SOUTHEND’S former High Street Debenhams looks set to remain shut for the foreseeable future as senior councillors admitted their hands are tied in the fight to see it brought back into use.
Debenhams, in the Royals Shopping Centre in the High Street, closed its doors for the final time in May 2021 following the collapse of the department store.
This time last year a plan was unveiled to turn it into a new bustling home for small businesses to flourish and grow.
However, just months after the exciting new plans were announced the plug was pulled on the project.
One year on, the huge shop facing onto the High Street remains empty and despite growing calls for the space to be brought back into use, no plan has developed.
Now Matt Dent, Southend's Labour councillor responsible for business in the new administration, admitted there is very little the council can do despite “frustrations” that it is empty.
He said in an update to the Echo: “It is certainly frustrating.
“The difficulty is, with Debenhams and the Royals, it is not council-owned spaces, so we can’t do anything directly.
“We will always encourage them to get it brought back into use.”
Under the previous plan the former shop was being transformed by the Utilize Project to create a hub for small businesses based in the High Street to help them grow.
The plan even had a shortlist of businesses signed up and was preparing to throw open its doors last August before the plug was pulled due to a series of difficulties.
Mr Dent admitted it is just as frustrating for the council, as it is for residents, that the unit remains empty.
He said: “No one wants it sitting empty and unused. We want it to be doing something, and contributing to the local economy.
“But it being a privately-owned shopping centre, it is very difficult for us to do something directly ourselves.”
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