Will our town centres ever be the same? This was a question I came across while walking through the somewhat bustling high street of Sutton. In my decade or so of living here, the high street still has the same layout and practically the same shops lining each side, but there have been so many changes over the years where we need to consider whether these changes our necessarily benefiting the community.
A major shock to the high street was when the famed Debenhams had announced the prominent store inside St. Nicholas Mall would be closing by May in 2021. This caused public dismay at the time, where an anchoring store of the shopping centre was forced to close its doors. Since then I have seen many desperate attempts to reinvigorate life back into such a prominent location but all have fell flat. With a half-empty gym occupying the ground floor of the Debenhams shell and a few new shops occupying empty spaces across the walkways, the mall now seems more desolated than ever.
Shortly after the Debenhams closure, many shops relocated to elsewhere on the high street and even the NatWest branch made the decision to depart from the large shopping centre, to another brick-and-mortar store on the street. Now, we can see even more flagship stores such as Wilko departing from our high street, joining the dozens of lots with a large ‘To Rent’ sign over them, covered in graffiti, an empty reminder of the past.
However, a short walk from the central high street, we can see large apartment complexes next to the station, equipped with their own hotel, bar and café, a contrast from the slowly crumbling high street should make more of us question are local council’s priorities. If our council invests more into our high street, we could see the growth of a new Sutton, but all we can do is watch and wait.
