My scribblings in the Herald Express 21st December 2011.......
Last week I pitched up to a breakfast business networking event at Richard Haddock’s Churston Farm Shop, which was good fun. I think the farm shop concept is hugely important and, just to hammer the point home, as you drive in there is a whacking great big sign recommending that people shop locally. It was my first visit and I felt a little guilty about that because the whole enterprise is quite brilliant. I have to say that the farmer’s breakfast is really outstanding!
Curiously as I drove in through the gate John Humphrys and his Radio Four Today programme colleagues were banging on about town centre shopping because good old Mary Portas was once again waxing lyrical about the catastrophic state of town centre shopping. Of course I have a vested interest with Harbour Sports shops in Paignton, Plymouth and Exeter, which meant that the harbinger of gloom (John Humphrys not Mary Portas) had my full attention!
But you know the localism thing isn’t just about shopping. I do worry that we are becoming a nation of Clangers. Do you remember the iconic children’s programme, The Clangers, about a strange people who popped out of their holes in the ground made a funny noise and then disappeared back into the comparative safety of the hole- home?
The advent (good choice of word for this time of year!) of multi-channel television, the internet, game machines, smart phones, an eclectic mix of other devices and rising unemployment that actually seems that leaving home is almost optional. Home delivery of neatly packed food and cut price alcohol allows us to slump in a heap on the sofa before drifting into a soporific hypnotic state in front of a shimmering screen. Outstanding!
Miles Kington years ago made the slightly amusing comment about understanding the difference between knowledge and wisdom. What he said was that knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit but wisdom is knowing not to put it in the fruit salad! If we really want to hold our communities together then the preservation of local shopping and neighbourhood services is hugely hugely important.
One simple example close to home was the loss of the popular Post Office on Paignton harbour. We had all the pointless rhetoric about slimming business made by highly paid executives but they gave scant attention to the pivotal role that the Post Office played in community life. It was a meeting place for so many, a place for basic shopping, a place where views were exchanged and a source of cash for pensioners. Oh yes it is all very well to have your pension paid by direct debit but it now means that a trip has to be made to the nearest bank for cash.
Ah yes, the nearest bank. Well that is usually in the town centre and here comes the next bit about knowledge and wisdom. This one really is for Torbay Council! Knowledge is knowing that parking meters can generate a very good income which would seem to make sense in these horribly challenging times. Wisdom is knowing that people will only go where their car is welcome and so the short term parking meter income is soon lost as folk abandon the town centre. The local economy and neighbourhood identity will simply wither like un-watered fruit on the vine.
Here is a little bit of advice for Torbay Council. Go and take a look at those big big supermarkets on the edge of the town. Look at the crowded car parks and just think why do people park there when they have to spend £3 for the privilege? Oh yes, of course they don’t pay anything! You simply flop out of the car, prop yourself up at the end of a trolley and slide around the aisles before wheeling your goodies back to the car. Lovely! But in the town centre you have to have a pocket full of change and for a short visit to the shops (less than ten minutes for 20p) you need the sprinting ability of Usain Bolt to make it back to your car before the hovering civil enforcement officer stuffs a ticket under the windscreen wipers. First hour free boys and girls, first hour free!
Happy Christmas…………………….
Curiously as I drove in through the gate John Humphrys and his Radio Four Today programme colleagues were banging on about town centre shopping because good old Mary Portas was once again waxing lyrical about the catastrophic state of town centre shopping. Of course I have a vested interest with Harbour Sports shops in Paignton, Plymouth and Exeter, which meant that the harbinger of gloom (John Humphrys not Mary Portas) had my full attention!
But you know the localism thing isn’t just about shopping. I do worry that we are becoming a nation of Clangers. Do you remember the iconic children’s programme, The Clangers, about a strange people who popped out of their holes in the ground made a funny noise and then disappeared back into the comparative safety of the hole- home?
The advent (good choice of word for this time of year!) of multi-channel television, the internet, game machines, smart phones, an eclectic mix of other devices and rising unemployment that actually seems that leaving home is almost optional. Home delivery of neatly packed food and cut price alcohol allows us to slump in a heap on the sofa before drifting into a soporific hypnotic state in front of a shimmering screen. Outstanding!
Miles Kington years ago made the slightly amusing comment about understanding the difference between knowledge and wisdom. What he said was that knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit but wisdom is knowing not to put it in the fruit salad! If we really want to hold our communities together then the preservation of local shopping and neighbourhood services is hugely hugely important.
One simple example close to home was the loss of the popular Post Office on Paignton harbour. We had all the pointless rhetoric about slimming business made by highly paid executives but they gave scant attention to the pivotal role that the Post Office played in community life. It was a meeting place for so many, a place for basic shopping, a place where views were exchanged and a source of cash for pensioners. Oh yes it is all very well to have your pension paid by direct debit but it now means that a trip has to be made to the nearest bank for cash.
Ah yes, the nearest bank. Well that is usually in the town centre and here comes the next bit about knowledge and wisdom. This one really is for Torbay Council! Knowledge is knowing that parking meters can generate a very good income which would seem to make sense in these horribly challenging times. Wisdom is knowing that people will only go where their car is welcome and so the short term parking meter income is soon lost as folk abandon the town centre. The local economy and neighbourhood identity will simply wither like un-watered fruit on the vine.
Here is a little bit of advice for Torbay Council. Go and take a look at those big big supermarkets on the edge of the town. Look at the crowded car parks and just think why do people park there when they have to spend £3 for the privilege? Oh yes, of course they don’t pay anything! You simply flop out of the car, prop yourself up at the end of a trolley and slide around the aisles before wheeling your goodies back to the car. Lovely! But in the town centre you have to have a pocket full of change and for a short visit to the shops (less than ten minutes for 20p) you need the sprinting ability of Usain Bolt to make it back to your car before the hovering civil enforcement officer stuffs a ticket under the windscreen wipers. First hour free boys and girls, first hour free!
Happy Christmas…………………….
