B&NES must help independent shops thrive

“..."B&NES is required to charge market rents on its commercial estate. I'm afraid in a free market those are set by your friendly bourgeois capitalists and pension funds"

A very selective response to a specific point made.

Probably written so the Local Authority - the city's biggest commercial landlord - both it's elected members and salaried staff, employed to manage the public realm the city's local retail retailers, and its transport, are seen to be blameless with regard to failures. As in: "It ain't me it's the system guv!"

Anyone interested in funding a film about Bath's public offices? We can call it: Carry On Unaccountably.”

“And yes Kirsten, I do take your point, although I wouldn't single out a specific retailer just because I personally didn't find it interesting or didn't understand its commercial proposition. I don't know what Sassy and Boo was, but I'm sure it was somebody's dream and passion and soaked up a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

All the shops that you name are shops that I make a point of using. We urgently need to come up with something to help the independent retailers of Bath thrive, in my view they are an essential component of the city culture.”

“B&NES is required to charge market rents on its commercial estate. I'm afraid in a free market those are set by your friendly bourgeois capitalists and pension funds.”

“Business rates, yes. It is the rent increases that are particularly crippling local retail retailers, along with the council's mismanagement of its transport policy.”

“What are you going on about, Malcolm? Like the TA, you seem unaware of the fact that business rates are set in Whitehall, not by local authorities.”

“To be fair, Malcolm, I was a bit surprised at you. But I trust you take my point.”

“I promise you Kirsten, I have no interest in the silly arrows. In general it seems to me that red arrows are regularly inversely proportionate to the quality of a contribution.”

“Assuming that you, Malcolm, are responsible for some of the red arrows on here, then all I can say is, you have missed the point (Quelle surprise!). I have said I'm as staunch a supporter as independent shops as anyone could wish - provided they're sensible and sustainable businesses. The little DIY shop in Moorland Road, which seems to stock more items than the whole of Homebase at much more reasonable prices, the independent bookshops, which inevitably provide a better service than the once great Waterstones - like Homebase, it has lots of goods but not lots of varieties, the family butchers in Green Street - these are just three examples of businesses worthy of our support and would be much missed. But Sassy and Boo - I don't think so. It had 'I won't be here long' written all over it. Frankly, anything that brands itself as a girly boutique doesn't deserve to survive.”

“Do you volunteer to pay more tax than you are legally required to Roger?

There is a world of difference between legally arranging your financial affairs to reduce your tax burden and illegally failing to pay taxes you owe.

Bath is absolutely losing the independent shops that, for generations, made it such a magnet for shoppes from far and wide. It is becoming a no-go place with its attitudes to business and transport and the biggest loser will be the city itself as the opportunity and investment go elsewhere. The city is rapidly becoming just another identikit shopping destination with the same old High Street giants the only businesses wealthy enough to afford to set up.

The really sad thing is that this is completely unnecessary.”

“(That should probably be Taxpayers' Alliance rather than Taxpayer's Alliance, although you can't be too sure as I gather most of its funders avoid paying any.)”