GHOST TOWN BRITAIN CRISIS HIDDEN BY CHRISTMAS GLITZ

A new report released today shows that the loss of local banks, pubs, pharmacies, shops and post offices in the UK has continued leaving more communities without access to essential local services.

The new report, Ghost Town Britain II: Death on the High Street, shows that since nef revealed the phenomenon of Ghost Town Britain a year ago, the decline of local economies in the face of wider economic forces emptying our high streets has continued apace. The result - loss of local jobs, less support for local suppliers and less consumer choice - is squeezing the life out of local economies and undermining government initiatives to tackle poverty.  And in spite of a government commitment to keep post offices open, branch closures increased in the year to March 2003.

In addition the new report looks at the loss of open space and community buildings and meeting spaces, revealing that since 1989, London alone has lost the equivalent of 1,428 football pitches, or seven Hyde Parks.

The report shows that:

 - Wholesalers, the lifeblood of small local shops, have closed at a rate of six per week, while new registrations of small scale food manufacturers have fallen by 12 per cent.

 - 800 communities in Britain have no bank left, and over a thousand have only one. In the decade to 2002, Britain lost one third of its bank network.

 - 20 traditional pubs close per month.

 - In the five years to 2002, 50 specialised stores like butchers, bakers, fishmongers and newsagents closed every week.

 - The average person now travels 893 miles per year to shop for food, 60 per cent of that by car. Food shopping now accounts for 5 per cent of all car mileage.

In May 2002 a government task force reported that "parks and green spaces can make or break plans to regenerate neighbourhoods...and build community". Yet despite Labour assurances that the Tory policy of selling off school playing fields would be reversed, at the end of 2002 school fields were being sold at a rate of 1 per week. 40 per cent of urban parks are in decline and only 18 per cent are in good condition.

The report also shows however that there is a concerted fight against Ghost Town Britain being taken up by communities, including a key role for immigrant and ethnic minority communities. In the fight for the life of local economies, these communities are playing a disproportionately positive role on the front line. The report shows that:

 - In some cases, an increase in immigrant workers has led to higher employment for non-immigrants and an almost two per cent increase in their wages - higher than the UK's economic growth last year

 - African, Asian and Caribbean people are more likely to start up their own business than white people

 - People of South Asian origin contribute more than £5 billion annually to the British economy

 - 21 per cent of the community pharmacy workforce are from ethnic minorities

While local people are swimming against the tide to breathe life back into their community economy, government regeneration strategies may perversely threaten local economic life with planning decisions and incentives that drive out local shops and replace them with the big multiple retailers.

Andrew Simms, co-author of the report and Director of Policy at nef said: " We are witnessing the slow death of small and independent retailers in our local communities. A new retail feudalism is emerging across Britain as a handful of brands take over our shopping. Unless it is challenged, Ghost Town Britain will become a daily reality. If things carry on as they are, before long, we will be facing a commercial one-party state."

The report recommends regulatory changes that could genuinely support local led- and driven regeneration in the areas of Britain where it's needed most, including:

 - Local competition policy - national predominance of a chain is meaningless in deciding whether a supermarket will drive local shops out business

 - Support for local procurement - money spent on local goods and services is retained in the locality to its benefit. Local authorities' procurement processes should be made more accessible to small business and local money flows analysed to find the best value, and ultimately least cost, option

 - Mandatory code of conduct for supermarkets - voluntary approaches are clearly not working. A food retail regulator should be instituted to monitor supermarkets' relationship with suppliers and effect on local competition

 - Support for the Local Communities Sustainability Bill - this bill would create a coherent framework for pro-local policies, and give local authorities and citizens the power to guarantee the future and environmental sustainability of their community. The bill has won the support of nearly 200, almost a third, of Westminster MPs

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	related
	at nef Local Works - the campaign to stop Ghost Town Britain
	Publications Ghost Town Britain II: Death on the High Street Ghost Town Britain: The threat from economic globalisation to livelihoods, liberty and local economic freedom