Tell us about your high streets

My local high st (Mare St in Hackney) is in an atrocious physical condition. The footways are narrow, fragmented and full of obstacles - there are no cycle lanes - it's very difficult to cross - there are no trees - no seats - no drinking fountains to fill a water bottle - far too much general traffic - no cycle hire docks - few signs or maps (for pedestrians) little cycle parking - when it rains the channels are flooded etc. The one thing it does have going for it is public transport - the buses are good but access to the stations on the Over Ground is very poor - Hackney Central has to be one of the worst stations on the network. Mare St could be a great promenade high street where people choose to walk (or cycle) along its length from the canal to St Johns - it's such a terrible walking environment, however, no one ever does...bring back the pedestrians (and the cyclists) and the trade will improve...

Business rates should be based purely on sales/service turnover - which would encourage councils to attract more shoppers, including motorists, to their high street.  Also - persecution of motorists by sly heavy bus-lane fines should be stopped.

Chamberlayne Road in Kensal Rise has to be one of the best high streets in London because of the large proportion of independent shops. It's due to be improved further by making the heavy bus traffic flow more smoothly, and hopefully they'll put in more planting and seating too, and make pedestrians and cyclists the priority over car drivers.

Front facades not looking like after nuclear attack would be nice. Landlords let the fronts to deteriorate to a degree where they look like abandoned, especially the flats above the shops. On our high street they are absolutely hideous.

I like to support local traders as I know  a lot of them very well . I like their expertise. It almost becomes a social occasion.

More benches, more bins and toilets would be good. Also having card machines to pay for the car park. It puts me off having to remember to get cash out just to pay for the car park. 

No betting shops at all would improve a lot the high streets in general. 

And more community space, especially for teenagers to offer activities that could hold them off gangs, drug dealing and violence.

Chain stores pushing out smaller independent stores has made high-streets interchangeable and depressing. Also, Councils seem to have a great deal of disdain for pedestrians. Cars and cycles are prioritized. 

Local high streets are vital to communities and essential for good citizenship. I appreciate that people are shopping in different ways, but the experience of shopping is still important for most people and a good range of local shops key to reduction of carbon footprint. The 15 minute town proposal for Paris is excellent, we could really do with that kind of vision in London. The car is still far too dominant and far too polluting. Cyclists needs to be given their own spaces, but its pedestrians who are at the bottom of the pile and a walkable city/high street is surely a goal to aim for? 

I love my high street in Hackney save for a few details - there's not a great selection of shops, anti-social behaviour is an issue and there aren't many places for people to meet or to access services.

Food delivery mopeds are becoming a blight on our high street, parking while they wait for work on pedestrianised public spaces. This really could do with being addressed.

My view is that high streets should be social and community, as well as economic, centres of London life. They are the heart of our communities and need to be nurtured.

A better maintained high street would be an inducement to use them more. Fewer badly maintained pavements and roads and more litter bins would help make them a more agreeable place to visit. Is this a council responsibility? Or can the shops themselves contribute? Also more branded shops would encourage traffic.

Less bookmakers and estate agents. More shops that actually add value to our communities, support small businesses and the needs of Londoners (instead of businesses like the above which are purely for making extortionate amounts of money off of locals)

Every empty property gets taken over by yet another betting place. It's depressing. I thought there were supposed to be restrictions but if so, Barnet does not seem to care.

Business rates take no consideration of the trading viability of individual shops and are an archaic tax.   Result ís the demise of small traders and start ups.   Local taxation must be geared to ability to pay which must be related to trading throughput.  

High Street are dying because small and independent shops are being priced out. Only the big chains can survive.

Big chain shop and offices so no resident population to support shops in the evening and weekend. We are losing shop and entertainment and arts venues rapidly. The Horse Hospital in the Colonnade has had rent rise of 400%.

Coffee cafes cannot stand up to the big chains. Eventually the shopping experience is narrowed.

