Forum Topic

Another nail in the coffin?

Isleworth locals were dismayed today to learn that Middlesex Glass of South Street who have been trading since 1975 will be closing for good at the end of this month. This coincides with the installation of a cycleway that will run along the footpath from the Isleworth Public Hall towards the Glossop memorial right in front of this shop.  In spite of the objections from local people to this part of the scheme, Hounslow council let a Chief Officer take the decision that this scheme should finally go ahead in March. Locals only found out the week before last, the Chief Officer's decision was 'shared' with members and this person was also allowed to 'set aside' objections. Did anyone notice a Chief Officer's name on a ballot paper by any chance? This scheme will cause no end of disruption and bring pedestrians and cyclists into conflict, not to mention moving a bus stop to a narrower part of the road where all the traffic will be held up when the bus stops, back to the Twickenham Rd. already congested from a nearby LTN, even TfL didn't agree with this proposal. Still what does any local resident know? Faceless bureaucrats working from maps clearly know far better than any of us.

Vanessa Smith ● 1489d19 Comments

'Perverse' is exactly the word for all this. It always seems that no-one from on high ever stops to think things through to their logical conclusion. Someone gets a bee in their bonnet (or a promised bung from the government) and off they go at a tangent and never realise the collateral damage caused.

Vanessa Smith ● 1464d

Same happened with the Glass shop in Albany Parade. A very good glass business but the passing trade fell away during the period when the car park became costly to use for a short stay ( Which later got remedied) but too late for some businesses that have sporadic small turnover and rely on passing trade.That hardware shop was superb but I recall it was other circumstances that closed it quite some time back.But it has become very tough to the point of unviability for many small shops. It does seem perverse that whilst Cllr. Hanif Khan is getting plaudits from on high, His implementation without question, of some things, like the insane 50m bus lane that makes no difference to PSV traffic flow yet has caused a lot of damage to the remaining businesses that rely on passing trade thus appears to be a good thing.Is it?

Raymond Havelock ● 1464d

You know the area better than I do although I do quite frequently cycle through to get to Isleworth Pool. I'm just wondering at what point the glass shop's custom started going downhill, if indeed that is what happened. I doubt that Covid could have played a part in its demise as glass is glass - when you need it, you need it.

Anne England ● 1465d

You mean Taylor's which was a long standing family business, of course businesses come and go - but small, local shops do need a helping hand . Marooning them at the back of a cycle track, and removing the parking directly outside is hardly guaranteed to help, and Lodge Bros is hardly small or local.

Vanessa Smith ● 1465d

Why did the hardware shop in South Street shut years ago? This couldn't be cycle lane related. Surely shops come and go. I think that what was the hardware shop is now Lodge Bros. funerals.

Anne England ● 1465d

A huge drop in footfall for ad hoc custom.  For obvious reasons, Glass cannot be carried on Buses at all or by foot or cycle safely over any distances.

Raymond Havelock ● 1465d

Sad to see Middlesex Glass go but it remains unclear if the cycle lane had anything to do with the closure. Did it prevent them receiving deliveries?

Jeremy Parkinson ● 1466d

Most of the delays on the Bus are in King st which suffers all the back up caused by CS9.How very convenient that the measurements TfL have for journey times have been altered to leave out the delays between Dalling Road and Goldhawk Road for the 267 and Brackenbury Road to Goldhawk Road for the 94 and 237 The bus delays are excessive all the way to Brentford and many trips are now bifurcated requiring a change of bus mid journey.As for that diatribe of wordy nonsense. It has no actual substantiation as there is no benchmark date preceding it. It's all made up based on hyperbole.Little wonder so much ends up as a failure. Bull@£*t clearly baffles Brains.

