This weekend, we have been celebrating Easter with my parents in Pwllheli.
As I have stated on numerous occasions, I believe that my hometown is a weathervane to the state of local economies throughout North Wales.
Whether it is the state of local trade or the opportunities for further prosperity, Pwllheli reflects the challenges faced by many Welsh towns in a rapidly changing economic environment.
Nowhere is this more pertinent than in the current debate raging locally on the effect that the opening of a new Asda supermarket is having on the local economy and how local firms can react to this.
The argument put forward by the local council for supporting the creation of a new superstore was that it would bring additional trade into the town. Yet, my impression last week was that the car park in Asda was full to bursting with shoppers, but very few were finding their way up to the smaller shops in the high street.
Of course, the proof of the pudding will be during the summer months when tourists swell the local economy with their holiday spending.
However, Asda has now decided, in its wisdom, to limit the parking time at their Pwllheli store to one and a half hours during the summer. Given that it takes around an hour to do the weekly shop at most supermarkets, many visitors will not even bother to visit the rest of the town and will merely stop to buy their groceries for their vacation at Asda before going on to spend their holiday at their caravans or self-catering accommodation.
This situation is not unique. For example, local businesses in Llandudno have complained that the new retail developments within the town have been detrimental to their footfall and an increasing number are closing their shops due to a lack of trade.
Across the UK, the Federation of Small Businesses has estimated that 2000 local shops are closing every year, and yet our politicians at both local and national levels are doing little to prevent this, even though they are elected to represent their communities and not the interests of large businesses.
Councillors and their officials seem to be impervious to the damage such developments are having on local towns across North Wales. In Pwllheli, Asda has only recently opened for business and yet the county council has approved planning for another large supermarket in the town at a time when over twenty local shops lie empty.
Rather than bending over backwards to accommodate the continuous march of large supermarket chains across North Wales, local councillors and Assembly members should be developing imaginative approaches to strengthen local businesses.
Certainly, they could look to use the business rates system to encourage new entrepreneurs, particularly young people from the local community, to fill the hundreds of empty shops in towns across the region by offering a rate reduction for the first year of trading.
Politicians should also have the courage to charge the proper level of rates to large retailers across Wales and to use any income generated to reduce the rates for local businesses, as they do in England.
Small independent firms are not only the lifeblood of local economies but are the glue which bind local communities together. They make many parts of North Wales special, different and worth visiting. They deserve all the support they can get because if we lose them, our towns will be far poorer places in which to live and work.
As I have stated on numerous occasions, I believe that my hometown is a weathervane to the state of local economies throughout North Wales.
Whether it is the state of local trade or the opportunities for further prosperity, Pwllheli reflects the challenges faced by many Welsh towns in a rapidly changing economic environment.
Nowhere is this more pertinent than in the current debate raging locally on the effect that the opening of a new Asda supermarket is having on the local economy and how local firms can react to this.
The argument put forward by the local council for supporting the creation of a new superstore was that it would bring additional trade into the town. Yet, my impression last week was that the car park in Asda was full to bursting with shoppers, but very few were finding their way up to the smaller shops in the high street.
Of course, the proof of the pudding will be during the summer months when tourists swell the local economy with their holiday spending.
However, Asda has now decided, in its wisdom, to limit the parking time at their Pwllheli store to one and a half hours during the summer. Given that it takes around an hour to do the weekly shop at most supermarkets, many visitors will not even bother to visit the rest of the town and will merely stop to buy their groceries for their vacation at Asda before going on to spend their holiday at their caravans or self-catering accommodation.
This situation is not unique. For example, local businesses in Llandudno have complained that the new retail developments within the town have been detrimental to their footfall and an increasing number are closing their shops due to a lack of trade.
Across the UK, the Federation of Small Businesses has estimated that 2000 local shops are closing every year, and yet our politicians at both local and national levels are doing little to prevent this, even though they are elected to represent their communities and not the interests of large businesses.
Councillors and their officials seem to be impervious to the damage such developments are having on local towns across North Wales. In Pwllheli, Asda has only recently opened for business and yet the county council has approved planning for another large supermarket in the town at a time when over twenty local shops lie empty.
Rather than bending over backwards to accommodate the continuous march of large supermarket chains across North Wales, local councillors and Assembly members should be developing imaginative approaches to strengthen local businesses.
Certainly, they could look to use the business rates system to encourage new entrepreneurs, particularly young people from the local community, to fill the hundreds of empty shops in towns across the region by offering a rate reduction for the first year of trading.
Politicians should also have the courage to charge the proper level of rates to large retailers across Wales and to use any income generated to reduce the rates for local businesses, as they do in England.
Small independent firms are not only the lifeblood of local economies but are the glue which bind local communities together. They make many parts of North Wales special, different and worth visiting. They deserve all the support they can get because if we lose them, our towns will be far poorer places in which to live and work.
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