More support for local stores on Shipton Road
January 25, 2005 10:09 AM
Tonight (Tuesday 25th January), at the full meeting of City of York Council Cllr. Richard Moore (Skelton, Rawcliffe and Clifton Without Ward) will present a petition asking for a footpath to local shops on Shipton Road. The shops suffer from competition with the large stores on Clifton Moor, and access to them needs to be easy for residents and shoppers. The loss of the shops - a general store, a newsagent and a fishing tackle shop - would leave a massive gap in the area. The only facilities between the bottom of Eastholme Drive and Skelton, would be on Clifton Moor.
Cllr. Moore said,
"We see advertisements on the television telling us how prices in some supermarket chains are lower than last year, or the year before. We are bombarded with leaflets - through the door or in the local free paper - telling us how these stores are making life cheaper and easier for us. Yet the main impact is on the corner shops, the local stores, the small family concerns who are trying to make ends meet, and provide a local service.
They do not have the buying power of the national chains - quite often the price at the Cash & Carry is dearer than if they bought from the supermarkets - and they can ill afford to compete. The nearer a local store is to one of the giants the harder it is to survive, yet for frail and elderly residents a local convenience store is an essential item if they are to maintain their independence, and continue living at home."
Cllr. Moore explained that the residents and local shoppers of the shops on Shipton Road have raised a petition, requesting a path from the main Shipton Road to the shops on the service road. A path, in the location requested, would allow people easier access to the shops and assist the shops to survive, ensuring continued employment and maintaining a local service.
He added that City of York Council has a development control policy to protect local shops, when other uses are being considered, but also needs to be responsive to the needs of the continuing small concerns. The traffic situation in the whole of York is a problem, and the loss of shops here would increase the burden on the already-overloaded Northern Ring Road, and impact detrimentally on the air quality measures being implemented to reduce pollution.
The Council will receive a petition this evening, and refer it to the Executive Member for Planning & Transport. An investigation will then be requested, which will lead to a report from officers to the Executive Member Advisory Panel.
ENDS
Notes:
1 The petition was raised at Shipton Road Stores (Proprietors - Richard & Alison Shrimpton, tel. 623897).
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