Armadale Town Centre
Residents’ Survey September 2006
N.B. The following data is based only on the first 200 responses.
These are the results of a questionnaire survey
of Armadale residents conducted in September 2006 on their views of the town
centre.
Summary
response
Only a minority of Armadale residents do their
main shopping in the town. Most do the
weekly shop at Tesco. Almost
as many use ASDA as Armadale.
This pattern is a true for longer-established residents of the town as
newer ones.
Locals mostly use the town centre for small
food items, newspapers, takeaways, butchers, chemist and pet supplies. Residents most want a better supermarket,
clothes shop(s) and a shoe shop.
Armadale’s friendliness and handiness are the
best things about the town centre. Lack
of choice, parking, the look and feel of the place and prices are the worst
things.
People rate more policing and CCTV, better
parking and better litter management as the most important improvements.
Armadale appears to be the weakest of the
traditional towns of
Armadale must be a priority
for action by traders, the Council, police and other services.
Where
Armadale people do their main grocery shopping
Respondents were asked if they do their main
grocery shopping in Armadale and, if not, where.
Responses
Armadale 12.6%
Elsewhere 87.4%
Of those who do their main shopping outside of
Armadale, the main destinations are:
Tesco, Bathgate 75.9%
ASDA, Livingston 12.1%
Commentary
Many Armadale people work in Tesco and ASDA, and
so not all spend is lost to the town.
However, this research suggests a very small proportion of weekly shop
spend in Armadale is spent in the town. Including the newest houses, well under
10% is probably committed to the town.
What
else people use Armadale town centre for
Respondents were asked,
even if they don’t do their main shopping in the town, for what do they use the
town centre.
Responses,
in order of number of write-ins
small food items
newspapers
takeaway food
chemist/toiletries
butcher
pet supplies
greetings cards/gift wrapping/stationery
pub/club
restaurant
post office
wool
hairdresser
sandwich shop
paint and DIY goods
library
cafe
bakery
petrol
off licence
beauty shop
bank/cash machine
video rental/CDs
computer games
doctor
dentist
clothing
swimming pool and gym
solicitor
blinds, flooring
ice cream shop
lottery ticket
Council office
Armadale Thistle Football Club
community centre
bowling club
hardware items
flowers
Commentary
Armadale
seems to have a good core of well-regarded shops which people use for top-ups
to their shopping or for specialist items.
Further, there are services such as post office, doctor, dentist that
few respondents mentioned, perhaps because they don’t see them primarily as
commercial services.
There
is a basis upon which to build.
Best and worst things about
Armadale town centre
Respondents
were asked to rank the best and worst things about Armadale town centre from a
list.
Responses
What
is the best thing about using What
is the worst thing about using
Armadale town centre? Armadale town centre?
%of
all respondents
parking 18 parking 56
choice of shops 7 choice
of shops 76
prices 5 prices 45
safety 6 safety 26
look and feel of the place 12 look
and feel of the place 48
handiness 76 handiness 6
friendliness 89 friendliness 9
Write-in comments include:
“no café”
“no toilets”
“Co-op
same old stuff”
“old fashioned shops”
“too many takeaways”
“too many pubs and clubs”
“town centre dirty and drab”
“youths hanging around”
“dog filth”
“poor signage”
“Buckfast
thugs”
“too many youngsters on the street, drinking (Fridays,
especially)”
“monopoly of one bank”
“street sculptures awful”
“graffiti left for months”
“horrible shop fronts”
“xxxx has high prices and atrocious service”
“fag ends and litter”
“cigarette ends outside pubs”
“rough looking pubs”
“streets are dirty”
“filthy pavements”
“no café to rest in”
“need a nice café or tearoom”
“nothing (good)”
“ability to walk between shops”
“empty shops”
“the appearance of the
“traffic speed”
“I
am disabled and can’t drive to a better supermarket than the one we have”
“there is nowhere in Armadale for couples”
“transport is good”
“nice per store and card store near where I live”
“no train station”
“drivers parking on
“cars abandoned everywhere”
“horrible shop fronts in need of a good clean up”
“lots of people to have a chat when shopping”
“lack of community centre activities for youngsters, it was
excellent 25/30 years ago”
“kerbs are wrong for mobility scooter and wheel chair”
“refuse collection, not often enough”
“position of post office “
“windows and condition of (named) buildings”
“area at lane to nursery”
“not enough police presence on the streets”
“excellent chemists, butchers, hairdresser, barber, DIY,
bank, post office, Rings and Things, Council Office service”
“visual appearance of hot food takeaways and XXXX”
“derelict properties”
“the schoolchildren take our bus shelters during lunchtime
and often make up their long fags and you have to stand in the rain to get away
from the smell”
“top of
“shopkeepers have to put up shutters, it’s more like
“vandalism in the lane behind
“the lane from
“Bathville
Cross area is more in need of developments than the town centre”
“front of Council Office hasn’t been swept for years”
“Forsyth
DIY, Lloyds chemist, ?Fishing Lines and the ladies’
and children’s shop next door are an asset to Armadale”
Commentary
The
balance of comments was negative. A few
positives came through and there were some issues on which local people
disagree.
