{"id":180894,"date":"2023-09-04T18:08:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T18:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=180894"},"modified":"2023-09-04T18:08:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T18:08:03","slug":"our-idyllic-town-could-be-killed-off-thanks-to-1-nightmare-shops-are-boarded-up-and-you-even-have-to-pay-to-go-church-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/our-idyllic-town-could-be-killed-off-thanks-to-1-nightmare-shops-are-boarded-up-and-you-even-have-to-pay-to-go-church-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Our idyllic town could be killed off thanks to \u00a31 nightmare\u2026 shops are boarded up and you even have to pay to go church | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANGRY shop owners fear they could be wiped out in months thanks to nightmare parking tariffs that have turned their streets into a \u2018ghost town\u2019.<\/p>\n

The idyllic Cornish township of Callington has a population of 6,000 who are mainly served by independent shops and businesses.<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Shoppers used to enjoy one hour of free parking in the business district, but since a fee of \u00a31 was introduced – with an additional price for further hours – local businesses have been left with fewer customers.<\/p>\n

Payment systems at New Road South car park were introduced in May, and three months later, one business has already been forced into declaring its imminent closure.<\/p>\n

Town councillor Andrew Long said: "It\u2019s damaging the soul of our beautiful town.<\/p>\n

"We\u2019re not Falmouth, we\u2019re not Truro or any of those bigger places with more tourists.<\/p>\n

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"We\u2019re a small market town and one of the poorest areas on the Southeast coast – for a place like this it\u2019s just not sustainable.<\/p>\n

"How can you protect the vitality of a town centre when you impose car parking charges for people who mostly do only one-hour shops."<\/p>\n

Andrew continued: "Sunday parking has affected us badly.<\/p>\n

"Not a lot is open on a Sunday, but we have a large church and people from the surrounding villages, where there are less and less churches open, are now having to pay to come and worship."<\/p>\n

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The B&M store in the town is next door to the car park, but it used to be a Co-op, which paid the council the cost of the first hour, making it free for customers.<\/p>\n

The hope was B&M would do the same, but locals claim Cornwall Council has not resolved up the issue, despite discussions taking place.<\/p>\n

Andrew continued: "I\u2019m sure Cornwall Council would argue that the charge was always there but someone else was paying it.<\/p>\n

"But the responsibility for doing the same deal with B&M as we had with Co-op rests with Cornwall Council.<\/p>\n

"This has had a massive impact on trade, we\u2019re already losing one store, we have a number of other stores struggling.<\/p>\n

"You can park in a supermarket car park for two hours, for free, but you have to pay \u00a31 to park here to use small businesses who don\u2019t have the wealth the big supermarkets have, that\u2019s just unfair to the Cornish people.<\/p>\n

"It\u2019s unfair to the hard-working people who are just trying to keep their stores going.<\/p>\n

"They need support from the Government, they need support from Cornwall Council, and they\u2019re getting neither at the moment.<\/p>\n

"These people are working so hard to try to keep the life of the town going, and then we get kicked by central government and the council\u2019s current administration, who now moved the goalposts."<\/p>\n

He added that the suspension bridge over the River Tamar, from Saltash to Plymouth, now costs \u00a32.60, whereas the toll used to be priced \u00a31.50.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe car-parking charges won\u2019t be reviewed until next April \u2013 we might not have much of a town left by next April.\u201d<\/p>\n


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Figures shared by Cornwall Council showed the use of the car park declined by 52 per cent since the tariff was introduced.<\/p>\n

The effects are catastrophic for some businesses – one shop has already had to make the decision to close at the end of the September, due to lack of business.<\/p>\n

Tricia Stephenson\u2019s shop Victoria Eyton, a party supplies and gift shop, is next door to the last remaining bank in the town, Lloyd\u2019s, which is also closing in November.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also across the road from the now boarded up former newsagent Hindles of Callington.<\/p>\n

Tricia and her daughter Victoria Earl launched the shop six years ago, but they have seen such a dramatic drop in business they announced the shop will close on September 30.<\/p>\n

Tricia, 67, said: "This time last year things were going so well we were looking for bigger premises to expand.<\/p>\n

"The minute they started charging, customers were coming in saying they wouldn\u2019t be coming any more, because of the charge.<\/p>\n

"It\u2019s only \u00a31 but times are hard for everyone. One lady said \u2018I\u2019ve just paid \u00a31.79 for a card and \u00a31 to park, so I might as well go to Tesco\u2019.<\/p>\n

"We didn\u2019t believe they would stop coming in, but then the footfall started to drop straight away.<\/p>\n

"We were instantly down on takings by 25 to 30 per cent. Some weeks it\u2019s been 40 per cent down on the same period last year, which is just not sustainable."<\/p>\n

Victoria Eyton\u2019s five-year break-clause on the lease came up in June, and her landlord agreed to let it on a month-by-month basis.<\/p>\n

