Tell us about your high streets

A splurge of "pop-up" shops with independent retailers would certainly improve the high street - the dominance of the chains makes them very indistinguishable and boring and they don't provide a wide range of services or goods.

Empty/Boarded-up shops are so sad!

It would be better to encourage start-up or SME to invest in a shop by offering free rent in exchange for a share of the turn-over

The streets should be swept and mended. They are filthy and uneven.

I realise that the councils are short of money for social services etc, so this is as much a central government issue as local council.

The opening times for the shops are exactly the time I'm at work. As I get out of the office, they are closed - and sometimes they don't open during the we.

Then the shop owners complain about people buying online, when it's not even a choice but a necessity.

Community spaces, and markets with varied stalls create the interest and pull that some of the standard retailers struggle to create.  Such stalls would need to prioritise smaller independent stallholders with interesting products to sell.  The high streets that are thriving (Portobello Road, Camden, Lewisham, North End Road, Tooting, Caledonia Road), Brick Lane have these stalls and they attract permanent shops as well.  Affordable premises are needed for smaller less commercially driven businesses.  In the last 10 years I have watched the disappearance of interesting community based businesses such as the antiques/ bric-a-brac, second hand book stores, lawn mower repairs, stained glass and furniture repair workshops, bakers, butchers and fishmongers.  Many of these have been driven out by high rent and rates which makes a viable business unprofitable.  It would be interesting to allocate a certain number of premises to independent businesses and make them free of business rates if their turnover is less than a certain amount. As they become more successful and turnover increases the rates could be tapered back to the standard level.

Increase, the pavement space, reduce the width of the road to allow buses (should all be electric or H fuel cell by now) and blue badge holders only, build cycle lanes and clean the street - it gets filthy. The only way to stop the takeover by chains and a succesful few independent restaurants/cafes (and charity shops) is to change the business rates system and have some kind of rent protection, which I think is beyond the powers of the Mayor.

Planning controls should ensure that there is a balance of shops so that certain types of business are not over represented. Those considered anti-social such as betting shops and junk food sellers - especially chains and franchises - should be limited and pay higher rates. Likewise, social shops such as traditional and healthy food suppliers and owner/occupiers should have lower rates. Empty shops should also be highly rated if empty for more than a certain period. Shop proprietors (perhaps only the desirable ones) should be able to issue free parking tickets to encourage shoppers in contrast to the current policies which seem to deliberately direct shoppers to shopping malls with free parking (what was going on when those decisions were made?)

I quite like that high streets are constantly changing. Agree it's not always for the better - local economics seem to be highly varied across London  - and vacancies can drag a high street down but these streets are a mirror of society, where everyday life plays out. Despite their bad rep there is more good stuff and certainly more compassion and tolerance than online.
More investment is needed to help small Indy retailers and those who want to bring new uses to the high street. And we need a accelerated shift away from motor traffic. 

The high street is mainly charity shops and food outlets. There is almost no parking - something I need as I have restricted mobility. This part of the borough was deliberately run down by the council some years ago in favour of a shopping centre a few miles away which was built with 2 multi-storey car parks, and which has become a magnet for gangs - that whole area is now crime-ridden.

What is this nonsense statement of most people living within 5 mins of a High Street ? Don't you know we are not allowed to drive anymore ? My nearest high Street is a 25 min walk.

I have not visited my local retailers in a long time for simple reason council policy on cars and parking. 

There is huge competition from online against what we have come to know as the UK high street.... but the UK high street has become mostly poor quality chain retailers. Landlords of high streets have long been encouraged to let shops to the chains based on covenant strength and willingness to 'out-rent' competitors.... this has led to huge rents and business rates so little chance for new retailers to offer something new and different.... these retailers' only choice is online, but the 'fall of the high street' may hopefully lead to reduced rents and rates and an opportunity for more interesting high streets of the future. 

Went o Marks &Spencer's recently. Wanted to try on 2 trousers and buy the best fit. They did not have my size. Had to go to customer services and BUY the two pairs. Come back another day try the trousers on and get a refund for the other. Why am I paying to re-stock their store? 

