Malcolm Robinson

Having just read through the latest high street regeneration initiative led by Mary Portas and the Local Government Minister where they are looking for 12 towns to become "˜Portas Pilots' I did have a fleeting moment of madness and think about applying for Bedlington to be considered, the £100K would have been handy! On closer inspection however the criteria laid down for Towns to be considered would have been a nightmare to get into place within the 6 weeks left for applicants. Even if that was possible the "˜vision' needed to change the fortunes of our Town would have taken a superhuman effort and meant each and every facet of our townscape infrastructure had to play a serious and demanding role. Possible, yes theoretically, but the fractured nature of our Town's infrastructure means that in practice it would be neigh on impossible. Having just spoken to a regional retail business who have closed down a local branch and asked why, the answer wasn't surprising. Seems the ever increasing rent and rates were the deciding factors and in times where there is less and less disposable income due to family core inflation leading to a decrease in most types of purchases the writing could be on the wall for many more businesses. Not only have we that to consider in our Town but the very topographical nature of our High Street makes it very difficult to adapt to the changing retail needs now insisted upon by consumers. Competition with the out of town retail malls is all but impossible for any small owner operator. It is hardly surprising that we are haemorrhaging national chains and even the small vocational type businesses are struggling. Many are putting their hopes in the much heralded Tesco development as a means of regenerating our Town but looking at their business model where smaller retailers cannot hope to compete and the fact that the main entrance will be at what is considered to be the back of the shop opposite their now private car park, even if it does attract shoppers from outside the immediate area will they and the notes in their pockets make the trek onto the high street? Interesting segment in our local paper last week, in the "˜'All our Yesterday's'' column. Seems BUDC (Bedlington Urban District Council) had plans for a major development of the Town's infrastructure way back in 1962 with "˜space age shopping facilities, hotels, swimming baths and residential development'. Where did that go wrong, ah yes, we jumped into bed with the wrong option at the creation of WDC! Do we need a viable high street, unequivocally yes, because it presents a commercial face to what is fast becoming dormitory Town status! The Town is already being threatened with second tier status in the considerations going through County Council as they work on their Local Development Framework without some action we might even drop into 3rd tier status, not a good result for our once proud Town.

Following on from the HSBC "˜desertion' we now see the Lloyds TSB branch in Bedlington is on the "˜get rid of' list otherwise called "Project Verde". "˜'Project Merde"˜' more like as this could leave our Town without a banking presence on our high street, something which always calls into question the credibility of any small Town. Who have we to thank for this intrusion, none other than the European Union who "˜Dictated' that Lloyds TSB has to shed 620 branches in the name of greater banking competition within the UK. Greater competition is all fine and dandy and the spoiler is always that it is in the interest of the customer but in this case how can that be true? It could be that a group such as the Co-Op bank or even Virgin Money (AKA, Northern Rock and wouldn't that be an intriguing possibility after multi-millionaire Applegarth closed our Rock branch not so long ago in pursuit of his unsustainable financial dreams!) takes them or some over. Whatever happens there is one group of people who have never been consulted; us, the punters, the customers, the great unwashed, which seems a bit of an oversight as all this is being done, supposedly, in our interests. You have to wonder if these decision makers ever come out of their ivory towers and actually mingle with "˜normal' people, I'm not even sure they are on the same planet!