail in Dumfries, particularly where national chains are concerned. Two of the empty buildings in our High Street are those once occupied by Debenhams and Burtons / Dorothy Perkins, both casualties of the shift of in-person to online shopping.
The BBC’s findings - generated from Ordnance Survey datasets - show that the number of shops in the town (along with some neighbouring places including Lochmaben and Lockerbie) has dropped by 10% since March 2020.
But this doesn’t mean that we should write-off our High Street, or any other for that matter. In fact, this is the prime time to reinvent them. From challenge comes opportunity.
Responding to the data, Ewan MacDonald-Russell, of the Scottish Retail Consortium, told the BBC: “We have to be careful about phrases like 'death of the high street' because actually it is about the transformation of the high street, retail might not be as big a footprint but hospitality and others will.”
This is bang-on. The word transformation rings particularly true in our town and what the people here hope to achieve. We don’t talk about death. We focus on rejuvenation.
Tired of the inaction of absentee landlords - and in the hope of a stronger, more sustainable future - community activism created Midsteeple Quarter.
With that continued support from residents, five buildings have been taken into community ownership. We have become a community benefit society, bringing the buildings back into use as an ambitious regeneration vision is pursued.
That work is most visible on our phase one construction site, at the former Baker’s Oven at 135-139 High Street, where we are creating new homes and enterprise space. As a project, it represents an important statement of intent - that our rejuvenated town centre will be a place where people live, work, shop and visit.
Work taking place on our phase one construction site
Our community has known this for years. That’s why members of Midsteeple Quarter have tasked our small staff team and volunteer directors with delivering on their hopes. The BBC figures have illustrated why.
Locally, they show that since lockdown there are 18 fewer retail shops than the 182 found in March 2020 (a 10% reduction against an average of 3% across Great Britain). But there has been a 7% rise in places to eat and drink.
In sectors in and around Dumfries, the statistics show:
Beauty services - 11% increase
Cafes - 26% increase
Clothes shops - 16% decrease
Fast food - 3% increase
Pubs and bars - 3% increase
Restaurants - 7% increase
Across Dumfries and Galloway, there has been a 12.1% increase in beauty services. The Scottish average was 9%.
Retail will continue to play a part in our High Street, as it will others. But it will be just one element of a wider mix.
Our town is trying to drive its destiny by managing this evolution directly. We are sure that the work taking place will create a vibrant community with places to live, shop, enjoy a meal or time with family and friends.
Community ownership ensures the decisions we make will have the interests of townspeople - rather than invisible shareholders - at their heart. I’ve worked in town planning and development, in the public and private sectors, for decades. I’ve never seen anything as inspiring as what we are striving for here.
We are pleased to have the support of partner organisations - including the Scottish Government, South of Scotland Enterprise, Dumfries and Galloway Council and the Holywood Trust - in helping us to achieve this. Plus the people and groups who lease our pop-up spaces in The Smithy, The Press and 109 High Street ensure we can maintain these buildings and keep them in use as we work towards their full transformation.
Supporters at the official launch of Phase One construction work earlier this summer
People and policymakers believe our way is a model that other communities can follow, as a report by the Scottish Parliament’s Economy and Fair Work Committee, released just a few days ago, made clear (you can read more about that here).
Through Midsteeeple Quarter and other community initiatives, residents of Dumfries are showing what can be achieved when people unite. It’s that determination to make a difference that will create a more positive future.
Our town centre can be reborn.
We are always looking for more people to join us and support our work. You can find out how to become an MSQ member here.
Scott Mackay is Executive Director of Midsteeple Quarter