Councils urged to take control of regenerating their town centres

Independent review says struggling retailers cannot be relied on to prop up civic spaceThree years ago Ashford’s dated 1980s-built shopping precinct Park Mall was in a death spiral as poor sales saw retailers queue up to quit the Kent town.To stop the rot Ashford borough council stepped in and bought the struggling precinct for a six-figure sum from its owner, a subsidiary of a Swiss bank that had failed to invest in it. Today the 32-shop arcade is virtually full – and just about bre