Date not provided
I work in spring gardens and have done for 20 years plus. As a retail manager I feel the reject is focussing more on housing accommodation than retail units or social property for social interaction. Covid should have taught us more than it has, we need as humans to be social or we end up with mental health issues. Buxton as a spa town has much to offer outdoors and has many buildings of outstanding architectural beauty. Shop wise we need to be better, we have some great local independent businesses and some bigger chain shops but other shops have shut because these days internet seems to be preferred choice. If we do t attract more shops then one by one shops will close. When there's no shops left no one will come out to shop and then cafes start to decline and bars, pubs etc. we really need to be more attractive who wise that means more people would come out to shop, eat and spend money locally. I for one try not to shop on line and get my stuff locally and keep money locally. We need to do this for the town and our younger generation to actually have jobs to go into and not just internet based otherwise we will end up with a generation that can't get a job locally, have to move out, mental health issues develop and more costs to government. The outdoor space is nice as long as it can be policed to stop unwanted people using it as a drinking, lay about area putting people off. The main issue I have is car parking, needs to be priority first as without car parking all businesses will suffer for years and maybe close putting more on the dole. Get the car parking all businesses by the station done first so trade can at least carry on with a bit of disruption. This should be the councils priority as stores help attract people here to spend money in car parks, shops pay rates etc but if no trade then affects everyone. Otherwise with just housing and no support for local businesses or any real retail or entertainment properties it looks more like a housing estate for getting council tax up and nothing more.