Mondays in Lyme
I dropped by the Lyme public meeting last night to do a little fact-finding. Suffice to say that I did indeed find little fact and spent a feedback laden hour with 75-ish others and learnt what?
What I was interested in really was how far the "shop local" campaign had moved the residents.
Bear in mind that the application Tesco are making in Lyme is nothing like a regeneration plan, it revolves around moving into an existing retail premises and therefore there's a series of applications relating to building alterations and the like.
First the credit, to Lyme's mayor and town clerk for respecting the rules that state that they have a public meeting when requested, thereby having to put up with a jibe by others who thought they shouldn't. Democracy is alive in Lyme and its elected representatives did their job, even if the "I can shout loudest so I'm right" were in residence!
From then on, what started out as a "shop local" campaign centred around the Tesco takeover of the Woolies store started to slide into a "what's wrong with Lyme" type of debate. Of this, sides were quickly drawn, and going by the applause, there were three pretty evenly split groups...the "LoveLyme" group concerned about shopping local; the (for want of a tag) "OldeLymers" who wanted cheap shopping, didn't give a toot about tourist and art shops etc. Then a third group who were either a bit of both, or sat and clapped nothing.
For brevity, that's a bit of simplistic labelling, but it'll give you a feel.
Choice cuts from the meeting?
"Tesco couldn't see the point in coming so that's how much they care"
"They have a narrative of inevitibilty about them (Tesco)"
"The Co-Op is too expensive here, I shop in Seaton/Axminster/Bridport"
"The Co-Op is a convenience store" (met with the rejoinder - "So is the Tesco Express")
"Done Deal", "LymeLuvvies"
and
"Why don't you all move to North Korea?"
But thereafter I witnessed the same old problems it appears that lots of towns face, of empty shops, parking, traffic, affordable housing, the balance between tourism and local trade, and how far you'll go to shop. This last one seemed to be answered not by whether a superstore solves this, but, people will travel in any case, one resident openly saying they go to Sidmouth.
So the idea that we (Seaton) all travel to Exeter because of the lack of shops, isn't so, a more accurate answer is "Have car, will travel"
After an hour, the meeting started to meander, and it was time I ate, there's a chippy outside the Marine Theatre...but it was Monday so it was home for a sandwich.
What did I learn then?
+++UPDATE: another view of the meeting can be seen here
I also see that the "view from seaton" is publishing letters about the Lyme situation, which adds to confusion as you have to know what's happening over there to know it's Lyme they're referring to.
posted by archmaster @ 7:25 am
10 Comments:
You have highlighted some interesting points and similarities and your comment of "have car will travel" perhaps shows that building 100's of new dwellings in Seaton will NOT lead to an automatic boost for local retailers.(or provide regeneration).
A new large supermarket, whilst giving more choice and convenience to local people, will have a serious damaging affect on our local businesses.
Some local residents do not seem to appreciate that we need a healthy successful business community for the town to thrive in the future.
Seatonbob
Unfortunately we won't have a successful, healthy business community in Seaton unless the business community in Seaton stop harking back to the way things were in the past and start working together to revitalise the shopping area.
It would help if (a) shops in Seaton sold what people want rather than what they think we want, what we ought to want or what they have had in stock for the last 10 years and (b) didn't close for half days on Wednesdays, Thursday and Saturdays and for an hour each lunch time.
You would have thought the threat of a big supermarket coming to town - and lets not forget here one or other of them WILL come - local shops would be getting their act together and persuading us that shopping locally is worthwhile.
And while we are at it the C0-op in Lyme AND Seaton have some of the highest prices around though it is interesting how the prices in Lyme and Seaton differ, with Lyme prices often being a bit higher than those in Seaton. Both places are more expensive than Lidl.
I watched a programme on supermarkets last night (and an interview with the Chief Executive of Tesco - scary man). The woman from the C0-op made the point that the "divi" and the things you can buy with loyalty cards from supermarkets are a result of overcharging in the first place!
I can appreciate the views of "Seaton Shopper?" but at the same time I also have sympathy for the traders of Seaton. To start with rents in Seaton are very high. Landlords think they can achieve the same yields as in Lyme or Sidmouth, but forget the trading situation is very different in Seaton. To start with we have a smaller population than our neighbours, coupled with the fact our offering to tourists is nothing short of second best. Many people only visit Seaton when car parks are over-full in Lyme & Sidmouth! This is down to years of neglect and under-investment by the local authority.
This is why local businesses find it neccessary to close for lunch, or close for half a day; simply because staffing costs are high, overheads in general are high, and revenues are low and in decline. Surely you can appreciate that even shopkeepers need time off!!
Something needs to be done to turn this around. Another supermarket will NOT do this in my opinion. We need more tourist beds, and better leisure facilities. The Holiday Park would make an excellent touring caravan site, and would suppply the businesses of Seaton with the much needed revenue it deserves. I think the shopkeepers in Seaton do an admirable job and they should be encouraged not put down.
Why have the Tesco signs in Seaton vanished ?? is this to stop people blaming them for the closure of the holiday camp in 5 weeks time??
Has anyone else noticed that the Tesco signs on the Blue Waters site have dissapeared?
Can anything be read into this or anyone shed any light on it?!
Whilst sympathising with davefromseaton regarding the current climate, this just doesn't hold water because when things were better Seaton shops still sold things people didn't want, still closed for lunch, etc. You can't have it both ways.
Walk down Fore Street now and see which window displays catch your eye, which ones have been exactly the same for years and years, which ones are plastered with signs and instructions rather than showing off what they sell. Some shops haven't changed their window displays for 5 years!
How about the incontinence pad shop for a start?
Regarding the Tesco signs on the Blue Waters land - the planning permission for these temp signs has been refused. That's why they've been removed.
Regards "Seaton Shopper?" comments, the so called incontinence pad shop hasn't even been trading 12 months, let alone 5 years! Maybe "Seaton Shopper?" should be our new Town Manager. He/She would soon sort out all our problems and leave us with no shops at all!!!!
Anonymous asked about the Tesco signs.
When I spoke to EDDC today(Wed 26 Oct) I was told that the Planning Application for retention of the 2 signs had been refused. It was deemed that the signs were too large & obtrusive & were in contravention of Policy D8 in the Local Plan 1995-2011.
Tesco shouldn't have put them up without asking for Planning Permission in the first place.
Perhaps they thought they were above all that.
It shouldn't take a Town Manager to get retailers to understand that good displays entice people into a shop and, once in the shop, good products at good prices get them spending. Dead spiders, dust and the same old stuff in the windows all the time don't sell anything!
How many youngsters (i.e. under 30) would go into any shop in Seaton except Jimmie Green Marine and the Wine Shop! There is one shop - no names - that took me months to work out what it actually sold because the window never gave any real clues!
Good windows? Eve's Gallery, and, yes, Akerman's for the "old-fashioned" look - because they change what's in the window seasonally. It doesn't have to be ultra modern, just interesting. You can't remain interested in a shop window that hasn't changed in 2-3 years.
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