Town Centres and Councils

Yesterday in a debate on the local government finance settlement for next year I raised some general issues about Councils and our Town Centres as well as local matters over the adequacy of grants and otherĀ  central government assistance.

When we come out of this extended lockdown we will be able to judge the permanent damage done more easily. Some shops and service providers will decide they cannot continue in business, given the long period of closure and partial working and the impact that has had on cash flows and borrowings. Some successful businesses will decide that they can carry on in future with more of their offer coming from digital commerce and less needing physical premises in each town and Village Street. There will be pressure to lower shop rents, and to move more rents onto a turnover related basis. Government will remain under pressure to keep business rates low where they have been reduced, and to cut them where they have not.

Councils are part of this debate because many have come to be important players in their local shopping areas. All principal Councils are important regulators and planners of shopping areas, deciding on what landowners can and cannot do with their properties, defining the streetscape and controlling the transport policies. Many are also now landlords of shop properties themselves, needing to consider the impact of recent changes on their rental and tenancy prospects. Many employ Town managers, help control shopping centres, run public sector facilities and determine the car parking and access strategies. They therefore need to bothĀ  decide how much of these various involvements they want, and what they are trying to do with their interests in these matters.

I urged them to wish for one thing – a strong commercially led recovery, helping shops and businesses rebuild their trade and earn the means to pay the rents again as soon as possible. The High Street has a high job content in what it does, adds to the variety of life by creating a social focus, and a backdrop for cultural, sportingĀ  and civic events. It represents much of what we have missed during lockdown. Forlorn High Streets stand largely empty, each closed shop a reminder of the economic damage to tenant and landlord alike of forced closures.

A good Council will make access and parking easier to rebuild trade. It will be flexible over planning permissions for changes of use and adaptation of buildings. Where it is an owner it will be realistic over future rents and uses itself. It seems likely there will need to be closures of a good many shops, as we have too many for likely future levels of physical shopping. That means we need imagination by developers and good will from Councils to convert or rebuild retail estate as homes, places for entertainmentĀ  or other workplaces as soon as possible.

90 Comments

  1. Mark B
    February 11, 2021

    The council’s, upon realising that they have lost much revenue, will seek to find alternative means to raise money. They will not look to cut either staff numbers, benefits or salaries. There will also be increased pressure to further reduce what services they offer. For the Public Sector this has been a very good lockdown.

    On the other hand, the Private Sector will have to pick up the pieces and look to save costs. There will be redundancies, wage and bonus freezes and a reduction in benefits.

    Those that have lost their jobs, business and homes will have to compete with all those non-UK citizens plus those from Hong Kong who wish to settle here. Funny how our government can find accomodation for those who have entered this country illegally but cannot look after its own homeless sleeping rough within sigh of the Palace of Westminster.

    1. Martyn G
      February 11, 2021

      “They will not look to cut either staff numbers, benefits or salaries.” Quite right but you perhaps forgot to mention their pension funds? Many years ago my District Council transferred Ā£10m from its reserve account into the County Council pension pot, as there was at the time an apparently urgent need to top the latter up. No voter had any say in the matter and despite the public clamour it went through, courtesy of the Council tax payers.

    2. Arthur Wrightiss
      February 11, 2021

      At least 20% of council tax goes to pay pensions. Councils are over staffed, too bureaucratic, love nonsense political correctness , and nowadays bow down before the altar of wokeism.
      Serious cost cutting and streamlining is long overdue, ignoring the howls of indignation from far left unions and their activists.
      If the council was a private company it would happen, but of course nothing will happen because itā€™s the bottomless pit of the tax payer which supports them.

    3. turboterrier
      February 11, 2021

      Mark B

      As was and will always be.
      Until there’s seismic changes in public and civil services it will never change.
      One easy way is to drag them kicking and screaming into the real world is by putting them on Performance Related Contracts. Too much is given out on social needs and the people who are actually paying in to the system get three fifths of naff all. When are we ever asked about what our expectations are. Too much is abdicated to the authorities , so the more they give the more they want and get. The waste is incredible and never addressed.

      1. Fedupsoutherner
        February 11, 2021

        Well said Turbo.

    4. a-tracy
      February 11, 2021

      Correct Mark and if the reports of Rishi’s future pension raids are true (and who can believe anything in our ‘unnamed source’ news right now) then the public sector workers never pay in the full increased pension premiums that the private sector has to make up themselves, especially in the Councils they are paid in by all the ratepayers compulsorily or you risk court. When the Councils screw up investments (i.e. in Iceland) it isn’t the staff that lose out or the managers of the schemes it is the general public that pays rates.

