Make a difference and sign petition
Neil Eames, regional organiser of the Federation of Small Businesses, writes abouts his last seven days in business.
Small shops are struggling to survive because of local and national government policies, combined with the failure of authorities to deal with the aggressive policies of supermarkets.
The loss of the UK's independent retailers has far reaching socio-economic and environmental implications for the whole community.
Forty-two per cent of English towns and villages no longer have a shop of any kind.
Keep Trade Local, launched by the FSB in March, has since been taken up by many local communities across the UK.
The FSB is gathering signatures to the Keep Trade Local petition at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/keeptradelocal/ which calls for the prime minister to secure the future of small shops and safeguard choice and competition that people expect within the market place.
Parking is a one of several contentious but important aspects of keeping trade local. Businesses in towns with insufficient car parking lose customers to other destinations.
The quality and access of parking provision within a five minute walk of main shopping streets has a significant impact on store performance.
Independent retailers in town centres are the engines of local economies and parking policy must take account of the needs of small businesses if town centres are to thrive.
Small towns are hit particularly hard by the imposition of parking charges. In these car dependent communities, free access to the town centre is essential not only for the purposes of shopping but also for social interaction.
The dependence of independent retailers on sensible parking policies is being undermined by local councils who treat parking as a means of generating revenue as opposed to a way of managing traffic and benefiting the local community.
The Federation of Small Businesses believes that local authorities need a new attitude to parking provision – parking should be seen as a vital service not as short term revenue grab. Park & ride should be considered.
>>> For more information on the FSB Keep Trade Local campaign – www.fsb.org.uk
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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