The Paper Boat Closure - a trend or one off?

Warren from Island Bay

Sad to see that the Paper Boat in Berhampore has closed. The latest in a number of businesses that have occupied this location. There are probably a number of factors why they’ve closed but I wonder if there simply isn’t the foot traffic in the area any longer to make it an economic proposition. After the Post Office the longest tenure I can recall there was Mel’s Diner which was something of an institution.
Mel’s catering business for the burgeoning film industry at the time would also have helped.
Maybe the area can only handle businesses that rely on very low overheads, relatively light turnover, or specialist high quality products and services with few more accessible competitors in neighbouring suburbs.
So what for Berhampore? Will it continue to show the signs and symptoms of a depressed socio-economic area (lots of empty shops, a growing number of second hand shops, etc) or is there hope? I understand that there are going to be quite a lot of road works happening in the area, which as Kilbirnie can attest certainly didn’t help business.
As an ex-resident (I lived in Berhampore in the 70’s and again in the late 80’s) I’d be very sad to see this happen.
Do WCC have any plans to boost economic development in the area? Do WCC even have integrated economic development strategies at a suburban level or are they completely macro-focused and are taking a “let the devil take the hindmost” approach.
Maybe someone from the Berhampore Residents Association can comment. I know that in Island Bay attempts by resident and business organisations to engage with local authorities and officers have not been that successful or sometimes not even that well-received. Unless of course the approaches are completely aligned with what they already have decided is needed 🙄