THE DEATH OF OUR TOWN CENTRES

Sometimes when I read some of the forward plans emanating from Tameside Town Hall, I often wonder if we are being led by clever people doing us harm or a bunch of idiots doing their best.

Over the past few weeks, we have lost High Street stores like HMV, Comet, Clifton Cards, Jessops and Peacocks. M&S have moved out of town and we see about 1 in every 9 shops boarded up or turned into Charity Shops.

Some blame it all on the internet; others say it’s the shops themselves. They’re not open when you want them or they don’t carry the right stock.

There’s a fabulous Hardware store in Mottram called Woods. It’s been there for generations and sells just about everything you could wish for. If you can’t find something the owner will find it and if for some inexplicable reason he hasn’t got it, he will get it! – It’s a great shop, but even though I might pass it by two or three times a day, if there’s no room to park on the pavement outside the shop, I’ll end up in somewhere like B&Q.

Now you may think we shop at B&Q or supermarkets, or The Trafford Centre or Meadowhall for the bargains or because of the supermarket's immense buying power. The supermarkets can control what parking charges are for their shoppers and they make it free to encourage more shoppers to visit. Retailers, with high street shops and market traders in Ashton, Stalybridge, Hyde, do not! - Why do you think Crown Point North is always busy? Well it might have something to do with not having to drive around for half an hour trying to find a convenient place to park your car. And it’s free!

So the supermarket wins and the local shopkeepers have to go out of business. Some would say this is just standard market driven competition. But is the competition fair? I don't think so,

Supermarkets like ASDA, TESCO, SAINSBURY’S and the like, can offer free parking. Local shop keepers and market traders don't have the same control about the parking charges in their area so are at a disadvantage straight away.

Councillors take note; we shop at out-of-town retail parks, not because they’re cheaper, it’s because we can park for free!

But are our planners addressing this? – No!

If they’re not pedestrianizing a street, they’re putting double yellow lines and speed humps on them. Not only that, now we hear that Tameside council are actually selling off the town’s car parks for building development! – Whose brilliant idea was that? If these ‘redundant’ car parks are so underused; as the council says, try removing the charges and watch them fill-up!

Think! Shops need customers and customers have cars. No matter how many trams and Park & Ride schemes you try to make us travel on, the car and the customer is king! – Try buying a fridge or a new telly and get it home on the bus!

We should be able to park on the roads, near the shops. We already pay road tax for the upkeep of roads, even though only a small proportion of it is actually spent on the roads and other transport infrastructure. So why are drivers having to pay another "tax" on top for the privilege of parking on the road?

The whole point about parking on the road is that the person has come to town to carry out a time limited task of some sort - shopping, visiting the dentist, going to the bank, etc.

Does paying provide any benefit? Does it mean more people can park? No, - there are only so many parking places. Does it allow the council to use the money to improve the local environment (better roads, better lighting, better signs, pot holes etc.)? Nope, it only goes to pay for parking wardens to go around slapping parking £60-£80 fines on drivers.

Removing parking charges would be a huge benefit to local communities. It would increase the footfall in local markets/shops because people would not have to pay £1 minimum (for example) just to spend 5 minutes popping into a shop. An increase in business' profits would mean that more businesses would be attracted to the area, meaning more employment, meaning more stuff to buy and generally making the area more attractive.

So we are effectively stuck with this stupid situation until the revolution comes. Or until an elected official gets off their arse and realises that they should be doing stuff for their community, not for their own political ends.

Try it! Rip up the yellow lines and allow free parking on the road and set a ‘free time allowance’ in public car parks.