CONCERN is mounting amongst Princetown residents as more businesses close in the village, with less than half of the shops that were open in September now empty.

Lord’s Restaurant, Lord’s Gift Shop and Moor Beads all closed recently, which has pushed Dartmoor Forest Parish Council (DFPC) to take an active role in helping to regenerate Princetown.

After nearly four years since opening, owner of Moor Beads Katrina Webb decided to close her showroom to expand the business as an online jewellery boutique and bespoke service.

DFPC clerk Nigel Tigwell said that Lord’s Restaurant and Gift Shop were both closed after a poor summer and that the business owner was getting close to retirement age.

At a recent meeting, councillors agreed that the number of empty commercial premises in Princetown’s community centre would be detrimental to the local economy.

Councillor Wendy Stones also raised concern for the centre’s own finances at the meeting, with both the building’s insurance and music licences due for renewal this month.

The centre’s income was reduced dramatically with the closure of the village’s charity shop, as half of its takings were donated to the community centre.

The charity shop was forced to close when the owners of the building decided to reclaim use of the property, rather than renewing the contract.

Despite a desperate attempt to find an alternative building to relocate the shop, managers and volunteers were unsuccessful in finding a suitable venue.

Parish clerk Nigel Tigwell said that the charity shop was enormously important to Princetown.

He added: ‘Most people purchasing from the shop come from outside the parish passing on coach trips and that brings in more money.

‘In a sense we have had a double whammy because we have another empty shop and have lost a valuable source of income.

‘The charity shop staff were well above retirement age and working in the shop provided a need for them to be active, physically and mentally.’

Since the closure of Moor Beads, the parish council has decided to support a bid for the charity shop to take up part of the empty Duchy premises, possibly the former Moor Beads or Lord’s Gift Shop.

The clerk said that he planned to arrange a meeting between the Duchy land steward, representatives of the charity shop and the lead councillors for this project (Cllrs Gregg Manning and Wendy Stones).

Evidence of the effectiveness of the charity shop in the community would also be presented.

Mr Tigwell said: ‘The parish council is getting involved. We are going to try to persuade the Duchy to rent part of the Moors for the charity shop but it is up to the Duchy how they want to go about it.’

He added: ‘We have asked Torbay Development Agency about what they are doing with the Arts and Crafts Centre. They advertised the centre as office space but said they had done it just to see if people would be interested.

‘Princetown has been strung along for months in the past, we are always near signing deals which fall through and that creates frustration.’

Mr Tigwell said that the parish council was also in talks with Devon County Council and the Dartmoor National Park Authority to see if they could do anything to help.

‘One of the things discussed at the council meeting was that the large size of the community centre means that the business rates are very high. A number of public members came purely to talk about the shops – someone suggested a sub-division of a restaurant and two to three smaller shops, which would mean the overheads are lower. But the Duchy would have to change the water and electricity meters to suit the separate businesses.’

He added: ‘The final string is the housing and employment needs survey. When it comes out we will see the point of view on how to meet Princetown’s needs.

‘Princetown is starting to look very rundown, it’s empty shop window, after empty shop window, after empty shop window.’