I am unconvinced that this statement is, for the most part, realistic.
Have you tried to drive anywhere else?
Getting into the centre of the town is not really any more difficult than getting to any other part of it, 'retail parks' included.
Ultimately everything is driven not by how you get there but by what you do when you're there.
If you have to drive, you have to park. That is the limiting factor.
Where is the bus stop @ Queens retail park?
I used to live in Cannock and it was better than Stafford. There were all manner of alternate routes. But from Wildwood area of town you have very little choice of routes and all of them are busy and are now much much busier than when I moved here in Dec 2009. You can't add a whole new bunch of houses and expect things to be the same. There's loads of new homes at the old Police HQ and they want to build even more.