Vicki and Andy Brett, who run a pet shop called Dogsbodies, have also been affected.<\/p>\n

Vicki said: "We had two really good years building up the business and then five years ago B&M came, which impacted us as they sell similar things and are a multi-national company.<\/p>\n

"Then it was Covid, then the cost of living and now this \u2013 it\u2019s just ridiculous.<\/p>\n

"We fought the car parking when the council were consulting people, but the new car parking metres were already installed before the decision was announced, which was not helpful.<\/p>\n

"Suddenly it was just changed… you just hope people are going to be loyal.<\/p>\n

"A pound to some people isn\u2019t a lot of money, but when they\u2019ve never paid it before and they only want to pop into town, the free hour was ideal."<\/p>\n

Dogsbodies introduced a loyalty card to offer an incentive for customers to return.<\/p>\n

Vicki added: "Our loyalty scheme has helped but we\u2019ve noticed a sharp decline in business and we\u2019re really trying to retain them by emailing and posting offers on Facebook.<\/p>\n

"We think we\u2019re down by about 25 per cent since May.<\/p>\n

"Everyone\u2019s saying the same \u2013 it\u2019s killing the town. It\u2019s just not fair.<\/p>\n

"Cornwall have let the people of Callington down. When people say it\u2019s becoming a ghost town it breaks your heart."<\/p>\n

'Massive impact'<\/h2>\n

Melissa and Gary Cummings – who run the local business Paintprint – decided to subsidise the parking cost by offering \u00a31 back for every \u00a310 customers spend.<\/p>\n

Melissa, 36, who also makes ceramics, said: "It\u2019s had a massive impact on the town… there\u2019s no footfall, the cars aren\u2019t even coming through.<\/p>\n

"I think charging for that first hour has stopped people coming to town.<\/p>\n

"For us, we\u2019ve always had an online side, but it has meant we no longer get the passers-by who would drop in, they\u2019re going elsewhere now.<\/p>\n

"They\u2019re going to bigger towns or retail parks which is not great for Callington\u2019s sense of community.<\/p>\n

"I\u2019d like the council to realise the effect and give shoppers the free hour back."<\/p>\n

A family-run business which has been in the town over 30 years is even feeling the effects of past shop closures being exacerbated by the current car-parking crisis.<\/p>\n

Sue Wallis, 66, owns family business Colins of Callington, a bridal and menswear shop which specialises in Cornish kilts and also sells kitchen hardware and gifts.<\/p>\n

It has free parking which serves three shops, strictly for customers only.<\/p>\n

But sometimes her customers have found the spaces already full as non-customers take advantage.<\/p>\n

Sue said: "What\u2019s happening now for us is that we have people come all over Cornwall for our kilts, and we promise them free parking, but sometimes others who aren\u2019t using our shops have used those spaces.<\/p>\n

"The shops are closing at a rate of knots, there isn\u2019t much left to attract people to the town itself when shops are closing.<\/p>\n

"Shops closed after Covid \u2013 we\u2019ve lost a jeweller, Hindles newsagent and a cake shop.<\/p>\n

"If we had free parking and used the town as a satellite town with a park and ride that would help. Otherwise, I fear more places will end up boarded up."<\/p>\n

The Sun has contacted B&M and Cornwall Council for comment.<\/p>\n

In a report by Cornwall Live, the council's head of transport Cllr Connor Donnithorne said: "No decision that I have made has taken away free parking for an hour in Callington.<\/p>\n

"It is because B&M have not wanted to carry the arrangement on. It was Co-op who sold or leased to B&M. Cornwall Council officers over many years have reached out to B&M to ask them if they want to continue that subsidy arrangement.<\/p>\n

"I've been clear, if it means helping I would have been prepared for Cornwall Council to come to some kind of arrangement with B&M but B&M are not interested and don't respond to officer engagement, so it is not as a result of this parking tariff that they have lost their free hour.<\/p>\n

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"Callington has seen the drop in usage because there was that particular arrangement in place. I am genuinely happy to do whatever I can to sort that out, but then we can't subsidise one car park for a free hour because every other car park would rightly say, what about us?<\/p>\n

"And then we don't have a \u00a31.5m (parking budget) shortfall, we have a \u00a35m shortfall."<\/p>\n


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\nSource: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANGRY shop owners fear they could be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":180893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23056],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nOur idyllic town could be killed off thanks to \u00a31 nightmare\u2026 shops are boarded up and you even have to pay to go church | The Sun - Pre Coin News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/our-idyllic-town-could-be-killed-off-thanks-to-1-nightmare-shops-are-boarded-up-and-you-even-have-to-pay-to-go-church-the-sun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our idyllic town could be killed off thanks to \u00a31 nightmare\u2026 shops are boarded up and you even have to pay to go church | The Sun - 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