Cllr Heather Kidd, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Ludlow, has taken up the cause of the Shropshire country pub in the face of mounting evidence that many are about to ‘call time’ for good.
Heather said “Village pubs are important centres in many communities, often they are the only service left. They have been under intense pressure for the last 18 months both from supermarkets and the recession. They are also finding it difficult to raise money as many banks are refusing to give credit to the licensing trade. However, many are finding it difficult to carry on. One publican from the Church Stretton area told a colleague of mine that he was waiting to see how trade fared in September before deciding whether or not to call time for good.” added Heather.
It seems that small injections of cash can go a long way to support these businesses. Laura Sproson, Licensee of the Stiperstones Inn said “We have quite an old building which requires some work, such as rewiring, doing. Given the current economic climate, some form of small grant aid would be most welcome.”
Heather has identified three major areas that Councils and the Government can help:
1. Shropshire Council could introduce a small capital grants scheme as SSDC did for village shops
2. The government could sanction additional relief from the non domestic business rate as has been done in Wales (some receive 25% currently)
3. The Government needs to consider varying tax levied between licensed premises and supermarkets.
Heather is raising this issue at the National Panel of the Local Government Association. She concluded: The LGA has considerable clout with both local councils and Westminster and raising this matter is a good way of pushing the matter up the agenda.”
Heather is also asking Shropshire Council to adopt SSDC’s small shops grant scheme at the next full council and will press for this to be extended to village pubs as well.