More shops won't help Sunderland city centre – in defence of apartment plans

We refer to the apartment plans revealed for High Street West this week. It isn’t easy to be gripped by outrage at this seemingly innocuous, yet positive story. But where there’s a will…

News that more accommodation will be created is forever greeted, in some quarters, by dismay and harrumphing about how “we need more shops, not flats”.

This is compounded when the flats are designated as, keep calm, student accommodation.

What happens, or so you could be forgiven for imagining, is that companies interested in creating new flats conduct exhaustive research into whether or not it’s worth their time and investment to proceed with such a development.

When they assert that such a scheme would be a financial disaster and potentially ruinous, they then plod on regardless, for a laugh.

Meanwhile, experienced entrepreneurs assiduously examine the benefits and pitfalls of opening new shops in Sunderland, or anywhere. When they conclude that such things would rake in the millions, they then don’t bother, preferring instead to lose money on flats.

Those with, at least, a passing interest in reality may dispute this version of events.

The line “If you build it, they will come” could only come from Hollywood fiction; as indeed it does. That late megalomaniac who built the Darlington Arena could attest that it wasn’t true either.

The notion that to combat an empty premises situation, anywhere, is to build even more shops, is barely worthy of debate.

Debenhams, Joplings, Binns, Maw’s Pies and all those outlets of yesteryear went for solid reasons. It happened globally and in every town and city.

New attractions are always welcome, the Fire Station Auditorium and potential arena being cases in point. But building more shops?

There is a cogent argument for demolishing old shops, rather than building new ones. In the meantime we can only hope to preserve the ones which still trade.

More accommodation, ergo more people, will help with this.