Photo: CL
It's a common enough problem in Britain, where in recent decades town centres have been losing customers in droves to out-of-town shopping areas.
But France has not been spared by the phenomenon of commercial centres either.
Here in the Charente the latest town to face this threat is La Rochefoucauld.
This town is is perhaps best-known for its stunning château.
But La Rochefoucauld centre itself (see photo above) is a charming place to visit, full of old buildings, interesting shops and places to eat and drink.
That, however, could change if plans go ahead for a new shopping centre next to the existing Leclerc store at Rivières on the outskirts of the town.
This new 'Retail Parc', as it is called, would include seven retail outlets, including, it is said, a McDonald’s.
The developers, Codevest, say that the scheme would create around 50 news jobs.
However, some local politicians, such as Jean-Marc Brouillet, president of the Bandiat-Tardoire community of communes, are dubious about that claim.
'There will be at most 20 jobs,' he says.
Jean-Marc Brouillet also points out that the Charente already has the highest ratio of shopping surface area per inhabitant of all of France's departments.
'We're building these retail parks everywhere, at Soyaux, Champniers, La Couronne, Cognac … we must be careful we don't undermine the town centres,' he says.
That is, understandably, the concern of the traders' association for La Rochefoucauld, La Roche.comm.
It has made fighting the proposed centre its top priority for the year.
'Already too many small towns in the Charente have disappeared, which is not good news for local inhabitants and younger people, who then want to move away,' says La Roche.comm's president Alain Lasnier.
The association has launched a petition against the proposed shopping centre and it says local people are behind them.
'We are finding that there is tremendous support for our fight,' says Lasnier.
'All of the shops that are proposed to be included in the “Retail Parc” already exist in La Rochefoucauld!' he points out.
The 7,000 m2 shopping centre project has in fact already suffered a setback, with the commercial development committee for the Charente, the commission d’aménagement commercial, announcing its opposition earlier this year.
But Codevest's managing director Édouard Bringand says they have taken the case to the national committee and says he expects to get approval in the end 'without any difficulty'.
Anyone wishing to oppose the scheme is being urged to sign a copy of the petition which is available in shops throughout la Rochefoucauld.
