A Bermondsey local business group has called for Southwark Council to find tenants for the empty shops around the Blue marketplace that have stood unused for years.
There are at least eight shops on Southwark Park Road that appear out of use. Three are Southwark Council properties. The council said one is let to a long-term tenant and the other has an interim tenant while officers look for a long-term tenancy, although all three appear vacant.
The Blue is the subject of intensive ‘regeneration’, getting more than £2 million from London mayor Sadiq Khan for the revamp in 2018. Changes to the marketplace itself included a new clocktower, stalls and canopies.
Fifty-foot tall ‘Bermondsey people’s mural’ unveiled by the Blue
But the new-look marketplace is not matched by Southwark Park Road, the street that runs past it and provides the main point of access.
Russell Dryden, who manages the Blue Bermondsey BID, which is running the regeneration, said that landlords like the council should be encouraging people to set up pop-up shops, possibly paying a lower rent for shorter periods of time, if they could not find longer-term tenants.
“Most have been an eyesore for many years and create negative perceptions of the Blue. Landlords and leaseholders must surely hold a responsibility to maintain their shopfronts and premises to a respectable standard.
“The BID has been lobbying the council since our founding to do something about this and if no secure tenant could be found to allow pop up shops.” Mr Dryden said he had not heard back from the council.
He went on: “As is well documented, in the last decade there has been a major problem with retail shops closing nationwide and areas that have reinvented themselves, have used pop ups to embrace arts and culture and helped transform their high streets into places of interest and engagement to encourage more ‘dwell time’ and above all, more spend. We want to see this approach adopted for the Blue.”
But it is unclear if pop-up shops, which are transitory by nature, are the answer. One of the council-owned properties standing empty is Bermondsey Uprising, which is in the former Santander branch.
The indoor market and community space opened in 2018 with ten weeks of funding from the United St Saviour’s charity and continued in the shop with support from Southwark Council. But Bermondsey Uprising, named after a famous women’s strike led by former Bermondsey mayor Ada Salter in the early twentieth century, left after the council raised the rent.
Bermondsey: what’s happening with the new cinema in the Blue?
Cllr Martin Seaton, Southwark’s cabinet member for jobs, business and town centres, said: “We agree that meanwhile uses for vacant properties can bring a great many benefits for the local community and are always open to exploring this as an option where possible. Across the borough, we have a number of empty properties working as pop-ups for creative industries, start-ups and community initiatives.
“Of the three properties on Southwark Park Road that belong to the council, one is already let as a meanwhile use and another remains let to a long-term tenant. We are actively marketing the third property with a new letting campaign and depending on the result, we will keep the possibility of a meanwhile use under consideration…
“We know how important it is that town centres and high streets remain vibrant spaces that contribute to the prosperity and cohesion of our local communities. Under our new council plan, we will commit to investment in all of Southwark’s high streets through a new fund, and in particular, further major improvements to The Blue town centres.”?