The Kennet Centre in Newbury used to be a vibrant shopping mall, aimed at catering to all consumer types from teenagers, through professionals, through to the older generation but recently higher rental prices within Newbury have cuased a lot of the older stores to leave, and they have been replaced with shops that don't have as much class or finesse.
The council are aiming to re-develop the area with the introduction of Vue Cinema due in 2009, however that won't reduce the detrimental effect the new shopping development is going to have (to be located within the Park Way zone) which will cause Debenhams (the biggest retailer within the Kennet Centre) to move to the new outlet (they have already purchased their location inside).
Unfortunately the Kennet Centre hasn't been able to move with the times, and had become the BroadStreet Mall of Reading (with the introduction of the Oracle) and unless plans are impemented, this mall will become underused and a strain on local resources. read more