      We have had 1,000’s of new homes built in our town in the last year, all paying at least Ā£1,286 per annum (A) the average Ā£1929 (D) it just goes in the black hole no improvements, in fact services are getting worse even those that should be deliverable.

    5. Mike Durrans
      February 11, 2021

      Yes Mark. And a lot of those sleeping rough are our service people who have given all to our country and are now mentally unstable which then forces them into isolation. I find it so disgusting that they are considered disposable by our governments, The 0.07% GDP should be being spent on them , NOT foreign aid.
      They faced horror for us, now support them.

      1. a-tracy
        February 11, 2021

        Mike, British men seem to have a hard time in housing allocation. If they fall on bad times they are often too proud to ask their families for help especially if they’ve not had anything to do with them for years, end up suffering badly with mental health issues and can end up on the cold streets and on their own struggling to get by.

        I was hoping they were still in the accommodation they were given when covid started last March and not back on the streets, we would have a better record now of their care needs and how many of them there are.

      2. London Nick
        February 11, 2021

        If only Foreign Aid were indeed 0.07%. It is 10 times that, at 0.7%! And yes, of course, it should ALL be spent here in Britain. British governments are elected BY the British people, FOR the British people. Unless you are Boris Johnson, of course, in which case your main objective is to serve the EU, but that’s another story …

      3. Fedupsoutherner
        February 11, 2021

        Hear hear Mike. Only this week I was reading about the terrible housing given to our servicemen. Why are we housing illegals in nice hotels while are men are in dumps?

      4. turboterrier
        February 11, 2021

        Mike Durrans

        Absolutely correct. It’s a blot on this country.

    6. London Nick
      February 11, 2021

      There is no doubt that councils are over-staffed, bureaucratic and left-wing, BUT a major problem is the politically correct obligations placed on them by central government. Councils are obliged, for instance, to provide housing for asylum-seekers (and education for their children), despite the fact that these are ALL BOGUS (as he UK is not their nearest safe country). If the government instantly deported all these bogus and criminal immigrants, without any right of appeal, then councils wouldn’t be under so much pressure. But that would require a government willing to stand up to the left-wing media, something which Boris is NOT prepared to do.

    7. Hope
      February 11, 2021

      JR, you might want to watch Ian Paisely jnr MP and Farage discuss Irish border. Buses are built in North Anterim, imported steel from GB has a 25% tariff applied ! Businesses are suffering because of red tape, EU rules and tariffs likely to make bus building uncompetitive. DUP were told no tariffs or red tape, you might recall Johnson speaking at their conference. Lost revenues for businesses and councils far worse than yours. What is your govt going to do about it? Would you say this is gross incompetence or dishonesty by your govt?

  2. DOM
    February 11, 2021

    Such levels of social and economic destruction absolutely unnecessary, sinister and maliciously driven by a highly political and highly centralised State that’s reconfiguring our landscape to promote and protect its own position and interest without due consideration for those who exist outside of its remit

    Maliciously destroying the local economy simply to insulate the bottomless pit of waste that is Labour’s unionised NHS is disturbing enough but to target the education of children and the lives of parents to satisfy the autocratic demands of destructive and selfish teaching unions is the height of institutional capture and represents one of the most potent dangers of Britain’s once vibrant democratic politics

    I have watched the demise of the Tory party and how it’s morphed from a vessel of moral improvement into nothing more than a vehicle of political ambition and how the activist left have taken hold of both parties both without and within to the detriment of this nation and those who have to live here

    There are those who understand that what we are seeing today is politically driven not driven by clinical and human considerations and for the Tory party to be part of that process is utterly repugnant

    1. Caterpillar
      February 11, 2021

      +1

      (We saw a handful of Conservative MPs who left cabinet positions or the party because they didn’t agree with Brexit, whatever one thinks of their position they acted on principle. To my knowledge we see zero cabinet members or MPs leave in protest at the tyrannical dictatorship, we see zero attempt to end the dictatorship of Johnson. This is not the “demise” of the Tory party, it has been the end of democracy, the end of human rights and the end of free & rational thought. Propaganda, enforced poverty and hysterics rather than evidence and rational thought has already brought at least 75% of the country under control, the game of giving and taking freedom and income will bring more under control).

    2. Sir Joe Soap
      February 11, 2021

      Indeed, we need a government to CHALLENGE these local councils, not just throw tax money at them. Fewer shopping centres should equal fewer planners and their tag-alongs. The days of local councils employing “snoopers” to ensure exempt small businesses are still using space which they would otherwise pay business rates on to pay those snoopers should be over. Tear up the whole idea of charging tax on employment space. It’s a good thing.
      The education system where the interests of teachers are deemed more important than those of pupils, the health system where staff are deemed more important than the sick both need taking on, NOT triangulating with.
      The public sector will never vote Tory. You can never outbid Labour on throwing money at the public sector. Why does your party try to do this? We so much need a challenger party, to throw this lot with their soft-left friends into history.

