A ten-year plan to encourage affluent youngsters to spend in Maldon shops features in a new retail survey of the district.

The report, prepared as part of the revision process for Maldon's local development plan, says too many 15 to 25 year olds desert the area especially when seeking fashion and household requisites and eating out.

More than 1,500 jobs in the district depend on the retail sector it says.

To be presented to Maldon council's planning committee on March 9, the report also warns that Burnham's economy is fragile and its tourism role needs serious development.

Maldon itself, it suggests, has failed to take advantage of the 300,000 visitors to Prom Park a proportion of whom could be encouraged to visit the High Street and spend.

"Few venture to the High Street and this largely untapped source of customers could prove invaluable to the town," says the survey.

Maldon town needs promotion as a leisure location linking shopping with museums, Prom Park, sports facilities and restaurants.

Burnham has a clearly defined tourism role which should be built on to provide an "impetus to regeneration".

While Maldon and Heybridge are both regarded as buoyant shopping centres they could take additional developments provided they are in the town or existing district centre.

Burnham would be extremely vulnerable to any non-centre retail development, says the report.

All centres need better clothing and household outlets to prevent Chelmsford in particular attracting the disposable income of the youth market, it stresses.

The report runs to 40 pages and has a 44 page retail strategy options paper.

A council spokeswoman said the council would do all it could to assist entrepreneurs to start up in the towns and was hoping to restrain retail conversions to housing especially in Burnham.

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