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Debate on how to improve Yiewsley
THE debate on how to improve an ailing high street is rumbling on, after the Gazette revealed last week how it had been named the worst in London.
Yiewsley's high street was labelled the worst hit by the recession of any other, and many residents are keen to have their say on how the town can be improved.
Jon Cameron, of Yiewsley, said: "There are too many takeaways, no one will ever go hungry here, its gone too far now.
"The Blue Anchor has now been flattened, it should be built into a care home, there's a lot of potential around with the airport and Crossrail, but the town has no real investment."
Sylvia Harvey, of Maple Avenue, Yiewsley, said: "You can't even buy a reel of cotton in Yiewsley. Since Gordon's and Woolworths closed, there has been nowhere worth going."
Mike Gorman, of Yiewsley, said: "There are no shops like hardware, haberdashers, bakers and the specialist shops that used to inhabit high streets before the supermarkets ruined almost every shopping street in the country.
"The proposed new Tesco's will be a disaster for Yiewsley as it will pull more people away from the High Street.
"An open area might encourage people to linger to browse around. The main road tends to cut the town in two and tends to be a bit of a rat run."
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I was so pleased to read the letter from "Chris" in the Gazette recently. This set out in very few words just what is wrong with Yiewsley High Street, i.e. 90% of the retail spaces in Yiewsley are occupied by rubbish shops selling ethnic minority clothing and foods, scummy pubs and tacky fast food outlets. One can always tell when an area is going downhill when the High Street consists of one fast food outlet after another, followed by countless green grocery shops spilling onto the pavements. How on earth do they all expect to make a living and why does the Council allow it. Recently, the residents of Yiewsley were asked for their views on how to improve the High Street and I would be willing to bet that the above points came out tops.
The Council needs to try and encourage some more upmarket stores to the area. You cannot buy decent clothes or shoes in either Yiewsley or West Drayton.
What happens to Yiewsley High St. is the most pressing question for anyone concerned about the future of the area. The loss of the traditional 'high st' has been on the increase in the last ten years and we need to stop it!
I hope you can restore to former glory but don't forget that everywhere is going the same way.
It's down to capitalism. I'm no anarchist but capitalism has been stoked the last 20 years and ripping the soul out of communities.
Tesco? Don't they say that 1 in every 5 pounds is now spent there? A disgrace that the government let it get to this stage.
Chris
What about the concept of a pop up gallery in the abandoned spaces? Landlords give permission to artists to use the empty space as a gallery or even studio space.
This keeps landlords happy as the space is being looked after and also used in a creative way. The exhibitions that take place, give potential tenants inspiration and ideas on how the space can be used..
The galleries and exhibitions also attract outsiders to the area.
Further to Alice Stein's comments above, using empty stores in Yiewsley High Street as temporary art galleries is a great idea.
It will brighten up a depressing high street and will hopefully attract people to the area interested in viewing and buying art. That spending will have a positive knock-on effect for the neighbouring shops.