Save Our Shops
June 2005 - For an up-date on this story please come here

Councillor Steve Reed outside shops at risk in Streatham

Local shops in Lambeth are facing closure because the Lib Dem-controlled council is selling off the leases on their premises to the highest bidder.
The corporations who will purchase the leases will inevitably hike up the rents beyond the means of local traders.

The Liberal policy will affect shops in Streatham, Clapham, Brixton and West Norwood, and could lead to them going out of business.

Residents are furious that the heart of their community is being ripped out by the sell-off scheme. Labour Councillors have joined with traders and residents to launch a "Save our Shops" campaign. Keith Hill MP has also pledged his support.

The Leader of the Labour Party on Lambeth Council, Steve Reed, is demanding that the sell-off is halted while shopkeepers and local residents are consulted. Labour is forcing Lib Dems to vote on the issue at the next Council meeting. To her immense credit, Streatham Hill Councillor June Fewtrell has broken ranks with her Lib Dem colleagues and is backing the shopkeepers, pledging that she will vote against the sell-off plans. This rare move reflects the strength of anger in the community at the sell-off plan.

The mastermind behind this disastrous scheme is Lib Dem councillor Ashley Lumsden. As the Council's finance chief, he is forcing through the sell-off against strong opposition. Shopkeepers in Streatham Hill, the area that Lumsden represents on the Council, claim that he has refused to listen to them and is ignoring local residents as he pursues his sell-off plan. Lumsden will have to answer to local people when they have a chance to vote him out in next May's council elections.

Labour councillor Steve Reed, said:

"Even for the Lib Dems, this is a new low. I am astonished that they want to tear our communities apart by selling off local shops."

"Residents are up in arms about this. People have literally been knocking on my door asking how they can help stop this madness. I increasingly believe that the only interest the Lib Dems have in Lambeth is how much they can sell it for."

Find out more about the campaign to save Streatham Hill’s shops here

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