Paddy Power have now opened a large new betting shop on Bridge Road, Wembley making it the third in the immediate vicinity. It replaces a bar/restaurant that struggled to succeed. I have argued before not against betting shops as such but for policies to improve the diversity of our high streets and thus encourage local shopping and small businesses.
The London Green Party and our Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones have been publicising our policies on these issues today and they may be of interest to those concerned about the impact of parking restrictions in Bridge Road and Preston Road.
The policies include:
1. Using planning policy to ensure that by 2020 all neighbourhoods will have a range of essential local services such as chemists within walking distance, and we will use planning policy to achieve this.
2. Increasing small business representation in the community by ensure micro and small businesses are properly represented on London's Local Enterprise Partnership.
3. Working with boroughs and trade bodies to Encourage Londoners to "buy local" and commission research into "buy local" schemes.
4. Ensuring small and local businesses aren't disadvantaged by congestion and parking and consulting them on the future of the congestion charge and a ‘pay as your drive' scheme, which would reduce time and money spent in traffic jams.
5. Preventing the construction of purpose-built car parks for supermarkets wherever possible and ensure local shops aren't disadvantaged by parking standards.
6. Lobbying the Government to give local authorities much stronger powers to prevent chain stores taking over independent shops, and to control the saturation of certain business types such as takeaways, betting shops and payday loan companies.
The London Green Party and our Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones have been publicising our policies on these issues today and they may be of interest to those concerned about the impact of parking restrictions in Bridge Road and Preston Road.
The policies include:
1. Using planning policy to ensure that by 2020 all neighbourhoods will have a range of essential local services such as chemists within walking distance, and we will use planning policy to achieve this.
2. Increasing small business representation in the community by ensure micro and small businesses are properly represented on London's Local Enterprise Partnership.
3. Working with boroughs and trade bodies to Encourage Londoners to "buy local" and commission research into "buy local" schemes.
4. Ensuring small and local businesses aren't disadvantaged by congestion and parking and consulting them on the future of the congestion charge and a ‘pay as your drive' scheme, which would reduce time and money spent in traffic jams.
5. Preventing the construction of purpose-built car parks for supermarkets wherever possible and ensure local shops aren't disadvantaged by parking standards.
6. Lobbying the Government to give local authorities much stronger powers to prevent chain stores taking over independent shops, and to control the saturation of certain business types such as takeaways, betting shops and payday loan companies.
