Exeter Green Party says John Lewis isn't all good news

The Exeter Green Party says claims about the benefits that John Lewis will bring to the city have been "hugely exaggerated".

In a public statement it also says environmental and social issues have either been an afterthought or ignored.

Below is the document in full taken from the party's website:

The opening of John Lewis in Exeter has resulted in some extraordinary claims about the benefits to the local economy. Andrew Bell, Exeter Green Party Policy Officer offers a reality check.

Firstly, I have nothing against John Lewis as a company; indeed their partnership business model is far preferable to many business models in the corporate sector. I am sure that for many (who can afford it), John Lewis will provide a positive shopping experience and certainly architecturally the building has been greatly enhanced.

My issue is with the hugely exaggerated claims made by Councillors, Officers and the business community about the benefits of John Lewis to Exeter and what this tells us about the economic and retail strategy that is being pursued in the city.

In recent years there has been a deliberate strategy of attracting corporate retail to Exeter. Because the focus has been on ‘big names’, smaller businesses and enterprises have been badly neglected. A few years ago, Exeter won the unenviable accolade of the UKs worst ‘clone town’, based on the fact that the High Street contained only one independent shop (still the case). Princesshay has further entrenched the corporate retailers in the city centre with small independent shops and enterprises pushed to the margins. So in Exeter we have witnessed the economic centre of gravity moving down the High Street, leaving retailers in the Harlequins, the Guildhall Shopping Centre and the many small businesses in Fore Street struggling. Many businesses are closing down at this end of the city and there are many empty shops. John Lewis will do little if anything to address this; wild claims about ‘everyone profiting’ simply don’t stack up. People visiting the city to shop at John Lewis may well venture into Princesshay, but are unlikely to move as far as Fore Street or the Harlequins.

Local businesses in Exeter receive nothing like the attention and publicity, prompted by the arrival of John Lewis. An example is The Real Food Store in Paris Street. This is Exeter’s first community owned food business offering fresh food and drink from local suppliers. It is owned by a Community Benefit Society with over 300 members, one of the largest community-owned food enterprises in the country. This is a genuine cooperative which now finds itself as one of the final three in the BBC Good Food Show Best Local Retailer awards. Yet this has received virtually no coverage compared with the pages and pages of publicity that John Lewis has received.

There has been a very Exeter-centric view on John Lewis – new jobs, a boost to the local economy etc. But concentrating retail power in one city could mean that shops in other Devon towns (or even in Plymouth) could experience a slow-down and so end up shedding jobs.

There are also the environmental and social issues associated with the arrival of a large retailer, which seem to have either been an afterthought or ignored. For example, it is clear the changes to the road system and traffic flows as a result of the opening of John Lewis have left many local people unhappy with the resulting congestion, air pollution and road safety issues. (See 'We told them of traffic dangers' Express and Echo 27.09.12  )

There is also a city wide problem of attracting even more shoppers (despite ‘encouragement’ to use Park & Ride) onto roads that are already heavily congested and suffer from dangerous levels of air pollution.

The Green Party believes that small local enterprises are the life blood of a sustainable local economy and help to keep money circulating locally. Instead of focusing constantly on the next big name to arrive in Exeter we would like to see:

• A campaign to support and promote local businesses and enterprises, backed by the Express and Echo
• Investment incentives to attract small local businesses and enterprises to Exeter, backed by the City Council; we believe the bus station redevelopment should include a market square and spaces set aside exclusively for small local enterprises
• Development of a local currency that can be used in local businesses and enterprises similar to the Totnes pound orBristol pound
• A strategic approach to transport which needs to be implemented before any further retail expansion of the city; a strategy that seriously addresses congestion and air pollution and focuses on cheap, reliable, accessible and safe alternatives to the car.