    3. Nig l
      February 11, 2021

      Another happy day for you then.

    4. MiC
      February 11, 2021

      I am so, so glad that I am not tormented by a mind like yours.

      1. Fred.H
        February 11, 2021

        but possibly tormented by the fact you don’t live in China?

    5. J Bush
      February 11, 2021

      Well said, totally agree

      1. Mike Durrans
        February 11, 2021

        +1

    6. Everhopeful
      February 11, 2021

      What worries me ( probably a proscribed view) is that every destruction, no travel, no education, no small businesses etc etc seems to fit in with a well known agenda.
      I wish someone could reassure me.
      I am scared.

      1. a-tracy
        February 11, 2021

        Everhopeful, Please don’t lose hope, this can’t go on for much longer. People are starting to ask more questions. Soon MPs like John are going to start demanding answers and the research from these scientists.

        1. London Nick
          February 11, 2021

          A handful of Tory MPs (including Sir John of this parish) have grasped what the problems are, whether on Brexit or Covid, but as they are not willing to rebel they will not achieve any change in government policy.

          The only solution is therefore to vote for ReformUK, and hope that this will make the Conservative leadership wake up, as ReformUK’s predecessors (UKIP and the Brexit Party) succeeded in doing.

          reply I have rebelled on lock down and the EU Agreement

        2. Fred.H
          February 11, 2021

          MPs who have not communicated as well as Sir John will soon have the realisation that their time as an MP is to be shortlived.

        3. Everhopeful
          February 11, 2021

          Thanks!šŸ˜·Made me feel better!

    7. Hope
      February 11, 2021

      Patel now demanding social media take down anti vaccines posts! So the authoritarian Fake Tory govt. want, and are, advocating to suppress free speech.

      I understand the last person to undergo the first set of trials of the vaccine will be examined again on 31/01/2023 to ascertain medium to long term side effects. Those who have the vaccine between now and then must accept they will be part of the govt experiment not knowing what those side effects might be. Perfectly acceptable if it is true informed consent not acquiescing to govt pressure because the vaccination programme is under emergency conditions and the pharma companies not liable. Has Patel made all the risks clear?

      Especially as the most at risk groups are elderly and might need longer to time to understand.

      Those under 50 who very unlikely to get seriously ill or die might ask if the lockdown is going to continue irrespective of vaccinations why have them and take the risk of side effects? Johnson already saying you might need a third! Side effects might be worse. Either way it does not instill confidence does it.

    8. Jim Whitehead
      February 11, 2021

      DOM,
      Hear, hear!

  3. Everhopeful
    February 11, 2021

    Over the past 20 years the whole of our once bustling High Street has been converted into ā€œhomesā€.
    All that remain are a couple of convenience stores ( one with a PO counter). The beautiful Post Office has been demolished and dreadful flats built on the site.
    Here the Reset is done and dusted.
    And very unpleasant, ugly and inutile it is too.

    1. Lifelogic
      February 11, 2021

      Councils only seem to be interested in collecting rates, parking charges, parking fines, blocking the roads (with bus and bike lanes and ever red traffic lights and fining motorists should they put a wheel into a bus lane. Even mugging delivery drivers as they are delivering o shops. All those gold plated pensions and over paid senior staff to pay. Rather like most of central government in fact.

    2. Ed M
      February 11, 2021

      Our town centres have been decimated by Sales People and Accountants (with short-term profit goals) and by uncultured and non-business-minded people in local council.

      It would require billions to restore and create a sense of charm in these places again (and organised by a central, not a local, body, with the skills, education and so on to make it work) . So often people shop, in particular women, as a way to relax and unwind. You simply cannot do that in places with tacky shop signage, ugly buildings, noise, and intimidating-looking people with tattoos gawking at you. And shoppers now have far higher expectations than they did 30 or 40 years ago since they now have more money, better education, more widely travelled.

  4. Dave Andrews
    February 11, 2021

    Many of the things we’d like local council to do they can’t, because they have to pour all resources into their statutory duty of adult services. All discretional spending has to go.
    Make all council spending discretional, and let them answer to their electorate.

    1. a-tracy
      February 11, 2021

      Dave, what % of all the resources go into ‘adult services’?

      1. Hope
        February 11, 2021

        ATracey, if you look at your council budget you will see a large proportion. However, councils were given the right to charge additional amounts for,adult social care in Council tax bills by Fake Tory govt.

