There's a story on the official site about Martin Linton joining the All-Party Group for Small Shops which exists to highlight the problems of the small retailer and to draw attention to their social as well as commercial role. Martin Linton is particularly in Battersea's Northcote Road and he says:
Northcote Road is one of the nicest shopping streets in the country and we all want to keep it so. The question is how? The law gives us very limited opportunities to influence what kind of shops we get in a particular street. I’ll be working with the council to see what we can do with existing planning powers to help the independently-owned shops who are so important to the success of Northcote Road.
Unfortunately landlords are often very short-sighted, pushing up the rents when the street becomes more popular without realising that they may be pushing out the very independently-owned shops that make the street popular in the first place. This is a classic case of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
It would be good if the council had powers to limit the multiples to St John’s Road and keep Northcote Road for independently-owned shops, but the law can’t make those distinctions. I want to see through the All-Party Group if there are ways we can change the law to give councils the tools to help areas like this.
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