(GP):...First, on the role of SMEs and small sites in local
plans, I have come across many cases where I have been pleased to
see that Green councillors around the country have been able to
look at that classic development we see now: a new block of what
is almost invariably labelled as luxury flats, in the basement of
which is a single, fairly extensive shop that is one of a handful
of supermarket chains—one more piece of dominance in our economy
of what is already an oligopoly in our food supply. But what
sometimes has been possible, and should be encouraged and
supported through the development of local plans, is dividing
that space into three. You can then have a small independent
greengrocer or a small independent hardware-homeware shop that
stocks that kind of thing that you suddenly find yourself
needing, which can be almost impossible to find in our
residential retail deserts where you just see
identical supermarkets
again and again. Maybe the third of those shops could be
something we urgently need to see—earlier today I was at an event
with the University of Manchester talking about scaling up the
green transition—namely a repair shop, where, when something is
broken, you can go and get expert help to fix it instead of
throwing it into the rubbish: the circular economy in action.
That kind of simple, clear thinking about what we need in our
communities, building not just homes but communities, can really
work...
For context, CLICK HERE