        The Fake Tory govt has consistently failed to make sure councils are efficient, spend the money as it should etc. Fake Tory govt keeps giving councils millions and billions extra without any proof the money is spent for the purposmintended or that it gets value for money, moreover public gets value for money.

      2. hefner
        February 11, 2021

        For the Wokingham district, in 2019, Ā£47m out of Ā£128m. (wokingham.gov.uk)

        1. Fred.H
          February 11, 2021

          startlingly high !!

        2. a-tracy
          February 11, 2021

          Thank you, hefner, I’ll check ours soon to see how it compares to WD 36%.

          1. a-tracy
            February 14, 2021

            Ours is reported as 28% for Adult care, but the biggest shock to me checking out the accounts is the amount allocated to just one area of the County! If I were a prospective candidate in our town (used as a rates cash cow) Iā€™d be pushing leaflets through all the doors about that little nugget.

  5. Everhopeful
    February 11, 2021

    I now do not believe we are ever going to come out of this incarceration.
    The future is starvation, hypothermia and too much ( enforced ) medication.

    1. Nig l
      February 11, 2021

      Indeed, certainly I think you need a couple of those.

      1. Everhopeful
        February 11, 2021

        Do you?

    2. Denis Cooper
      February 11, 2021

      Since you have started off on this deeply pessimistic tangent I will respond with a much more optimistic projection, which is that we will never be able to completely eliminate this virus and therefore we should not try to do so, but we will be able to tame it sufficiently so that we can return to our previous normal way of life with minimal risk. What happened last summer has convinced me, for the present, that it will not be feasible to eradicate the virus, because we pushed the infection level with the original variant down to below 0.03% of the population in England but it still started to come back, and that was actually before the more infectious Kent variant put in a appearance. We will all of us have an annual vaccination finetuned to the most recent variants so that in almost all cases we will just get minor symptoms, that will become a matter of annual routine and there will be a system to do it smoothly and efficiently, plus we will be urged to take prophylactics and supplements like Vitamin D3, plus there will be much better treatments available on prescription for outpatients, and much better treatments for the few who need to be hospitalised.

  6. Andy
    February 11, 2021

    We have to accept that most high streets as we knew them are dead. Yes there are a handful of interesting, different or quirky ones which will do well. But mostly we need high streets which focus on people – and not on stuff. Stuff is cheaper online. (Though, obviously, thanks to Brexit lots of stuff is pointlessly more expensive anyway).

    So high streets need to be about bringing people together and providing services which you canā€™t get online. Cafes, bars, play areas for kids, hair dressers, dry cleaners, medical services. Lots of shops need converting into accommodation. Parking needs to be made easier. So do facilities for cyclists and so on.

    There is no doubt that the Tory COVID catastrophe will devastate our high streets. Crucially, we should not allow the people who have destroyed our country any role in rebuilding it.

  7. Ian Wragg
    February 11, 2021

    No doubt any empty properties will be taken over by Turkish barbers, Vietnamese nail bars and Polish shops.
    It’s amazing how many of these establishments every high street need.p

  8. Nig l
    February 11, 2021

    Yes a good post. What we donā€™t need is punitive taxes which will only be passed on to us anyway on the On Line companies that have served us so well during the pandemic in the futile attempt to restore high streets to what they once were. Clunky bureaucratic councils bereft of ideas give me little hope.

    And what they were was narrow choice, expensive and often extremely heavy/difficult to carry. I now have vast choice, consumer tested, transparently priced delivered to my door the next day. Equally they were already declining with a plethora of charity shops filling the gaps.

    As with the NHS where you allow the politics to prevent what needs to happen, I suspect the same will happen with the High Street but it mustnā€™t.

    1. London Nick
      February 11, 2021

      Online companies that spit in our face by basing themselves – and paying their taxes – in the likes of Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands certainly DO need to be taxed more. A LOT more. And yes, they may initially try and pass this on to us consumers, but as they lose customers they will eventually accept that they need to move to the UK.

  9. J Bush
    February 11, 2021

    I had occasion to walk through my local shopping centre last year and it was appalled to see so many of the shops closed down and the bulk of those that hadn’t closed had closing down sale notices, including at least 3 nationals. Apart from a couple shops all that remained open was fast food outlets and charity shops. So many small businesses had had to close their doors for the last time. These little independents which used to sell unique items are gone forever.

    A couple of miles to the south of where I live a small town has a market hall that opens on the 3rd Friday a month to hold a farmers market and craft fair. All the stall holders were small businesses. The farmers market had stalls of locally grown/made produce. The crafts were unique to the area and you invariably found a suitable gift for ‘the person who has everything’. But most of all was the lovely atmosphere, with stallholders chatting and helping each other, wandering around the stalls chatting with stallholders and purchasing items from them. A small area set aside where you could buy and sit down with a cup of tea and a bun, enjoying the atmosphere and listening to string quintet or such like playing close by.

