The former secretary of the defunct Alton Chamber of Commerce and Industry has shared his thoughts on the town’s main shopping area.

Stephen Lewis was responding to a survey by the Herald on April 4 which found one in five businesses in the High Street and Normandy Street was a restaurant, café, takeaway or coffee shop.

The survey recorded 21 of these out of 107 businesses trading. It noted that 14 premises were empty.

Mr Lewis said: “I think many high streets are now filling with coffee shops, nail bars, takeaways, estate agents, hairdressers and other service providers.

“While it is sad that so many towns like ours have lost many of their shops selling products, one has to be philosophical about it.

“When shops remain in use for services, it is helpful for the town in that those shop units remain in use, are kept in reasonable repair and will be available for other shop owners in the future.”

A problem often cited when a property remains empty, or when a shop or restaurant chain leaves a town, is that the rent is too high. Mr Lewis felt intervention from Westminster was necessary.

He said: “The case for lowering rents is obvious to outsiders, but many landlords use the rents as a way to value the property.

“It’s not that one shouldn’t try to find ways to get rents lowered, but I think there would be very few landlords who would voluntarily lower their rates.

“It therefore falls to government to devise ways to offer incentives for landlords to either lower their rates or to fill their shops with tenants.”

Another perceived stumbling block to filling empty properties is some are unsuitable for modern needs - but Mr Lewis warned there was a case for charm over practicality.

He said: “Alton is filled with many historic buildings - many are listed - and the town centre has a conservation area order that also limits what building work can be undertaken.

“While this is a limiting factor when considering the upgrading of building stocks, one also has to consider that a market town like ours trades on the fact that it has character.

“In the 1960s there was a drive to modernise and replace. Alton lost swathes of historic buildings and the replacements were ugly, so one must be careful to appreciate what you’ve got before a town pushes for modern buildings.”

Internet shopping and a dislike of big brand domination were other things smaller places like Alton had to consider, added Mr Lewis.

He said: “It is better that each town capitalises on what it’s got and considers development and changes with much more care.

“I hope that one day people will realise that looking at products in shops is preferable to looking at photos online - but like all these things, one can only wait for trends and people’s thinking to change.

“I am also hoping that one day shops will find a way to harmonise with the internet so that one can have the best of both worlds.”