Morning all.. After a wet start yesterday we had a lovely evening walk along the front at Sidmouth.. And so far it is bright out. Drive home starts soon.. With perhaps more rattles as we have unloaded some stock amongst Devon relatives. I hope it rains more in France this week.... So needed..
Morning all... feeling much more like my old self today. Enjoying Italy though it's taken a week to get a decent cup of coffee and a dose of the tummy lurgy put me out of action for a while.
Morning all. Grey but dry, and the forecast says we will see no rain during the daylight hours. We did have enough yesterday for me to not to have to go watering, but I haven't been to check yet if I collected some in my water butts. Sad to see another familiar face disappearing from the High Streets. The local paper did a piece a couple of weeks ago showing photos of the 40 empty shops in Banbury town centre. Many of them were traders that I used when I lived in the area, and I did know some of them quite well. The council has lost millions of pounds in business rates, which it has tried to make up with parking charges, one of the things that has stopped people going into town. Strange thinking there somewhere. Have a good day, and glad you are feeling better Fez.
The internet, particularly Amazon is why reduced trade has affected the viability of many small traders. This is the normal consequence of an ever changing world just as the horse and cart was superseded. The government has made it easier through planning changes to redevelop many commercial premises into domestic dwellings. I expect many high streets will have to adapt and evolve to meet future demands.
It is not just small traders though is it. Look at the list of much larger outfits such as BHS. Some of these companies were the main store in some shopping centres, and now stand empty, too large for your nail bar to take over. This in turn has an effect on the landlords that are often our pension funds, so the returns on their investments are reduced. Many of these empty shops are not suitable to be converted into housing, although in some cases it may be good usage. It does need a rethink, but councils should have sufficient funding to develop their schemes. With central funding going and business rates being the only source of income shortly, every departing shop now is making it worse for the future.
Unfortunately SH is right in as much as that online shopping is having a very negative effect on town centre shopping Frenchie - I try not to buy online, but sometimes cannot avoid it. In order to survive small traders must have an internet presence - but, more than that, their premises must be multi functional. eg. the launderette combined with the cafe, sub letting premises to the local yoga teacher in the evenings - there are lots more possibilities. In short, leased premises should be used for as many hours of the day as possible, and by as many people as possible. Only having one function in a leased property is not enough. Also local traders must have their own regular delivery services for outlying areas, and to few of them do this. At the same time Councils have a tendency to lease larger plots of ground to one tenant rather than subdividing the same area - this tendency should be avoided when possible.
I don't disagree with any of that. My brother in law has a shop and 50 % of his trade is via the internet. He has told me that even that part of his business is starting to suffer with the increase cost in sending parcels, mainly to Europe. My daughter sent a box from the UK to us weighing next to nothing, and it cost her £12. I have started to find that UK companies that I once ordered from via the internet are now far more expensive than their French counterparts, simply because of delivery charges. Some retailers in the UK will stop selling abroad via the internet because of increases in paperwork. My brother in law already works until late in the evening to keep his accounts up to date, and seriously doesn't want any further hassle of form filling. On your point of councils sub-dividing plots, that happens here, but councils do still hold the ownership of land. In the UK it is rather different because councils have sold off their land assets in many cases. Many builders and supermarket chains hold large land banks that they may choose to develop when the time is right for them. Once council land is sold off they actually then come under pressure to see it developed to raise funds, but have little say in if the proposed buildings are going to have a social value. I did read recently how the town centres are in a spiral going down. Next to clothes shops the biggest fall out of traders is in pubs and restaurants. If entertainment facilities disappear, then there is even less reason to go into town.
This is overly negative, many towns are relatively healthy. The rise in internet shopping will affect all towns in all countries. I do quite a bit of internet shopping and find delivery costs in the UK minor or often for free which is why this is such a massive growth area. Councils could, and should, allocate much more land for self build and community projects. The recent trend to allocate projects to large corporations has proved erroneous, there must be a drive away from central government. I'm pleased our government has seriously addressed its borrowing requirements, others in Europe have just postponed their debts for future generations to tackle.
Great to see you this morning Brian, pop over again when you are back in the country. I'm glad Manchester was not on your itinerary this time!!!
Morning all. I am told that the rain on the roof was noisy at 5.00 am. Seems that I slept through it. The forecast says there will be showers throughout the day, and I am very happy to see it. Over the summer I collected quite a heap of stuff that I cannot compost and can only be burnt. A few more days of rain to dampen everything down and I might set fire to it. Have a good and productive day.
Morning all, sunshine and showers in rural France today. Two of the large fires last week seem to have been caused by council workmen. The fire brigade believe that as the grass cutters were out, their metal blades hit stones creating a spark that set off the destruction. There are some quite dramatic pictures about showing deer running from the fires, and one of two pigs looking out of their blackened concrete sty. Although it will take some time for the ponds and lakes to refill, at least everything has been dampened down enough to stop more fires breaking out. Have a fruitful day.
