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Eric Pickles: We'll let shoppers park on double yellow lines | Mail Online

Am I the only one who thinks this Is ridiculous ?

How Is It to be policed?

It's meant to attract more people back to High Street shops only my solution for that would be to stop more supermarkets building hyper stores outside of towns.

It won't it's idiotic and would cause utter chaos.

The reality is people go to out of town supermarkets because they want to. You know how asda and tesco got a foothold? It started when all those large housing estates in the seventies and eighties were built and conventional retailers would not open stores there because they believed people would always come to them,. So out of town superstores started opening and running free bus services from all the big housing estates providing a service and access to shopping that otherwise would not be there. Now the high street no one comes to them. People just don't have the time to go in to a town centre when all they want is a weekly shopping or a monthly shop. Plus town centres no longer have people living in them so who needs to go shopping there. If you look at cities that have thriving high street shopping there's usually a lot going on besides shopping. shopping is on two levels out of ned for food and stuff and it's also a social activity the best shopping centres recognise that

I think you're right that no-one wants to go Into a city centre ( I avoid Bristol city centre like the plague ) but I think you are wrong about your average High Street In a regular sized town because people do live around the High Street.

I am very lucky that I have a very good High Street a mile from me with all the family type shops, butchers, fishmongers, Ironmongers, pet shops, several greengrocers etc etc but If you carry on down to the next High Street, It's just all pubs, wine bars and charity shops so you don't see many people but on pension day In my town, It's absolutely heaving with people.

We have one of the largest Asda's a few miles further down the ring road but I never go there. Yes, you can buy a TV, pair of slippers and some mushrooms all under the same roof but I hate It.

My High Street seems to have parking off quite well. There Is a car park at the rear and plenty of disabled bays that my husband likes to park In, wait for the traffic warden to start writing the ticket out and then putting his disabled badge In the window. The yellow lines In our High Street are there much for safety In that It stops cars blocking drivers views from junctions and traffic lights on corners of pedestrian crossings. This scheme would make It dangerous and cause mayhem.

You forgot about the interweb for all that shopping done in the 'specialist' shops in Town centres.

You want a belt for your vacuum ?

You used to troop to town and visit all the small electrical specialists who might or might not have the right one.

Now you just go 'online' and it's there in two days.

Plus people don't want a friendly Butcher/Greengrocer/Hosier/Grocer that they have to actually talk to, they want an impersonal in out visit to a food/bargain factory and self serve themselves with machines to take their money.

We are all doomed.