London is dying 

My local high street has pretty good grocery shopping, also a sub post office, hardware, dry cleaners, pharmacies, quick food etc. I like it a lot, and one of the reasons wasn't in the survey. It is the main way I meet a variety of my neighbours.. Of course I have my own social circles but London is so crowded that there are many more I never meet. I get a glimpse or a hello, and I also get to know the shop keepers. There are a couple of really good "foodie"shops, and I like to see and taste the wares and have a chat.      However, I can't get all my shopping there, I regularly buy specialist items only available by post or online. 

For those of us for whom movement is restricted but are not sufficiently disabled to secure a Disabled Pass, shopping by car is a necessity. Particularly when purchasing large or heavy items. Motorists have been gradually shut out of local high streets, meaning I hardly ever visit them any more. Local High Streets need a balance where pedestrians are not inconvenienced by Buses, Bicycles, Cars and other road traffic and equally those who need to use road transport can also access them. My view is that with 7 day opening, one could have one weekend day which prohibited all high street road traffic (Buses, Lorries, Vans, Bicycles, Motorcycles, Scooters, Cars, Taxis - everything except emergency vehicles) and one day when parking and traffic rules are relaxed for road traffic. That way both groups will be bale to shop in comfort.

For me the high street is an important community focal point. It's a shame people shop online. I guess we can't change that, so that means we can't rely on shops to keep the high street/ town centre going. In Walthamstow there are a good mix of cafes and places that are affordable. 

A lick of paint for some of them has made the place seem more modern. There are some more expensive trendy places too so it feels like a mix. Might be nice to have more restaurants and bars in the evening. Feels like quite a day time venue.

Although the market is good, I love Sundays when all the cafes put chairs and tables out and there's a real buzz about the place. 

I try not to shop online. I worry that we just create poorer quality working conditions by supporting the big online companies and I don't mind paying more to speak to a human in Waterstones or wherever. But I appreciate that we are all different and have different priorities. It's sad to see shops going but I guess it's inevitable as how can shops with all the related expenses compete with huge corporations who use loop holes and machines to cut their costs. I do worry about the environmental impacts of this though. I imagine there is more waste, and more fuel used for deliveries. Could we factor these costs in to level the playing field? 

I've not bought much online, largely because I prefer to pay cash, to deal with shops and shop staff, and to see what I'm buying. Apart from the most standard items (printer cartridges, say), I often find stuff bought online to be disappointing. Public transport here is good, or I can bike, which is better for me and for the environment, and often quicker. But in the main nearby centre, there's no butcher, no greengrocer, no off-licence, in fact few food shops; so I have to use supermarkets much of the time. and end up driving. Nearly all local food shops have closed, as have hardware shops, music shops, second hand and some new book shops (though we're still well served by other bookshops). I'm sure we're much better off than in most parts of the country, but I miss the small pleasure of a variety of local independent places. (Oh, and I like cash because I suspect, and a recent study suggests, that if you pay in cash you find it easier to manage how much you spend.)

My local 'High Street' Rye Lane, Peckham SE15 is a total mess. This slim lane high street is always congested with traffic and with large buses nose-to-tail all through the day. The mess and detritus from shops, particularly from open-fronted food shops, spill their waste onto the pavement and against street furniture which street furniture is a hotchpotch of itself. Rye Lane Peckham should be pedestrianised. Shops should be contained within their own commercial space and not spill out onto the pavements. Halfway up Rye Lane dark alleyway access obscures Peckham Rye Station. The station building is a glorious example of Victorian architecture hidden by ugly surroundings of grubby built structure. There have been plans going back years initiated by ‘The Peckham Society’ to re-open up a former socialising piazza area in front of the attractive station. We continue to await fruition to said plans. The Peckham Society, a campaigning group for a better Peckham, has made locals very aware of some wonderful and surprising architectural features up and down Rye Lane. Unfortunately, these attractive, aesthetic features are masked over by insensitive, ignorant boardings and claddings of present commercial shop front usage. There is definitely amazing potential to be gained with already presented improvement views and plans – especially coming from The Peckham Society that is ‘illuminated’ with professionals who know their Peckham like no other. If only Southwark Council would take more notice. We live in hope.

https://www.peckhamsociety.org.uk/ 

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