Cheshire shopping park hits back at calls for complex to close

“Either fix it or knock it down completely,” remarked one frustrated resident who contacted the Chester Standard's sister title the Runcorn and Widnes World to raise complaints about the running of Runcorn Shopping City

The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, spoke in their view of the increasing decline of the Runcorn shopping centre, which they say used to be a ‘trend setter across Europe’.

“Runcorn Shopping City needs to be closed,” they said. “At one point it was a trend setter across Europe, now it's a bleak impression of what the Tories have done to this country and shows that nobody cares about the residents of Runcorn anymore.”

One particular issue the resident highlighted is the locked public changing facilities, adding that it is “not very convenient when you have an infant that needs changing”.

However, a representative of the shopping centre responded to this issue, explaining the reason for the current closure.

Gill Sarath, centre coordinator for Runcorn Shopping City said: “Recently, the baby change facilities and disabled toilets have been subjected to high levels of anti-social behaviour, which has resulted in damage to the facilities leaving them in an unacceptable state for genuine users.

“To protect these facilities from being misused, we have taken steps to keep them locked to ensure the facilities are kept to a high standard for those who need to use them.”

She continued: “Members of our cleaning and security team have keys to unlock the door, and the security office number is also displayed on the door to ring.

“We understand people’s frustrations, however we also need to protect the facilities we offer, and this is the only way we can do so.”

Meanwhile another resident raised concerns about how frequently the soft play area is cleaned by maintenance staff at the setting after their child contracted hand foot and mouth disease after using the facility.

She warned parents on social media not to let their children play on the play area, stating: “My poorly little boy has a bad case of hand, foot and mouth disease, and he is the second child I know to get it bad from playing there, as it only gets wiped down once a week.”

Runcorn Shopping City (Image: Google Maps) Unpicking the hygiene rumours, Ms Sarath commented: “The soft play area at Shopping City is protected and cleaned by a product called Zoono, which is used by most soft play companies to help protect children and parents from the spread of contagious diseases.

“One application of this product lasts for 30 days, however we treat the soft play area with this steriliser every two weeks as per our health and safety audit requirements.

“In addition to this, our cleaning team checks the play area daily to remove any rubbish left, food and to clean any spillages.

“This procedure is approved by our insurance company and health and safety requirements.”

The centre coordinator further stated that Runcorn Shopping City’s management team is ‘actively working to improve the shopping experience’ for customers through ‘ongoing upgrades’ and ‘free events for families’.

She continued: “We are proud to share that footfall at Shopping City is up year-on-year, with an average of 53,000 visitors each week, and we anticipate this to increase further as we enter our busiest retail period of the year.

“Like many retail centres and local high streets, we have been impacted by the industry shift towards online shopping and popular out of town retail parks.  

“Additionally, national brands are adjusting their strategies to focus more on flagship city-centre stores and larger destination malls like Trafford Centre and Liverpool One.

“Despite these challenges, we remain committed to providing a vibrant and welcoming space for our community and shoppers, and we are working diligently to attract new tenants that align with our community’s needs.”