Last night's meeting at the Wine Vaults to discuss the town was described to me as 'a little chaotic', with participants talking over each other. Guess that's what happens when people are passionate about their businesses—and worried.
Of course, it helps not at all that there appear to be rivalries between Well Street and Clwyd Street traders.
Was it true, though, that since 1989 town footfall has collapsed by 80 per cent? Is there evidence for that and how do we know? We know footfall has declined. We have a footfall counter in town but only since 2015. Ironically, traffic through town seems to have increased in reverse proportion to footfall. Is this a coincidence?
What we do know is that shopkeepers are struggling. It's actually worse than struggling. We could be about to see a collapse and I doubt that's an exaggeration. Obviously, footfall isn't what it was even in 2019, thanks to world developments i.e. coronavirus. And we'd estimate that there was a 20 per cent increase in visitors this summer but that wasn't enough to bring us through the winter. And, summer 2022 will be different: we shall be back to international travel by spring and the increase in homegrown tourism will likely evaporate.
The $64,000 question is, in the face of developments such as these, what can we do? The meeting felt that 'they' don't market Rhuthun/Ruthin. We're sure we know who 'they' are but we're not so sure that it's 'their' responsibility. Everyone is looking for someone to blame.
There's a possibility that there will be a new, reconstituted Bro Rhuthun group, as an over-arching campaign to woe people across from the north west of England. Rhuthun already has regulars who periodically come across but, as for the rest of this huge potential market, getting anyone beyond Meol Famau is an uphill struggle, if you'll pardon the pun. The only time they seem to travel farther is to go well beyond Rhuthun.
It seems to me that there are three pillars to a successful tourist country town. How do we fare?
1. Attractions
We have these in the bag, though some could do with opening longer and on more days. There's the Old Gaol and Nantclwyd y Dre. The most obvious is the Craft Centre and this has its regulars from England, too, though persuading them into town has also been an uphill struggle. The one gap is the Ruthin Castle with its medieval curtain wall currently receiving attention. The site needs a significant cash injection 10 times the price paid for the site by the current owners.
2. Heritage Townscape
We could really do with making more of this. In spite of some premises enjoying a paint-up between 2017-2019, the condition of some other of our building stock is deteriorating. Levelling Up'll help but will it rid the Square of cars simply dumped anywhere and everywhere? Probably not. Will Levelling Up show off the best of the Square? We aren't sure. Will Levelling Up even be successful?
3. The Retail Offer
We're struggling on this front. Time was when Rhuthun enjoyed a reputation for women's fashion. We're down to two shops. The town still has a number of comparison outlets but the breadth of the offer is much more limited than 10 years ago. There aren't many gaps, at least at the moment.
The other main issue here is that people who see Rhuthun as an destination are looking for somewhere to enjoy food as part of the experience. That offer has dipped towards the so-called 'bun and chips' end of the market, a valuable constituent but not enough to attract more people.
And what isn't the problem? Parking. Parking's usually cited as a deterrent, especially when compared to Yr Wyddgrug. It isn't. Not for tourists, at any rate. Visitors expect to pay for parking and budget for it as part of the overall package. This is perhaps different for locals but those who cite shopping in Yr Wyddgrug because parking's cheaper are no doubt using this as an excuse. They're going to Yr Wyddgrug because of the market or the range of shops or for a change or for a larger supermarket. Why otherwise spend more on petrol just to get cheaper parking?
What will cause a problem is the ever increasing cost of motor fuel.