Gosport shops plea from councillor: 'Put your trainers on and walk to the high street'

Gosport Borough Councillor John Gledhill, member for Lee West, said that his local high street is struggling with a lack of footfall brought on by the pandemic, energy costs and inflation.

‘This is the case for all shops across the borough of Gosport,’ he said.

‘At the moment people are tightening their belts due to national issues like the cost of fuel and shops are struggling as well.

‘We need to use them, these shops support us with jobs and the goods they sell.

‘A lot of them are concerned about the cost of fuel – my cost of fuel has more than doubled in price and the shops have the same issue.

‘These shops employ loads of people, If these shops shut we start to lose jobs so although it might cost a couple of pence more to buy local it might not be a bad thing.

‘We’ve got to think more locally, we’ve got to try to support our local area, it’s alright shopping on Amazon because it’s easy - but actually, put your trainers on and walk down to a local shop.’

Marie Pazzard, manager of Laneway Coffee on the High Street said: ‘It’s definitely hard, but people are still coming in but with the energy prices going up it is a worry.

‘Our energy bills have doubled per month.

‘It is a worry because you don’t know what the future holds, if energy prices still keep going up, the mortgage situation, anyone on variable rates will be affected.

‘The line of business we are, we’re not a necessity, we are a luxury so you don’t know whether they will continue coming, you just hope that you have enough people.

‘It’s not just the energy bills that have gone up it’s everything else - it’s definitely a struggle.

‘They are very supportive, I have a very loyal customer base so we are very lucky in that way.

‘There’s lots of independent shops that have a lot to offer, a lot of people that visit the area might visit the beach which is understandable but most people don’t realise that there’s a high street one street away.’