My point is that I had an on-line experience on the high street so why would I go to the high street when I can do this on-line at home?

If the high street is to compete it must be different, the service must be better. The experience must be better.

Oxford Street in London is something that you do not see in the other parts of the world. I always like walking on it, despite too many people sometimes...

Different family businesses should "own" local high streets. Reduce costs so this can happen. Local high streets are there for everyone especially those who can't or don't want to travel to seek the cheaper prices...ie the big supermarkets with the special offers. There needs to be a variety of affordable shops. Also, high streets should feel safe but they don't... Why are there so many cut price liquor stores? Because that's a way to make money. One shop has a sign saying they do not serve street drinkers and it's not even a late opening one! I would like my local high street to have a good variety of shops for a variety of people. They shouldn't have to close after a short period because of costs. They should be able to offer affordable prices with supply to meet the demand. All the big chains need to be limited using those spaces to make way for the social housing that the country is desperate for. Keep green spaces green. Keep the streets safe and clean.

I'd like to see more small business. Too many chain shops all selling the same things. Reduce business rates to encourage small business. I'd like to see home manufacturers in the high street. Therefore a real mix of shops. I cannot believe how many chain coffee shops we have in a small stretch of a high street. Where is the choice of shops. I.e The local DIY shop, the local curtain shop, making them above the shop, employing local skill. The local plumber who not only sells the plunger but many other home things and can book a visit to repair. Just a few examples. Sadly they cannot make a living with the rents and rates charged. I lived in Athens for a while and I lived all the local shops I could nip to for almost anything I needed. Local shops with local skills. I booked a home repair. The engineer came at the end of the day and told me he'd driven around London's streets all day and spent £87 parking, congestion charge, let alone the petrol. We pay for this plus suffer the pollution. Where was my local engineer. Probably doing the same!

My local high street doesn't have the shops I would buy from. Shopping offline should be more independent shops and less chains. If it is a chain - such as boots or M&S then they need to be stocked for this, otherwise you'd go online - especially with click and collect. No-one wants to have made the journey into town and come home with nothing. Shop come cafes would be great too as places to relax and shop.

 Chiswick High Road used to be great. Now it’s not. It has so many boarded up properties. I don’t know why. Is it business rates or is it greedy landlords? Hounslow don’t like Chiswick so they don’t care. 

Would love to make more use of my local high street, but I cycle and it is insanely dangerous due to the emphasis on cars going somewhere else. We need safe segregated bike routes to and along our high streets and copious cycle parking every few doors so you can pop into somewhere on a whim - not have to spend ages hunting for something to lock your bike too that is then so far from the place you wanted to investigate you then can't be bothered.

What a disappointingly poor survey, who drafted it?

The reason I don’t shop much in my ‘local’ London High Street is because a) it’s over a mile away (more than a 20 minute walk) b) it’s not as safe to walk in the streets as it is to shop online (hackers/viruses excepted) and c) there’s next to no parking available.

I do all my food shopping instore, but virtually everything else is online.

The nearest supermarket is 1.5 miles away and I save the cost in fuel of a round trip in buying just one bunch of bananas from the supermarket compared to my nearby shop… then all the rest like milk, bread, (the staples) are vastly cheaper too than the rip-off prices in local food shops, plus, these stores don’t sell fresh meat. I feel sorry for local food shop owners as they have to pay ridiculously over-the-top rates from greedy councils who need to pay the overinflated salaries of their mayors… chief executives… et al… but my partner’s income and mine combined is less than the national average, and London is so expensive, we have to economise on what we spend.

We’d love to afford to go out, maybe to a restaurant once in a while but that’s also too expensive so we’ve not enjoyed that ‘treat’ in well over a year.

…therefore, we shop online to save the pennies and pounds we can.

PS - please make completing these surveys more disability accessible - it should be easier to type offline, then cut and paste (but when I right-click, it won't give me the paste option).