    All gone. Fewer stalls all spaced out, 6′ distancing, people silent behind their face nappies, walking in an almost regimental type fashion in a sterile atmosphere.

    One of life’s simple pleasures destroyed by people who have never built a business from scratch, because – if it saves one life from a virus with a 99% survival rate…

    God forgive them, because I know I can’t

  10. ian@Barkham
    February 11, 2021

    You cant have a “a strong commercially led recovery” when sectors of those that supply the market are taxed and controlled differently.
    All commercial operations rely on the prosperity of a community, its infrastructure, health and education. Yet those that wish to profit from society are not required to contribute equally. You have to ask why?.

    The UK’s tax and regulation system allows society to be raped and pillaged each day with its riches removed to other domains with agreement of a monolithic government that doesn’t understand commerce and the free market.

    Society naturally prospers when all segments of it get to contribute equally. The UK tax system in a world of cross boarder trading sets out to punish the indigenous enterprises and favour the external ones. The UK tax system is from a bygone world that doesn’t exist. All the tinkering, fudging and bending of the existing is a fools paradise, when it is just simply the system is broken and not fit for purpose.

    On the High Street it is the small guy that funds the Global operator by providing the services they wish to profit from. Until this very basic equality in contributions is addressed their can be no future for the High Street just further decline followed by the decline of the society everyone profits from. The Big Guys, they have new horizons to exploit.

  11. Roy Grainger
    February 11, 2021

    Bit premature John – Hancock says restrictions will continune because there are “new variants”. So that means forever. Expecting local councils to do anything useful in this area is naive – they are the politcians who weren’t good enough to rise to the national level and we’ve seen how useless they are at that level.

    My local counicil (Labour) have just implemented rent increases for their teneants but have blamed this on the government for “allowing” them to do so.

    1. Hope
      February 11, 2021

      Roy,

      Why have the vaccines if the Govt is not confident they will work on mutations, all viruses mutate. As 99.6% of the population will not become seriously ill or die are the possible side effects from vaccines worth the risk? The Govt. Has not been truthful, provided accurate statistics, flip flopped every couple of days, sometimes within a day. Does not bode well for to instill public trust. Considerations everyone needs to balance in their mind.

      Van Tam and co could not even be consistent with wearing face masks! I certainly would not trust his, Valance or Whitty’s advice for anything.

      1. No Longer Anonymous
        February 11, 2021

        I was prepared to take the vaccine to get myself and others out of lockdown and to protect the vulnerable but, otherwise, I did not want this rushed treatment in my system.

        Seeing as it appears it won’t protect the vulnerable from variants and won’t get us out of lockdown I’m afraid I can see a rebellion against vaccination coming from the young and the fit.

        We are being dictated by the success of New Zealand, which has more in common with the Falkland Islands than it does with mainland UK. A meeting of global world leaders needs to come about to make the decision that enough is enough. We cannot live locked down forever.

        Focussed shielding as much as possible for those that want it and those that need it.

        Freedom always cost lives and had this been a war I would have been prepared to have lain down mine in defence of it and we would have demanded it of our young.

        We want our lives back.

  12. jerry
    February 11, 2021

    But surely “long periods of closure and partial working” will do nothing but build pent-up demand, of course there will be some outlets that fail because social and health awareness changes, but this has always happened.

    What must be done, by govt, if anything is to be done, stop the big supermarkets from further taking custom from the traditional High Street, why are they allowed to hold Off-Licensees for example (how long before a supermarket or shopping-mall owner seeks an on-licence, perhaps they already have), most now sell clothing, some sell white and brown goods, heck one of my local edge of town supermarkets even has an optician concession – all very damaging to the traditional High Street, perhaps more so than a few designer coffee shops closing post Lockdown! I now only go into my Town Centre if I need to use my banks own ATM or counter services.

    Or, of course, we just need to accept that the “Hight Street”, and how people want to shop, has been moving to more convenient, less crowded, areas and reflect this in future local and national planning polices. My preference is for this latter course of action. Many High Streets would actually make very good brown-field residential redevelopment areas, often close to both existing transport links and leisure facilities!

  13. Mike Wilson
    February 11, 2021

    No mention of council salaries, pensions and waste. Does the mayor of Wokingham TOWN Council still have a mayorā€™s car to transport him or her – wearing their silly chain around their neck – to generally pointless civic functions?

