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Ministers admit small shops are under threat
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent12.11.08
THOUSANDS of small shops are under threat as the country plunges towards recession, ministers admitted today.
The Government added that the "balance has tipped too far" against local stores in many town and city centres.
Communities minister Iain Wright was telling the Association of Convenience Stores today: "While the headlines concentrate on profits at the bigger retailers like Marks and Spencer, John Lewis or Tesco, smaller shops and retailers are equally feeling the pinch. We need to protect small retailers threatened by increased competition.
"The balance has tipped too far, creating high streets which are bland replicas of each other, dominated by big chains."
The Government is scrapping the "need test" which has limited the growth in superstores in some towns and cities and replacing it with an "impact test" which ministers claim will give councils greater powers to safeguard small shops.
Under new planning guidance, to be published early next year, town halls will be able to consider retail diversity. But critics fear the new rules will lead to many more superstores.
Reader views (4)
Reg, interesting side of the situation.
Thinking of my town around here, there certainly is a squeeze on available parking for the typical shop along the street. Far more spaces are taken by Taxi Only, Delivery Only, Handicap Only than "Ordinary Customer"
Great post Reg.
- Trunk, US
So now we are to have protectionist legislation for mom and pop's store. Why not just nationalize everything and be done with it.
- Trunk, US
Rent and rate increases are always what kill independents off. We need a national not-for-profit organisation to buy freeholds and provide secure, low-cost tenancies for independent retailers. Then we might start to return to something like the mix of shops in other European towns and cities that makes them so interesting and appealing.
In poorer areas we could use this to replace empty stores and charity shops with food retailers like greengrocers, butchers and fishmongers selling UK-sourced produce. It would help recycle money back into local communities and solve the problem of healthy food 'deserts'.
- Robert C, London UK
Central Government needs to introduce prescriptive requirements upon local government to include adequate dedicated visitor parking for local shops, as an emergency measure, on pain of sackings.
The natural competitor for a parade of small shops is a supermarket, which relies on driving custom for 70% to 90% of its trade. Yet when local shops request driving facilities for customers who would constitute only 15-20% of their trade, they are told this is unsustainable because "driving is environmentally unfriendly and we need to discourage it".
The planning system has been biased in this way and others against small business for too long. It is time for central government to introduce penalties for councils which fail to provide even basic visitor infrastructure to shopping parades in inner city areas, with a tradition of shopping going back centuries.
In the meantime, let no politician or commentator dare suggest that small shops are in some way less efficient. There is no way that supermarkets could survive if deprived of parking in a similar way.
Unless this is changed, all politicians since 1950 with a hand in planning must accept their role in putting small business to the sword, distorting market conditions through inequitable planning decisions.
- Reg, London
