Getting business moving

I am writing this letter in response to last weeks leading article on the state of Ayr’s High Street and the number of empty shops .

There is no magic wand to undo all the poor decisions that have been made by the council in recent years, the biggest one being the removal of vehicular traffic from the High Street.

A similar decision was made in both Paisley and Dumbarton which led to local businesses fighting against it and now after many years the decision has been reversed and their high streets are now gradually being opened up to traffic again after realising it had a detrimental effect on business .

I have recently opened a shop on Alloway Street and to date it has traded very successfully.

I chose Alloway Street over the High Street purely and simply because customers can gain access to my shop by car.

I had several opportunities to take a unit further down the High Street but didn’t give it serious consideration because of the restricted access for traffic.

I wonder how many other people like myself when looking to open a business in the town centre would arrive at the same conclusion.

To summarise my view, to get the High Street moving again requires narrowing the pavements and letting the traffic through both ways . improvements to town centres. There is no time to lose as bids have to be in by the end of September.

Community organisations play a vital role in Ayr and I would urge any group to make a bid to the fund to achieve their town centre ambitions.

To find out more about the Town Centre Communities Capital Fund, or to apply, go to http:// www. gov. scot/ Topics/ Built- Environment/ regeneration/ town- centres/ tcccf

The answer is so simple. As far as Ayr town centre is concerned, it the PEOPLE that create business for the shops, not cars.

You don’t need a degree in theoretical physics to understand this. People flock to Ayr town centre to socialise and shop. Reducing this by allowing cars free access will kill the town centre stone dead.

This is 2015, not 1975, things are different now. It works everywhere else, so why not Ayr?

Ban ALL traffic apart from service and emergency vehicles, and open the town to the people and shoppers, as they are the ones that will populate the spaces and create catchment for the businesses.

Allowing cars to drive up and down will limit the amount of potential shoppers as the street parking will be filled quickly with disabled drivers etc and the reduced paved areas will discourage shoppers even more than at present.

Get a handle on parking incentives, to encourage out of towners to come here and capitalise on the now sensible free trading changes at Heathfield that will undoubtedly attract more visitors and the rest that’s still to come.

Bulldoze that dreadful old Clydesdale Bank building and totally pedestrianise the High Street and create a market square once again for random stalls and seasonal outdoor celebrations to allow the people to connect and indulge their High Street, but most of all, stop spending money on ‘ consultations’ ‘ frameworks’ or ‘ surveys’ and grow a pair and just do it!!

This is the ONLY way forward for Ayr, its people, its visitors, and the businesses we want to support.

Free flowing traffic in the High Street will only reduce shoppers, and turn it into nothing more than a rat run.