‘The Council is very much on the side of the community in being concerned about the number of premises retailing alcohol... We have introduced into our Licensing Policy the provision for refusal of an application if representations are made that there are already sufficient licensed premises in the area’.
As I have said elsewhere in this blog I appreciate that many people find supermarkets convenient. However evidence shows that they are damaging to the local community and more widely. Supermarkets result in the closure of small local retailers and evidence shows they result in a net loss of jobs and shift money out of the local community. The behaviour of supermarkets towards farmers and other suppliers is often bullying.
It is well recognised that small, local businesses provide much more to the local community than just what they sell; they will use the services of other local businesses, such as accountants, builders and insurance brokers, while the corporate will do all this at their Head Office. Local businesses also tend to be much more engaged in the community.
It is unfortunate that at the moment every new development in Islington seems to automatically come with a supermarket attached. Let’s not add to the damage caused by agreeing to the alcohol license.
3 comments:
But a troll down Holloway Road on Google Earth reveals that all the pubs I knew in the 1960s are no longer there ...
This is a national issue - don't Tesco circumvent planning legislation /permissions by offering something the community 'needs' and the council can't afford? Houses in Croydon, community centres elsewhere? They seem to have destroyed all the small local shops with out of town retail shopping parks in the 80s, then moved in to fill the gaps in the High Street. Sadly it's gone too far to turn back the tide.
JRN
www.thesouthdowns.blogspot.com
Weggis, I expect these two facts are not completely unrelated...
Justin, yes it is absolutely a national issue and our new food and agriculture policies addresses issues around supermarket behaviour more widely. However there are things that can be done at a London level around planning and making things easier for small businesses.
Our manifesto pledges on the local economy below are all achievable:
Decades of big-business government have left our high streets holding on by a thread. We will give communities and councils more power to keep jobs and money in their local economy:
• Use planning policy to ensure that by 2020 all neighbourhoods have a range of essential localservices such as chemists and newsagents within walking distance.
• Lobby the Government to give local authorities much stronger powers to prevent chain stores taking over independent shops, and to control the saturation of certain business types such as takeaways, betting shops and payday loan companies.
• Introduce a presumption against any purpose-built car parks for supermarkets and ensure local small shops aren’t disadvantaged by parking standards.
• Commission research into “buy local” schemes and work with boroughs and trade bodies to promote those that work
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