Shoppers have claimed that Britain’s abandoned ghost shopping centres would be improved ‘by a zombie apocalypse’.
Residents of Dartford, a commuter town in Kent, claim that since the construction of the expansive Bluewater Shopping Centre in 1999, the town has declined.
Now they say it is in need of life support economically, socially and from a construction point of view.
Complaints have ranged from its crime problems to tearaway youths as well as a deeper issue from its lack of aspiration.
Locals have claimed that Temple Hill Square and the High Street, both once teeming with energy, shoppers and retail giants, are now filled with corner shops, a chippy and a cafe.
Miserable-looking flats and maisonettes also overlook the square, while the town centre has numerous shops sitting empty.
One local, a fan of the area, describes the square as ‘brutalist architecture’, while another says it is a ‘hellhole’.
Much outrage is directed at what the 240-acre Bluewater – the fifth largest shopping centre in the country – has done to the area and how local politicians and planners have responded.
Michael Preston, 56, said standards in the area had slipped in recent years.
The decorator said: ‘It is just hell. I’m sure there’s rougher areas but it is so depressing. It is appalling.
‘A zombie apocalypse would do the area a favour. It would cheer the place up. It really is that bad. It’s just grey and miserable. I want to move.
‘There’s always stabbings or crime and anti-social behaviour. I have lived here my entire life and it used to be lovely. Now it’s grim.
‘It’s so sad. It was heaving in the 1990s and 2000s. Now it’s empty. You can hear a pin drop across the square and in the town.’
‘Dartford has been home for so long but I just can’t take it anymore. I used to be proud but it has been neglected.’
Dave Willis, 54, said: ‘It’s not what it used to be. It used to be thriving. People would come from all over Kent to come and shop. Now even locals do not bother.
‘It’s empty. It’s just corner shops and nothing really works around here in terms of the shops.
‘The Argos went and that was a massive loss. Nothing has been able to keep up with Bluewater. It’s really bad.’
Retired builder Eddie Hemsley, 66, has lived in Dartford most of his life and said Bluewater had ‘ruined’ the town.
He said: ‘Nobody cares about us. The council has just abandoned us. Bluewater came in and sucked the life out of this town.
Nowadays, Turkish barbers, tattoo parlours, and nail parlours can be found in most places. Older people rely on local stores to shop, especially if they are elderly or disabled. However, real shopping has shifted to adjacent retail parks where parking is always crowded and occasionally free.
However, this is not happening just in Dartford, it’s happening up and down the country.
The same has occurred in Basildon, Essex. The abundance of shops and once great market stalls have now gone into deep decline, and shops are now being knocked down to build four tower blocks, no doubt for the London overflow, but no additional doctors, schools and the hospital are buckling at the knees.
Many shopping centres in towns across the UK are like this. If the area is more moneyed, then it has a better possibility of surviving. If a town is deprived, it will usually end up with boarded-up shops, and the area will rapidly decline, and crime will rise.
Retailers won’t even set up shop in places where there is increased criminality, it’s a vicious circle.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 