The Lewes Pound has been launched with the meritorious aim of supporting local businesses and increasing customer loyalty. But I do not think it is the answer. There are for example a couple of local loyalty cards already in existence. I think the problem is that we do not have enough shoppers in the town. Apart from noting that Seaford has now twice the population of Lewes, where are the work places in this the county town?
Since the demise of Baxter’s and the closure of Pelham House as a County Council work place, the lunch-time rush on the High Street is practically non-existent. So while I greet the Lewes Pound, I would rather see a concerted effort to bring workers to this town. Workers who will spend their money in local shops and restaurants.
Let us abandon the nursery-book 18th Century folly notion of this High Street, held by a vociferous minority, where quaint shopkeepers doff their caps to the increasingly few passing gentry. The much-vaunted local shops cannot afford the £50,000 per annum rents being asked for the empty premises. It is time for Lewes to get real!
Those lamenting the departure of Graeme Coles and the gardens from Shelley's Hotel will have some to wait for news on one if not the other. The hotel owners are constantly changing and resubmitting the landscaping plans, so as yet there is nothing firm enough on which a decision may be taken.
And although alarms are being sounded at the sight of a bamboo forest advancing on the hotel, the plants remain in their pots, and since they are not planted, no rules have been broken.