    Do perfectly good office carpets still get replaced because ā€˜we have to spend the building budget by April or the budget will be cut next yearā€™.

  14. Alan Jutson
    February 11, 2021

    Councils have now become a the second arm of Government with the majority of their task it would seem is to collect as much money as possible from as many areas as possible and redistribute it.

    Gone are the days of managing a flexible workforce, to keep roads and paths clean and clear, to clean the drains and ditches, to maintain parks, trees, hedges, street lights and council buildings, now its all about increasing car parking fees, yellow lines, Council tax, collecting a whole range of fines, and dishing out benefits.

    1. Fred.H
      February 11, 2021

      closing 11 libraries, but no staff redundancies, redeployed but doing what?

  15. Peter
    February 11, 2021

    During lockdown I visited a number of High Streets I donā€™t usually frequent to break the monotony. The trains I used to get there were empty.

    Beckenham had a few sporadic stalls – not grouped together – on market day. The indoor mall was moribund. The nearby park is the largest in South East London. I looked for the public golf course, the busiest in London, where people used to queue during the night to get a round at weekends. It is still in the A to Z but it turns out the Labour council allowed it to get run down and then closed it permanently. It did not conform to their outlook. They saw it as an elitist activity rather than a popular exercise for many.

    Bromley also had a few market stalls and an empty indoor mall. There were some interesting but closed pubs at the end of a long, winding High Street. In the middle there is a civic centre/playhouse beside a small but pleasant park.

    I got to Croydon via the tram which shares the road with other traffic once it reaches Croydon town centre. I passed Reeves Corner – burnt down in the riots. Then Lunar House of asylum seeker fame. I passed a couple of offices I have been inside in the past which have now been repurposed as accommodation. First BTs Delta Point in West Croydon then the 23 storey Nestle Tower which still has company signage at the top. Croydon was busier and the ancient Surrey Street food market was thriving. However, both the massive Whitgift centre indoor mall and the one opposite were moribund. I had a takeaway coffee on a bench outside and then went home. I never particularly liked Croydon – all tower blocks and flyovers. Later that night extra police were drafted in because of stabbings.

    Croydon has the extra problem of a council that got involved in property development and failed – at great expense.

    I donā€™t think people living on High Streets or town centres will solve their problems. It will just make them a slightly different type of estate -without that much commerce or employment nearby. They will still have elements of what they used to be, reminders of the past.

  16. Peter
    February 11, 2021

    As for parking and town centres you can forget about that.

    It used to be possible to park for free fairly close to Kingston and walk in along the riverside. At weekends the Surrey Council offices had parking spaces the public could use. Thatā€™s all gone now and itā€™s not coming back. Instead there are new traffic schemes that trap unwitting motorists and drive up revenue from fines.

    Suttonā€™s free parking has also disappeared though there is some respite at weekends.

    The result is people will drive to malls will free parking or if they have to pay they will head into central London for the fancier shops and more options.

  17. Andy
    February 11, 2021

    Congratulations to Amsterdam. A huge beneficiary of Brexit. A bigger volume of European share are now traded there than in London. It took less than 6 weeks.

    This Brexit thing is great. (For the EU).

    1. Mike Durrans
      February 11, 2021

      Well thats one fairy tale, now go and read Andy Pandy as its your level of intelligence

    2. SM
      February 11, 2021

      Hmmm – I read this morning that according to the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence, nearly 700,000 foreign-born residents have left London recently, but on the other hand, nearly 5 MILLION EU citizens have applied for British residency.

      How would you interpret that?

      1. Fred.H
        February 11, 2021

        very simply the 700k were here to exploit UK for high salaries from EU companies. Now that’s not so easy, 5m wish to come and live here after the spiteful EU behaviour sends the clearest of messages about their future across the Channel.

    3. Derek
      February 11, 2021

      We’ve left the EU – get used to us Brits being able to our own thing again. Its called National Sovereignty – the way the RoTW works.
      If Brexit is so good for the EU why have over 4 Million EU citizens elected to stay here rather than go back to the home country?

    4. hefner
      February 11, 2021

      Please, put this in perspective, you are right but the trading in EU shares represents less than 10% (comparing Decā€™20 to Janā€™21 numbers would show a daily loss of Ā£5bn out of Ā£60bn, not negligible, relatively bad for the LSE, but not the end of the world).

    5. The Prangwizard
      February 11, 2021

      I am not a fan of Andy’s philosophies and anti-Brexit views but he is right about the complacency of the City and government elitism. We are not the centre of the universe as they seem to think. The EU has a long view; government supported by City spivs have a short term profit view. It is possible the City may go the same way as our manufacturing did because of government incompetence.

