Your correspondent R Rogers (Guardian, February 20) is quite right to fear for the future of independent shops as the supermarkets move in ever larger numbers, and indeed the same issue of the Guardian highlights the imminent conversion of two Sutton pubs to Tesco outlets. 

Carshalton High Street for example is looking more than ever like a ghost town as both the butcher and the greengrocer have shut up shop in the last few weeks; but the council’s answer appears to be to encourage more mini supermarkets (or in the case of Hackbridge, a large one) to fill the gaps.

The current business rate arrangements load the dice against small, community-friendly businesses whilst the Tescos and Sainsburys of this world can call upon an army of lawyers, planning consultants and lobbyists to manipulate the planning system in their favour.

A minor change in the beer duty scales in favour of smaller microbreweries has allowed them to thrive, so fiscal alterations can achieve results- what’s lacking is the political vision and the courage to change the system, devolving to local councils some of the powers to set differential business rates to encourage community businesses like small shops. Unless and until this happens we will continue to lose our local identity and fall ever more into the clutches of a tiny handful of all-powerful transnational retailers.


Bob Steel, Green party, Carshalton