In July last year I wrote this post posing the question, “Is the decline terminal?”. Today, sadly we found out that it is. After dithering for 11 years and demolishing a handsome parade of period shops Tesco announced that they are pulling out of their proposal to develop a new store and housing on the Lowfield site. Historic Dartford is left as a wasteland. Tesco also announced plans to close 43 unprofitable stores across the UK, although the locations of these have not yet been revealed. We wait and see what is to happen upstream at Woolwich.
Dartford may well thrive again but a walk through the historic market town leaves the distinct impression that the decline is terminal. Arriving by train one of the first sights is the abandoned Waitrose supermarket, continue through the Orchard shopping centre where there appears to be more vacant than occupied shop units. It’s a ghost town with little footfall to boost sales for those shops still clinging on.
Lowfield Street is awaiting demolition. Notices on the hoardings all along the street proclaim to residents and visitors that “it’s been worth the wait” and “not long to wait”.
Well the townspeople of Dartford have been waiting eleven years for this planning scheme to come to fruition. A new Tesco is coming to town bringing jobs and affordable homes. It’s good to know that there will be new jobs for the many retail staff who have recently lost their jobs, but is this a net gain?
Most historic market towns celebrate their heritage and try to preserve their fine buildings. Now, not all market towns can be preserved in aspic like Stamford in Lincolnshire but most find a way of balancing new development with the old. The buddleia growing out of the decorative brickwork of the remaining heritage buildings doesn’t fill you with confidence about their preservation.
Can Tesco regenerate the town? At the turn of the millenium that may have looked like a possiblity but since then Tesco has been losing market share, austerity kicked in and people have changed their shopping habits. Architecturally it will do nothing to make the place worth visiting. Its neighbour upstream at Woolwich has been shortlisted for the carbuncle prize. The former chair of Planning at the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Alex Grant, has stated that it’s a flawed project; a blight on the regeneration of the town and he regrets his role in its progeny. Oh dear it doesn’t bode well for Dartford.
thamesfacingeast 
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 9, 2015 at 10:57 pm
runner500
Oddly, I thought about your post on Dartford when I first heared the details of the Tesco retrenchment, it is a hammer blow for a struggling town centre; as far as the existing stores are concerned there are quite a few places in SE London where town centres could be badly hit if they closed – I suspect that places like Catford will be very worried.
January 10, 2015 at 4:17 pm
thamesfacing
I hadn’t even thought about Catford – but you’re right.
January 11, 2015 at 1:58 pm
fifepsychogeography
We have just experienced something similar. A Tesco store in the centre of Dunfermline had been under construction for the last couple of years. I had serious doubts that it would even open but it did just before Xmas. I wonder for how long as they already have a massive store on the outskirts. Of course now it is open, the already struggling small shops are likely to be hit even more.
January 11, 2015 at 8:32 pm
thamesfacing
Thanks for the comment. It’s quite amazing the number of areas that are affected by the Tesco crisis.
January 12, 2015 at 7:58 am
Francis
Near where I live in the idyllic Tuscan appennines is a lady who escaped from Dartford a few years back in order to bring up her children decently and in a decent place. I escaped from Woolwich ten years ago and have never regretted it. When I see the ghastly Tesco in Woolwich built without any good manners towards the surrounding buildings I am so sorry for anyone who has to live in these awful places which have absolutely no respect for their past.