SUTTON COLDFIELD TOWN CENTRE AND RETAIL MARKET ASSESSMENT Report prepared for and on behalf of Sutton Coldfield Town Council Peter Shearman Associates 01732 465 100 07768 994 087
[email protected] April 2018 1 CONTENTS Context and Objectives Summary Conclusions – 12 key points 1. Retail Market Trends – the national picture 2. Sutton Town Centre – the fundamentals : - layout and structure - environmental quality - accessibility 3. Sutton Town Centre – non-retail uses 4. Sutton Town Centre – trends in retail representation : 5. Sutton Town Centre – expanding the retail offer 6. Development Potential : specific sites 7. Suggested physical and promotional measures Appendices 1. How the town centre divides up (plan) 2. Main components of the shopping core (aerial photograph) 3. Retail composition (Goad Plan extract) 4. The Solihull factor 5. The Fort Retail Park – retail mix 6. Ventura Retail Park – retail mix 7. House of Fraser – Sutton Coldfield relaunch 2 CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES In 2016 the Sutton Coldfield electorate voted in favour of establishing a town council to represent the interests of the town in a more focused way than is realistically possible for Birmingham City Council. Sutton’s population of some 95,000 covers a wide area that extends from the Staffordshire border to Wylde Green, and from the west side of Sutton Park across to Walmley. Despite the size of this area and its substantial population, it is dwarfed by the sheer scale of Birmingham City which has a total population of 1.2 million; to the south-west the continuous built-up area reaches as far as Rubery (15 miles from the centre of Sutton).