  18. ukretired123
    February 11, 2021

    Strange times indeed for questioning the very building blocks of our lives as we have come to feel like foreigners in our own country aided by the daily BBC and MSM. All simple things folks take for granted esp the High Street just to go and see things in shop windows and stores are disappointing aided by local councils out of touch even before the pandemic staffed by bureaucrats with poor knowledge of commercial life and experience sadly.

  19. Nig l
    February 11, 2021

    Linked to yesterdayā€™s topic Alistair Heath tells it as it should be from its inception, actually it was a Tory whose white Paper in 1944 was the real creator highjacked by Labour and that is how it has remained.

    The reason for the Tories total inaction, cowardice obvious to everyone and runs through the party like a stick of rock.

  20. Alan Holmes
    February 11, 2021

    Your government has devastated the economy. Any recovery will take a long time and with the likely stupid and counterproductive policies that will undoubtedly be put in place we may well not see a recovery in our lifetime. If you really want a recovery the very best thing to do is remove rules wholesale and shut down whole swathes of government. Then and only then the productive people in our society can start to repair the carnage caused by the political class.

  21. DOM
    February 11, 2021

    Jeremy Farrar. His history and current associations with the World Bank and the WHO trigger my suspicions of the true nature of the political and psychological process that is ‘Lockdown’. We are being exposed to experimentation

    The voter delivered you into Parliament and you treat us with psychological abuse, contempt and deliberate emotional barbarity the like we have not seen since 1914

  22. glen cullen
    February 11, 2021

    The local council is as distant from the small businesses in their area as government is from its voters

    Local councils donā€™t see small business as local employers, local community activists or local charity donators ā€“ theyā€™re only seen as a source of revenue. I bet every council is currently examining ways of increasing business rates, local environmental tax and employing more traffic wardens

    The answer is to subsidy and fund small business and off set taxes directly for 12 months

  23. oldtimer
    February 11, 2021

    Add to this baleful scene the demise of the pub – driven by regulation – once the social centre for many communities and the planned demise of the privately owned vehicle (few will be able to afford BEVs) then the destruction of the town centre as we once knew it will be complete. The community where I live has morphed from parish council to town council. Its population growth hitherto has been driven by commuters but that driver of change looks dead in the water now. The council is conducting a public consultation and rethink of priorities for the future; this is a good initiative. But the problems to be solved are obvious in the high street – an over abundance of estate agents and coffee shops and too many empty premises. I await the results of their consultation with interest.

  24. Bob Dixon
    February 11, 2021

    A number of Councils have used ratepayers monies on either foolish investment which have failed or on
    investments which should be sold.
    Luton Council owns Luton Airport which they should sell.

    1. Christine
      February 11, 2021

      Be careful what you wish for. Our council sold our thriving airport to a private company who closed it down and sold the land off for development. This lead to the loss of a great local asset and more unwanted houses. Of course, our politicians donā€™t want us to leave our homes to travel anywhere so it plays right into their hands.

    2. London Nick
      February 11, 2021

      If Luton Airport makes a profit, and the council earns revenue as a result, how is that a bad thing? Far better for British assets to be owned by British entities than by foreign asset-strippers, like most of our other airports are.

  25. Fedupsoutherner
    February 11, 2021

    councils should stop being allowed to sack an employee because they are poor at their job and then remploying them in a made up position again even when they have had a big pay off and their pensions paid early. Jobs for the boys has got to stop.

  26. No Longer Anonymous
    February 11, 2021

    You have no authority, Sir John.

    Read the standing orders. READ THEM AND UNDERSTAND THEM !

  27. acorn
    February 11, 2021

    UK local government is a joke compared to its French or German equivalents; particularly the English variety. Local government total resources have flatlined at a nominal Ā£162 billion a year since the 2010 General Election, while Central government total resources have risen from Ā£503 to 720 billion.

    English local councils are basically field operating units for Whitehall with antiquated “penny packet” financing and very little discretionary spending ability. Local council elections can change little in this set-up and really are a waste of time and money. But, they can be nice little pension boosters for the over 65 with a lot of spare time to fill.

    1. a-tracy
      February 11, 2021

      I partly agree with you acorn, our town approx 34,000 people have a local council spend of near Ā£510,000 pa. or approx a spend of Ā£15 for every man, woman and child in the town.
      By far the biggest spend is Ā£40,000 on recreation grounds (now I’m interested to learn where these ‘recreation grounds are, there isn’t one in our section’);
      Ā£120,000 on 3 people to look after those grounds + pension + training + first aid +NI. + casual holiday cover pay.
      Ā£7500 Christmas lights; Ā£3000 IT equip; Ā£2300 Display boards/Display cabinets in a year no one has been allowed out for more than a few weeks at a time;
      Ā£25,000 on the local council accommodation and rates; Ā£7000 on Insurance;
      Ā£1000 council contribution to allotments for 50 people; the Mayor; cars; Ā£500 per quarterly online newsletter; there is quite a lot more they support that I was unaware of from subsidised rail fares for some eligible pensioners (just a little provocation to Andy) to school milk Ā£15,000-Ā£25,000 pa.

