Traders’ fury at continued closure of crucial road
Desperate for change, business owners and residents in Midhurst took to the town centre on Thursday (April 27), to urge the council to open North Street.
North Street, a major part of the town centre, has been closed since March 16 when a huge fire devastated The Angel Inn Hotel, leaving nothing but its historic frontage.
Over a month after the fire, the crucial road remains shut as interestedparties continue to work to shore up the damaged building and salvage what they can – with considerable impact on local businesses, some of whom say revenue has fallen by up to 90 per cent since the closure.
Sarah O’Sullivan, of Olive Interiors, West Street, said: “We’ve seen our income drop by 90 per cent since the road closed. We’ve had to attend fair sin other locationsover the last few weeks to try and keep things going. It is completelyexhausting loading up our stock of furniture and fragile decorativeitems and unloading again every week. We can’t keep going on like this.”
James MacGregor, from Stockley Trading, said: “Small businesses are recovering from lockdown over a two year period. The emergency loans that resulted from lock down and sustained those businesses still need re paying.
"We cannot last what will be eight weeks with this level of reduced income – assuming the road opens fully by May 12. Mid hurst is a tourist destination ,‘ the heart of the South Downs National Park’ it is endowed with old buildings and charm, but without shops it has no heart.”
Geoff Allnutt, owner of Allnutts, West Street, said: “We do appreciate the support from CDC with the grant money for businesses and marketing support for the town. However, the grants are a maximum of £1,800 to help with marketing and only for businesses in the town centre, which equates to only £225 per week if the road is closed for eight weeks. Many businesses are losing more than that a day. This doesn’ t in anyway replace our loss of income and the potential lower footfall that will continue in the town as people have got used to taking their custom elsewhere.
In a lengthy statement, the district council announced last week that building owners had not come to agreement on the frontage and the future of the sitei snow in the hands ofSD NP“Following a meeting between the owners of the properties affected by the major fire in Midhurst, their insurance professionals, and the multi-agency recovery group on Wednesday, April 19, it has been established that the owners have been unable to agree a viable way forward to stabilise the listed building, which would allow the road to be reopened in a reasonable timeframe. This became apparent after the multi-agency recovery group were informed that once liability for the damage has been decided, it would take a minimum of 6090 days to assess and finalise the claim to pay for the works. This is despite the owner’s structural engineers, who assessed the building, estimating that the works could be completed, and the road could be re opened to vehicles, within six weeks .”
The multi-agency recovery group includes South Downs National Park Authority, Chi chester District Council, West Sussex County Council, Historic England, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and Midhurst Town Council.