Does Sidmouth have too many charity shops?

Concerns about the large number of charity shops in Sidmouth are being raised by the town council – which is raising the issue in its response to East Devon District Council's Local Plan consultation.

At their meeting on Monday, March 1, councillors agreed that some action needs to be taken to 'level the playing field' and make sure there is a balance between the number charity shops and other retail premises in the town centre.

The issue is that charity shops don't pay business rates and have volunteer staff instead of paid employees, meaning they can afford to rent premises that are beyond the means of small local businesses.

It comes at a time when Sidmouth's business community has been hit hard by the Covid pandemic, and high streets are also losing out to 'the Amazon effect', as people switched to online shopping during lockdowns.

What is the town council saying in its Local Plan response?

The document to be submitted to the Local Plan consultation says

"We're aware of the number of charity shops in Sidmouth.

"We would prefer to see a shop occupied by a charity than empty, and our planning committee have in the past supported several planning applications to convert retail to domestic use, when it is clear that the building has no realistic future as retail, in order to support life in the town.

"While this may not be a matter for the Local Plan, the council would like charity shops to be looked at, particularly with regard to business rates, in the interests of levelling the playing field with other traders."

The town council's chairman Ian Barlow, who owns two premises that are rented out to charity shops, says he recognises that it's a difficult and sensitive issue.

But, speaking after the meeting, he said the council had been concerned about the number of charity shops for some time.

He said: "The argument comes back that if the charity shops weren't there the shops would be empty.

"But my argument is that if they were empty, eventually the people that own them would want them filled with something, so they'd convert them to houses or something.

"People like to support their favourite charity, but we get no direct benefit, the only people who gain from it are the landlords.

"My own business as a landlord is to make money out of my properties, but at the same time, if you're looking long-term, it's not good for the town to have this unbalanced economy where there are no wages for the staff – little shops that start out would have youngsters in them, still at school perhaps doing Saturday jobs and things like that, there's none of that in charity shops.

"Supporting charities is good, you can't argue with that, but maybe the charities need to look at themselves, it gives them an unfair advantage that they can pay a higher rent so therefore no local shopkeeper can have a look-in.

"If they paid rates they'd still have an advantage and be able to pay more rent because they don't pay staff."

The response from one of the charities

Sidmouth Nub News asked Oxfam, one of the charities with a shop in the town, for a response.

A spokesperson said the charity pays rent at the normal market values in all the locations it trades in and the concession on business rates is refunded to district councils from central government; it does not affect the rental price of properties.

They added that all shops are run by paid managers, with a team of volunteers.

The spokesperson said: "Oxfam shops are vital to local communities, providing young people with work experience opportunities.

"Many complete their Duke of Edinburgh volunteering award with us, learning new skills to help prepare them for the world of work.

"In turn, we're so grateful when people give us their time, donate items to us, or shop in Oxfam; without their support we wouldn't be able to raise funds for our work beating poverty around the world."