CHEAPER parking, lower business rates, better shops and improved safety could be the town centre’s saviours, our readers say.

Encouraging people to live in the town centre and providing more entertainment are among the scores of strategies suggested by the public since the Examiner launched its Town Centre in Crisis series last week.

Some believe business rates – alongside the economic downturn – are causing businesses to close and are putting off prospective traders.

On the Examiner website Anne B commented: “Why doesn’t the council subsidise the rent on these units for a period of say, a year, to encourage new investment? Some pennies in the pot is better than nothing, as it is in this instance.”

Some of our readers believe the appearance of charity shops and ‘pound shops’ is a mixed blessing.

LindleyOne said: “Would people spend more money in town if there were less pound shops? No, there would be just more empty shops.”

Others feel Huddersfield town centre has little to offer other than shops at the lower end of the market.

Magdale said: “The town now only attracts the bottom end of the income spectrum with little to spend.

“Richer people have the money to travel a little further where it is far more pleasant to shop. Think York, Manchester, Chester, or even Liverpool. Unless you can compete, you can forget it.”

Many shoppers say they are put off by parking charges and prefer to shop online or on out-of-town retail centres with free parking.

Village Idiot said: “Parking wardens should be helping motorists not punishing them. I’d rather spend £5 in a shop than feed a parking meter. I don’t want to rush my shopping because I may be two minutes late and get a ticket.

“Town centres used to be about spending the day in town and browsing shops. Sadly, that’s not any more.”

Some readers say they are put off because they do not feel safe in the town centre.

Whistleblower said: “My daughter doesn’t shop in Huddersfield because she doesn’t feel safe.”

And Markmyword49 believes the root cause of Huddersfield town centre’s decline is its lack of jobs.

He said: “The main driver of a thriving community is job availability. That puts money in people’s pockets. If any money is available from local or central government it should be spent on creating a business friendly infrastructure.”

LET’S get positive about Huddersfield!

That was the message from a leading councillor today as he reflected on the Examiner’s Town Centres in Crisis campaign.

Clr Peter McBride welcomed input from people about the state of the town centre and urged all to support Kirklees Council in their bid to improve things.

Clr McBride said: “Talking up the town is one of the best marketing strategies we can do, and this will need the support of businesses and other organisations who work here as well as the local media.

“Marketing the area to new business is easier if the atmosphere is one of welcome and optimism and not recrimination and comparison with the distant past.

“Every individual and business has a role to play in that.

“As a council we are always open to new ideas and constructive criticism and will seek to do as much as we can to maintain and increase Huddersfield’s fortunes as an attractive shopping area.

“In comparison to other towns we are doing relatively well, but it is always our goal to be able to help the town do much better, which is why we have staged large public events such as the Festival of Light and Food and Drink Festival and organised town centre continental markets throughout the year to expand the facilities for shoppers.

“The Festival of Light in particular included Byram Arcade and King Street as festival venues and as a result of this, the Byram Arcade in particular had its busiest trading day in seven years.

“More events of this type will make good use of the square and other locations, particularly by involving local traders in this way.”

He said the regeneration of St George’s Square and Greenhead Park, and extra work to improve St Peter’s Gardens were all positive moves.

“A clean and tidy and welcoming environment creates pride in the town and helps to increase its attractiveness as a location to work, shop and visit,” he said.

Clr McBride praised the way the council had worked with both Kirklees College and the University of Huddersfield on new projects in Chapel Hill and Queensgate.

He added: “Kirklees Council has been working with major local landlords within the town centre on remodelling plans which will support and increase the vitality of the town.

“These are very large major projects and details of these will be published later this year.

“The result of the planning inquiry into the Tesco application is expected in the spring and, if the decision is in favour of the application, will lead to the remodelling of areas of the town as well as the creation of the promised new sports centre which will inevitably bring people into the town centre, not only during the day, but during evenings and weekends.”

Clr McBride said the current rate of unoccupied shops in the town centre is 11% but this was lower than the national average when the size of the unoccupied units is taken into account.

Huddersfield was blessed by its two markets and these were critical to its long-term success as they provide a gateway for business start-ups and therefore jobs for local people. They strengthen the retail offer of the town as a whole and the council will make sure they are supported and developed.

“What we can’t do is control the whole of the town centre as the council only owns a third of the area, but we work closely with other town landlords to help create a vibrant shopping area. Although representation from national multiples has declined the void is being filled with local independent retailers.

“The council can help administer rate relief to small businesses but the suggestion that we cut business rates is out of our hands – the government controls this and is the only body which can alter it. Car parking charges are not high in relation to other centres and the town has good transport links plus a Freetown Bus which offers a good service transporting shoppers between the transport hubs and the rest of the town.”

We have listened to marketing and planning experts about what could be done to improve Huddersfield town centre.

But what about the people who use the town centre for their shopping needs?

We asked Thursday shoppers what they felt about the existing centre and its shops – including the growing number of charity shops and discount stores.

l Ricky Southall, 19, of Scissett: "Pound shops are great. I don’t think they bring the place down.

"If there’s a pound shop you’ll always go in to see if there’s a deal and then you might see something else in another shop."

l Rebecca Toothill, 18, from Brighouse: "The only thing that’s missing is people.

"Maybe they should do it up a bit.

"It’s a shame they got rid of the ice rink because that was really popular."

l Laurie Sutherland-Brown, 52, of Golcar: "It’s really friendly and lovely but it’s sad when you see shops shutting down.

"They should lower the rents rather than just being after money.

"We’ve got all these pound shops and you don’t need all of those."

l Liza Brown, 17, from Golcar, said: "There’s not enough variety in the centre. It makes you want to go to Leeds."

l Yasmin Ellis, 19, from Linthwaite, said: "We have enough pounds shops. Two is probably enough.

"It makes the town look scruffy and they all have the same stuff."

l Betty Mills, 73, from Leeds: "It’s think it’s atrocious with all those pound shops. They’re just full of junk and I don’t use them."