2 days ago
Our hidden corner of UK used to be thriving – now it's on its KNEES with nowhere to shop & overflowing bins everywhere
RESIDENTS have kicked back after their once thriving town has been brought to its knees in a major dispute with its council.
One resident has claimed that the council's plans haven't 'worked so far', as businesses continue to close along the high street.
5
5
Monmouth, Wales, is a quiet town known for its eclectic shops.
The town is home to a gothic souvenir shop and the oldest theatre site in Wales, but residents say that local businesses are struggling to stay afloat.
Sherren McCab-Finlayson, Chair of the Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, has slammed the local council.
She says that the council has enabled roadworks and building works to drag on, after expanding the town's pavements in 2020.
Sherren claims this is preventing shoppers from parking and is driving down the town's footfall.
Now, the once-thriving town is beset with empty shopfronts and dwindling numbers of shoppers.
Sherren says: 'It all started in 2020. Monmouth was completely different before Covid.
'The council then widened the pavements for social distancing and said it would only be temporary.
'And yet years later we're stuck with these huge pavements because the council now doesn't have the money to dig them up.'
Meanwhile, the council is pushing ahead with plans to install ' rain gardens' to create more spaces for residents to eat outside.
Britain's retail apocalypse: why your favourite stores KEEP closing down
Sherren claims that this idea 'hasn't worked so far' though.
She added: 'The plan for rain gardens isn't popular.
'The extended pavements immediately reduced parking - leading to the town losing at least 20 parking spaces. Something which was always one of Monmouth's USPs was that shoppers were able to pull up for half an hour and do a quick bit of shopping.
"There remains that need but it isn't possible in the town now. Shoppers often don't want to pay for an hour or two hours - they'll just go elsewhere if they have to do that."
She claimed that water companies were doing work in the town for a year, leaving the town 'girdlocked', while scaffolding obscured shop fronts.
Eirwen Rogers owns the Blessed Be Emporium but said that the chaos has made it impossible for people to find her business.
Now she has been forced to transform the downstairs of the shop into a gaming and workshop space, out of 'sheer desperation to survive.
She added: 'I have no opening hours at all now. I post them on Facebook every morning, because there are so few people in this part of town that sometimes it's not worth coming in. I am desperate for a massive reduction in my business rates.
"I'm paying more than £700 a month business rates alone and they don't even empty my bins. It's impossible.'
The Sun has approached Monmouthshire Council for comment.
5