Raymond Havelock ● 1471d

HQ is still there.The cycleway doesn't start before the junction with Heathfield Terrace!Stay on the bus next time Jim, and if you carry on into Hammersmith you'll see a different story. Perhaps the fortunes of King ST will improve when H&F finally get on with their bit of C9

Guy Lambert ● 1471d

"Go look at Chiswick High Road"Well I did today..on the 91H bus.The first retail shop on the right...just before Gunnersbury Station was...boarded up...closed.Further along on the left..just after Chiswick Road...the popular TV shop is closed and still vacant..and I hadn't even reached Turnham Green Church!Not relevant perhaps..but wasn't the  local Labour Party HQ located on the corner with Marlborough Road once. Why no longer?.

Jim Lawes ● 1471d

As I thought, the 'mountains of evidence' you reference don't actually exist. The mountains point the other way so naturally you say they are biased!Go look at Chiswick High Road. Despite all the efforts of the local councillors to talk it down as 'destroyed' or 'a pigsty' there is barely an empty shop in the area where Cycleway9 operates, and new businesses are opening all the time.

Guy Lambert ● 1471d

Of course Guy. It is so much easier to push through a desired agenda in the modern times when one can order a study or a 'research' and publish it on social media. In the meantime high streets are dying.

Alex Shpinkov ● 1472d

On the contrary Alex, I can't find any such evidence, though it has a negative impact on petrol stations.If you have mountains of evidence that cycling infrastructure has a negative impact on business, please enlighten us as to where to find it.Try googling "cycling infrastructure impact on business" as a starter for 10This academic study is typical:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0209090AbstractWe investigate whether increasing cycling activity affects the emergence of new local businesses. Historical amenity data from OpenStreetMap is used to quantify change in shop and sustenance amenity counts. We apply an instrumental variable framework to investigate a causal relationship and to account for endogeneity in the model. Measures of cycling infrastructure serve as instruments. The impact is evaluated on the level of 4835 Lower Super Output Areas in Greater London. Our results indicate that an increase in cycling trips significantly contributes to the emergence of new local shops and businesses. Limitations regarding data quality, zero-inflation and residual spatial autocorrelation are discussed. While our findings correspond to previous investigations stating positive economic effects of cycling, we advance research in the field by providing a new dataset of unprecedented high granularity and size. Furthermore, this is the first study in cycling research looking at business amenities as a measure of economic activity. The insights from our analysis can enhance understandings of how cycling affects the development of local urban economies and may thus be used to assess and evaluate transport policies and investments. Beyond this, our study highlights the value of open data in city research

Guy Lambert ● 1472d

There is a mountain of evidence widely available that low traffic measures  decrease footfall and revenue for local stores. Go do some research!

Alex Shpinkov ● 1472d

The proposals that affect South St. especially along by the Public Hall will bring pedestrians and cyclists in direct conflict with one another. This also means the bus stop being moved further down South St where the road is narrower, and that when a bus stops the whole road will be brought to a standstill, possibly at times backing up to Twickenham Rd.The report from the Streetspace scheme tells a different story to you, with the vast majority of people who contributed wanting the various local closures to be removed, and the expected improvements in air quality barely noticeable, trips on public transport taking longer and drivers driving faster.

Vanessa Smith ● 1472d

Sh*t stirring about cycle-ways again Vanessa. There is a mountain of evidence widely available that show low traffic measures increase footfall and revenue for local stores. With the added benefit of providing safety for walkers or all kinds and active travelers.Go do some research!

Nick Alesoch ● 1472d

There's no mention of the cycle lane being a catalyst for the store closure on their website. Are you just making an assumption or have they issued a further communication?"After serving the local community since 1975, we will be accepting orders up until 31st July, with a view to closing down permanently soon thereafter.We would like to thank our customers for their regular support over the many years of trading in Old Isleworth."

Paul Scullion ● 1489d

Does the Chief Officer have a name?

Mike Paterson ● 1489d

Don't forget the the 'we know what's best' and 'consultation is spelt L I P S E R V I C E' councillors who are complicit in this nonsense.

N V Brooks ● 1489d