We chat to some locals and see what they think of Dudley High Street.
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00:00We're here with Joey and Dougie High Street, so you said that you don't really shop down here that often.
00:05I have been for the last month, but I've been coming at least three times a week.
00:08Yeah, so what do you think about the High Street then? Because we talked to the council.
00:11We talked to the council and we said that 60% of the shops lie vacant,
00:15and obviously we've got quite large behind us, which is a bit empty.
00:17What do you think of the High Street, you think you could do with a bit of new shops in there, get some more people in?
00:21What I could do with some more people on the market store, because there aren't much garage on there.
00:26It used to be a really good market store, but now, well they've closed one end, I think they're doing work on it.
00:35Yeah, yeah.
00:36As I said, my nephew's got a pub around the corner, they're gripping.
00:39Yeah, they've got a pub around the corner as well, yeah.
00:42Yeah, but what do you think they could do with getting these shops back open, putting some more shops in there?
00:47Well, what's the rent like?
00:48Ah, that's the thing, isn't it?
00:49The rent, I mean, I don't know much about it, see.
00:51Yeah, that's the thing.
00:52Yeah, but...
00:53So they're doing a regeneration scheme, where they're like, obviously improving the metro line, they're improving the rail line, they're travelling back instantly.
00:59See, there was another problem as well.
01:01Yeah?
01:02They closed the bus station and started charging people to park, so that stopped the people shopping.
01:08Well, some of the old people, they couldn't carry bags, they might not want to come on the bus.
01:14Yeah, yeah.
01:15They parked the little car, they'd get the shop, take a bit of shopping back to the car, come and come again.
01:20But, I think that's one of the downfalls, with regards to the bus station, charging people to park.
01:27Yeah.
01:28So, what's your opinion on me, what's the high street look like for 225 to you?
01:35Oh, Dudley, I mean, it's indescribable.
01:38I remember it in the early to mid-80s and it was thriving.
01:42The market was amazing, every store was full.
01:45My brother used to deliver to the market, to a guy named Dave who used to do bread and cakes.
01:51It's just sad, it really is sad.
01:54We've been let down, big style, by the council and everybody else.
01:59So, the council said that it was around about 16%, I think it was 16% of the shops late dormant.
02:04Yeah.
02:05I mean, when you look around, because obviously you've got Bon March which is closed, the bottom part of the high street as well.
02:11What do you think about the vacant shops?
02:13It's probably a little bit higher than that.
02:15I wouldn't say a massive amount, probably about 20%, something like that.
02:19So, the council aren't far off with that.
02:21There was a time actually, it was about 10 years ago, my brother actually showed me the article in the Sun newspaper
02:28and Dudley was voted the worst town, it had the most vacant shops.
02:32So, they have done some good in terms of trying to get traders back.
02:37The problem is, we've got no big names.
02:39You know, the only big names we've got in Dudley, Iceland, Home Bargains, we've got Cash Generators, we've got Spec Savers,
02:48we've got Halifax, we've still got a few banks.
02:50But if any of those go, and the one retailer that is going on May the 7th is Holland and Ballot.
02:57They're closing in the Churchill Centre.
02:59So, it tends to be one closes and then within a matter of a few months, you know, I'm worried about Poundland.
03:05Because Poundland at the moment talks with them, they're trying to find a buyer, they've got 800 and odd shops.
03:11So, what are the chances that, you know, if they can't find a buyer, they start shutting shops to save them.
03:16Yeah.
03:17So, do you think that people just prefer going to Merrihill instead then?
03:19I mean, you go, Merrihill, that's so close.
03:20Yeah.
03:21I mean, the problem with Merrihill, unfortunately, is they gave them free rates the first 10 years.
03:26Yeah.
03:27That was a deal done between the Council and the Richardson's.
03:30The Richardson's own the land.
03:32The Dudley Council have no sane car parking charges there.
03:35They've introduced car parking charges here, which we were fighting.
03:39And I think people just look at it and think, well, why would I want to come to Dudley?
03:42There's not a lot to come here for them.
03:44I've got a Merrihill, it's all under one roof.
03:47We've got a pigeon now that's decided he's going to come and nest above us.
03:51And the car parking was just the last nail in the coffin when Dudley Council introduced that.
03:56You know, we've had the Metro works, the bus station and all that to contend with them.
04:00Yeah.
04:01So, do you reckon the regeneration scheme is going to do the job?
04:03No.
04:04Because obviously they don't regenerate any of the railings for that.
04:05No.
04:06Because these pigeons are strafeless, aren't they?
04:07It's not going to do.
04:09Unfortunately, Dudley Council should have looked at it as using the regeneration one to regenerate
04:14the town.
04:15And there are ways that they could have encouraged retailers back from Merrihill.
04:20They could have gone to them and said, look, we're going to put your rates up.
04:23But if you come back to Dudley and open a concession shop like M&S, they could have done something
04:28here and other retailers.
04:29You could have encouraged bigger names back.
04:32Once you get half a dozen big names back, then other people will start following you.
04:36Yeah.
04:37And the money should have been spent on the town and then people would have desired to
04:42come here.
04:43And then you've got the problem when they come in here of parking.
04:45Yeah.
04:46Then you can put the infrastructure in for the Metro and parking.
04:49And then before you know it, people are prepared to come and wait if there's issues if it's
04:56a good town.
04:57Whereas at the moment, all they're doing is putting the Metro and putting the bus station
05:00and nobody's really going to come back when the bus station is done.
05:03They're all going to jump on the Metro and go to Birmingham and I'm going to come to Dudley.
05:08You know?
05:09So for me, you put the money into the town, regenerate the town, then you create the desire
05:14for people to come into the town.
05:16And then you've got the issue when they want to come in, we need to sort the roads and the
05:20parking and the infrastructure with the tram because there's the desire there.
05:24And people have put up with that.
05:26They'll put up with the inconvenience because it's a good town to come to.
05:29People tell me, they go, why would I come to Dudley at the moment?
05:33The roads are terrible.
05:35Traffic's a nightmare during the rush hour.
05:38And the bus station's been knocked down so all the elderly, you know, they won't come.
05:42They won't come into Dudley.
05:44Yeah.
05:45So.