Tavistock&Villages Initiative

West Devon Borough Council has not undertaken a Retail Capacity Study but it is apparent that the amount of retail floor space has remained broadly constant in the town centre over the past decade whilst it has increased on the southern outskirts. There is a difference in scale too. In the town centre, shops tend to be relatively small, even the larger ones like Somerfield, Woolworth and Boots, whereas companies trading near Bishopsmead have the space to operate on a ‘warehouse scale.’

The newer edge-of-town shops have undoubtedly impacted on shopping patterns. There are fewer food shops, pharmacies and hardware shops in the town centre than there once were but more individual speciality shops instead. On the other hand, the presence of some large edge-of-town stores seems to encourage people to come to Tavistock for their big shopping trips as opposed to Plymouth where there is a wide choice of warehouse stores. Without this ‘pull’, the town centre might be rather less busy than it is.

In the villages, some local stores are struggling to maintain viability. Several have closed or are under threat of closure although there are notable exceptions where hard work and innovation meets local needs and produces a worthwhile income. Bere Alston and Yelverton still support a fair range of small shops stocking day-to-day items.

	EC2.1 Spread of local shopping provision between town centre, out-of-town centre and villages
	West Devon Borough Council has not undertaken a Retail Capacity Study but it is apparent that the amount of retail floor space has remained broadly constant in the town centre over the past decade whilst it has increased on the southern outskirts. There is a difference in scale too. In the town centre, shops tend to be relatively small, even the larger ones like Somerfield, Woolworth and Boots, whereas companies trading near Bishopsmead have the space to operate on a ‘warehouse scale.’ The newer edge-of-town shops have undoubtedly impacted on shopping patterns. There are fewer food shops, pharmacies and hardware shops in the town centre than there once were but more individual speciality shops instead. On the other hand, the presence of some large edge-of-town stores seems to encourage people to come to Tavistock for their big shopping trips as opposed to Plymouth where there is a wide choice of warehouse stores. Without this ‘pull’, the town centre might be rather less busy than it is. In the villages, some local stores are struggling to maintain viability. Several have closed or are under threat of closure although there are notable exceptions where hard work and innovation meets local needs and produces a worthwhile income. Bere Alston and Yelverton still support a fair range of small shops stocking day-to-day items.
	‘Would like to see support for village post offices and local shops.’ Comment from community consultation events 2002 ‘Improved retail including clothing and accessories shopping.’ Comment from community consultation events 2002 ‘Small shops – no more large out-of-town shopping.’ Comment from community consultation events 2002 ‘Restrict fast food outlets.’ Comment from community consultation events 2002 ‘Avoid out-of-town shopping.’ Comment from community consultation events 2002
	Strategic Aims: Economy & Employment; Provide more office, shop and workspace