Failing Highstreets - Let Blame Local Councils

Mr Pickles has squarely laid the blame for failing High Streets at the feet of poor old parking attendants.

Thats right.

The whole sorry mess of boarded up shops and neglected ghost towns, its all the fault of some poorly paid person, who walks the streets everyday trying to make a living by enforcing rules that they have had no hand in shaping.

It even lead to one 'journalist' to call them names like Urban Pests.

Cristina went on to say "I blame traffic wardens for  local shops' slump in sales, restaurants' empty tables, and over-congested roads", yet she has no evidence to back up this claim.

And lest we forget that tabloid journalists are not renown at present to being truthful, or basing anything on fact.

She continues with "I live in central London, thanks to heavy-handed traffic wardens I rarely have friends dropping by: they daren't risk a fine."  Now I will venture into her realm of opinion not based on fact, but I doubt its the fines that's keeping them away....

But back to Mr Pickles.  He believes "I believe we need to give people the good grace to pop into a local corner shop for 10 minutes, to buy a newspaper or a loaf of bread without risking a £70 fine."

Mr Pickles, may I suggest that you don't need to drive to your local shop?  That is is this fact that damages local business.  The fact that our streets have become such unpleasant places to be, that people feel compelled to travel everywhere in their own 2 ton VIP section of tin box?  Surely you can see that this is unsustainable.  We have to enforce parking outside local shops because of fat lazy twats in their cars who will only drive everywhere.

I am generalising, but hey, take a look in a mirror some time Mr P.

Why are people still blaming parking as a reason?  I went to have a look at our local council to see if they were to blame.  I like blaming them for all sorts.

Oh, bugger, 10p for an hours parking.  Hmmmm I am sure Cristina and Eric can stretch to 10p to park?

Then Mary Portas jumps on the band wagon.

I am beginning to sense some sort of collusion as this is not the first time their names have been linked.

For example http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/9039443/Eric-Pickles-is-having-a-laugh-say-market-traders.html and http://www.guardian.co.uk/local-government-network/2012/jun/08/richard-vize-mary-portas-high-streets-patronising-drivel

Have they changed anything? Not as far as I can see. And I sense an uneasy backlash building among the Portas towns where regeneration is supposed to be happening.  Tales of money being spent on Peppa Pig outfits do nothing to give the project credibility.

But it is quite simply that they are paying lip service to the whole process of regeneration.  It is a complete smoke screen to appear caring without having to do any actual work.

To stop High Streets failing will take real political will for things to change and investment at a time of austerity and I very much doubt our current Govenment have the backbone for such an undertaking.