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Good points Roger/Barry. Maybe instead of trying to regenerate town centres across the UK we should be a bit radical and set out a plan to expand out of town retailing and returning town centres to residential areas.
Obviously licenses could be given to "relevant" retailing such as, cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars, banks, hairdressers etc., but non-relevant, plumbers, DIY, clothes, charity, shoes etc., would have to relocate to modern retail units out of town.
Not perfectly presented, but an idea that may see us get the best out of both problem items.