The New Economics Foundation (nef) has devised a formula to determine what category of town you live in. There are three categories, which are as follows.
A Clone Town is ‘indistinguishable from dozens of others around the country’.
A Border Town is ‘neither highly homogenised, nor strongly independent and diverse.’
A Home Town is ‘distinctive and recognisable as a unique place’.
The Clone Town Britain Index measures the identity and diversity of retail outlets on the high street. The scoring mechanism is as follows:
| Clone Town: | Towns scoring below 50, where over half of the stores counted are chains and there is little diversity. |
| Border Town: | Towns scoring between 51 and 65 are indistinct. |
| Home Town: | Towns scoring over 65, where almost two thirds or more of the stores are independent and there is a wide range of outlets. |
Hoddesdon High Street achieved a score of 64.5 making the Town a Border Town.
Do we want to live in a town which is at best providing nothing of interest and at worst heading towards a town full of chain stores looking like every other High Street? How much better would it be to live in a Home Town where there is variety and we can be proud of the unique features of the town?
To ensure that Hoddesdon becomes a ‘Home Town’ two thirds of our shops need to be operated by independent retailers. As long as there are no more than 60 chain stores in the town this will be achieved.