Date published: 2009/05/16
The Cambridge News says:
Cambridge could become a "clone town" for shopping unless more is done to support independent shops, say councillors.
Rod Cantrill and Catherine Smart - Liberal Democrat city councillors - want the council to support plans for a designated "independent business zone" to keep its shopping attractions unique, focusing on Mill Road.
...
[ Smart ] added: "We aren”t saying there is no place for chains - there is. But they shouldn”t be the only kind of shopping a town has."John Bridge, Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce chief executive, said he was wary of any plan which added to the red tape already facing people wanting to set up a business in Cambridge.
...
"But it is important to get the right balance - but that balance is dictated by the customer, not bureaucrats."
The Mill Road area is a bit of a dump, but the academic middle class people who run Cambridge like it that way, with Ye Olde Shoppes. So needless to say, Bridges is fighting a losing battle. The academic middle class people who run Cambridge (and Britain) are control freaks, and they think they should dictate where the horrid peasants shop (eat, drink, etc.). As at the national level, the Cambridge Lib Dems are not very liberal.
_________________________________________________________
All material not included from other sources is copyright cambridge2000.com.
For further information or questions email: info [at] cambridge2000 [dot] com
(replace "[at]" with "@" and "[dot]" with ".").