Recommendation 137

Where a local authority owns sites on a high street it may be able to relocate some services more easily 278 . For example, following regaining control of the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre in Staines-upon-Thames, Spelthorne Borough Council is building a new library and museum on the site. It argues this will help to maintain footfall in the shopping centre, as well as draw shoppers towards the council services. 279 This is also providing a viable use for a large empty unit in the shopping centre, which would have been difficult to repurpose or re-let. Vacant stalls in a local market can also be used to provide public services such as face-to-face banking, especially in places that may not be able to sustain a permanent presence. Mr Wilson told us: “In many places, markets are taking on a more significant community role, from health team visits and mental health provision to providing a police facility. There is a long list of markets taking on a non-retail responsibility and filling a vacuum that is being left by banks and other providers in the town centre.” 280