Cutting the heart out of our streets
I AM outraged that Monmouthshire County Council is charging small shops — such as Stephen’s Bookshop and greengrocer Munday & Jones — an extra £242.50 to display their goods and produce on a pedestrianised pavement. this money-grabbing, short-sighted, dim-witted, unimaginative, thoughtless and plain stupid council should be ashamed of itself. it’s easier to target small businesses rather than big corporations and supermarket chains. if it wants to speed up the closure of Monmouth’s high Street, it can get some excellent lessons, tips and new ideas from Newport. the city council has turned this previously vibrant shopping area into a ghost town. Even the chain stores have abandoned ship. instead there is a bland, plastic-looking shopping centre on marshy land outside the town centre so that people who can’t be bothered to walk a few yards can drive to the door of their favourite takeaway, multi-screen cinema or supermarket. as we face the loss of our traditional high Streets, independent retailers are not just battling cost-cutting supermarket chains, the internet and high parking charges, but are also facing attacks from councils with no vision and which want to impose a raft of charges. the council should be supporting local traders, not sticking a knife into their backs.
J. COCKBURN, Hewelsfield, Glos. MY HOME town and neighbouring abertillery and tredegar had their centres destroyed in the Seventies by badly thought out pedestrianisation vanity schemes. thirty years and several redesigns later, all at the taxpayers’ expense, there has been some recovery. But the town centres are a pale shadow of their former selves, with a preponderance of budget chain stores and charity shops. i. MCNICHOLAS, ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent. I AM the proud owner of Pasty heaven, a small business in Monmouth. My business rates have been increased by £5,007 a year — a hike of 186 per cent. Regrettably, i have been forced to lay off two members of staff. i wish the Mail the very best of luck with its campaign to overhaul this stealth tax.
PETER WILLIAMS, Monmouth.