  28. The Prangwizard
    February 11, 2021

    Wouldn’t it all be nice? Will it happen? Of course it won’t. The gutless Tories dare not do anything, in fact they don’t even understand the need.

    And OT. Saw ‘Boris’ answer a vital question about the threats NI is under from the EU and what he signed through. He seem bored and irritated and went into the standard insincere promise to do something to restore sovereignty – but he will dodge anything decisive of course. What he agreed to is traitorous. But that’s what Tories are for isn’t it.

  29. Derek
    February 11, 2021

    I wonder what affect Car Parking charges have on High Street shoppers. Out-of-town business parks provide parking for free. Perhaps a system of control barriers could be utilised to enable free parking for say, two hours, to attract more shoppers with a charge only levied when there is an over-stay. I know certain supermarkets have this system in place so it must work for them – why not the high street?
    Business rates must be a heavy burden as they do not take into consideration the actual turnover of the shop nor whether they can afford it. Government should now provide a furlough on Business Rates to get the High Streets and the country moving again and when appropriate, initiate a new Business Rate scheme that focuses on turnover and not square footage, if that is still the case.

    1. glen cullen
      February 11, 2021

      It has a major effect and a direct result

  30. Christine
    February 11, 2021

    If the Government had any intention of helping the High Street it would abolish the Sunday Trading laws but most MPs canā€™t be bothered fighting the religious lobby who represent the minority but have a huge influence on all of us.

    1. Dave Andrews
      February 11, 2021

      Abolishing the Sunday Trading laws is more a fight with the unions, who want to ensure their members have a day off.
      Don’t those in retail deserve a day of rest, or do they have to always work so you can shop at any time?

      1. Christine
        February 13, 2021

        Many people would love to work on a Sunday especially students. Who are you to tell people when they can work and deny the unemployed the chance of a job?

    2. Mike Wilson
      February 11, 2021

      If the Government had any intention of helping the High Street it would abolish the Sunday Trading laws

      Heaven preserve us. You think changing the Sunday trading laws will help the economy. Can’t we have one bloody day a week off the treadmill?

    3. Fedupsoutherner
      February 11, 2021

      The SNP voted against this even though they have full opening hours on Sunday. What the hell has it got to do with them?

  31. London Nick
    February 11, 2021

    For many years I have preferred to shop online rather than go to an actual shop. Why? For many reasons:

    1. Lack of free parking. There needs to be ample free parking, at the very least for the first, say, 2 hours.
    2. Lack of choice and value. Councils should encourage a variety of stores, cafes, pubs and restaurants, both in terms of selection but also price. There should always be low-cost stores (eg. Poundland/Primark/Aldi/etc) on every high street.
    3. Lack of seating. We need lots of benches for the pubblic to sit, relax and chat to one another on.
    4. Lack of free toilets. If the council can’t provide their own then make it a legal obligatin for all pubs, restaurants and shops over a certain size to offer free toilets to anyone (not just their customers).
    5. Lack of visual beauty. Where are the flower beds, the statues, the fountains, the clean streets, etc?

    1. The Prangwizard
      February 11, 2021

      I am in full agreement with these points although not keen on regulations on who should be where.

      Much could be done immediately with higher maintenance standards for the street scene. There is far too much dirt and grime just about everywhere. Councils are failing in their lack of attention to detail. They prefer to think of of shiny new schemes which gets the chief on tv.

      I dislike many high streets for this reason, they can so easily feel slimy and unhealthy.

  32. Mike Wilson
    February 11, 2021

    I used to live in Crowthorne. A small shop was up for grabs there – I had a look at the web site to see the terms. Rent was Ā£16k a year. Business rates were Ā£15k a year. Shops come and go all the time. Why people think they can make a living by opening a dress shop (I’ve always wanted to run my own dress shop) baffles me.

  33. Iain Gill
    February 11, 2021

    20 mph speed limits are not helping. who wants to drive somewhere that getting out of second gear is illegal, its ridiculous.

    lets see some proper scientific double blind trials of whether 20 mph limits actually save any lives, because I am prepared to bet they do not.

    1. Fedupsoutherner
      February 11, 2021

      It’s been like this in Scotland for a few years now and pollution levels were higher.

Comments are closed.