HIGH business rates are 'crippling' the town centre, according to one store owner.
Vivien Priestley plans to move when her lease is up because of the high rates. She opened her independent baby boutique on Eldon Street at the bottom of the Arcade in 2010, after trading on Barnsley's semi-open market and then in the Alhambra.
She says the boutique, which employs three staff and specialises in baby and children's clothes, is thriving and draws people from Sheffield, Leeds and Wakefield.
Business rates are taxes to help pay for local services and are charged on most non-domestic properties such as shops, offices and pubs.
Vivien said: "The rates are extremely high because they're based on the value of the property five years ago when things were very different to what they are now.
"Properties are probably worth half what they were, yet the rates are still high.
"I'm going to be moving to a premises further up the Arcade because the rates for the building are cheaper. If I wasn't moving I would have had to close probably.
"It makes a big difference moving because it means I can put more back into the business.
"The government needs to realise that instead of talking, which is cheap, they need to act, particularly in smaller towns like this because these high rates are closing the town down."
She said it's smaller, independent business that are holding town centre trade together.
A spokesman for Barnsley Council said it doesn't set property valuations or business rates.
He said the rates paid on business properties depends on its 'rateable value' which is calculated by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).
A spokesman for the Valuation Office Agency said a review into business rates was due to take place in 2015 but this has been postponed until 2017.
He said if anyone disagrees with their valuation they can appeal to the VOA and ask them to correct the details thought to be wrong or appeal rates.