A
sense that the town centre is due for an upgrade and some TLC came through
strongly. The issue of the (perceived
and actual) threat posed by young people was a recurrent theme.
Most
important improvements for Armadale town centre
Respondents were asked to rate the importance
of specified improvements on a five-point Likert scale where 5= very important,
1=not important. Options left blank were
scored as 0.
Average
scores
heavier policing 4.10
CCTV 3.62
more off-street parking 3.56
litter/maintenance 3.45
more attractive shop fronts 2.82
better lampposts, flowers, sculptures, etc 2.76
events in town centre 2.32
time restrictions on parking 2.04
town guide with shops/services 1.92
more signs 1.89
Write-in
comments include:
”grey bucket should be lifted oftener for hygiene
reasons”
“stop speeding
bicycles on pavements”
“ban mobile phones on
buses”
“still to see road
sweeper use brush and shovel – only uses litter picker”
“thank goodness fore
the road sweeper, continually cleaning up after schoolchildren”
“why does Armadale not
get the same consideration as Bathgate, hanging baskets, flower beds, etc”
“mobile speed camera
regularly”
“farmers’ market”
“we need mirrors at
curves in lanes so we can walk through safely”
“more amenities for
children”
“stop non-disabled people
parking in disabled spaces”
“improve
“dog fouling
enforcement”
“stop prohibited
access at
“reduce rates, an
occupied shop is better than an empty shop”
“do something about
these idiotic parking bays in
“enforce double yellow
lines”
“a nice, clean
upmarket pub”
“update traffic lights
at Cross, turning right is a major problem”
“ask businesses to
wash their bit of pavement”
“remove the sign at
XXXXX, it’s embarrassing, gives a bad impression”
Commentary
The responses seem to suggest a need to
reassure people or put right what they see as the basics of accessibility by
car to the shops; security; and the better maintenance of what exists. “Software” improvements, improved appearance
and promotional activities score well below these.
It may be too much of a leap to assume that
easier parking and better – especially evening – security would result in a
significant return to the town centre.
However, it seems clear that this is a first level that may well induce
increased trade and new investment in premises or lines.
Most
attractive possible new shop/service
Respondents were asked to say what new shop or
new line or service is most wanted in Armadale.
No prompts were given.
Responses
in order of frequency of mentions
“better supermarket”
“gents/ladies outfitters”
“shoe shop”
“sports shop”
“charity shop”
“bargain shop”
“LIDL or
Aldi”
“clothing outlets”
“bank”
“fashion shop”
“post office upgrade”
“grocers”
“quality restaurant
with separate bar”
“dine and dance”
“fish shop”
“Farmfoods or
“electronics shop/home
appliances”
“freezer shop”
“24 hour shop”
“new library”
“fruit and veg shop”
“café”
“household goods”
“ a nice, clean upmarket pub”
“laundry services”
“bistro, decent
restaurant/bar”
“gym”
“a new private
nursery”
“airline at the
garage”
Other
comments/suggestions
Respondents were invited to make other
suggestions or comments.
Responses
included the following:
“subsidy on shop rents”
“subsidised rates”
“evening activities for teenagers”
Notes
on survey method
Questionnaires were hand-delivered in early
September to about 1,000 houses covering all house types, but excluding the
newest houses in the town. In addition,
questionnaires were left at the library, area office and community centre.
This analysis is based on the first 200
returned.
The questionnaire was designed to be restricted
to one side of paper.
Returns mostly came by post and a substantial
number were handed in at the library.
83% of responses came from long-term Armadale
residents (10 years plus) underscoring a pride in the town and frustration at
its perceived decline. It also prompts a
need to reach out to newer residents to use the town’s facilities more and
build their pride in the town and contribution to its improvement.
|
shop type |
gross floorspace (sq m) |
number of units |
% of floorspace |
|
|
convenience stores |
2,151 |
14 |
22.5 |
16.8 |
|
comparison shopping |
1,338 |
15 |
14.0 |
52.9 |
|
services |
4,967 |
42 |
51.9 |
21.0 |
|
vacant |
1,119 |
14 |
11.7 |
9.3 |
|
TOTAL |
9,575 |
85 |
|
|
Sources:
Roger Tym and partners estimate that prime
retail rental levels in Armadale town centre are “unlikely to be in excess of
£10/ sq m”. (Linlithgow, “£10-£20”;
Whitburn “in excess of £10”)
The Management Horizons Europe (MHE) shopping
index as reported by Roger Tym does not include Armadale among the top 1,672
shopping locations in the
This suggests that Armadale is weakest of the
traditional
Roger Tym’s research suggests most visits to
the town centre are short (under an hour, mostly under half an hour).
What
happens next?
3. This
agenda will now be reviewed in light of the responses to this questionnaire.
Your comments are invited.
Councillor
Stuart Borrowman
stuart.borrowman@westlothian.gov.uk
Phone
01506 777019
Fax 01506 777020