By Della Reynolds, Roving Reporter
‘There is a lot of goodwill towards us,’ said the owner of L’Affamato, the small BYO restaurant on the corner of School Road. He had been closed for 12 weeks and local people were concerned that this bijou space would be hit hard by the social distancing rule. ‘We have moved to takeaway,’ the owner told me, but we need to get the word out that we are back and open for business. His new opening hours are 17:00 to 21:30 Tuesday to Sunday for pizza and pasta orders, delivered free for orders over £15. I noticed he had an extended ice-cream cabinet just inside the door ready to tempt the passer-by. And there in a nutshell was the problem. During lockdown there was little footfall along the Walton Road. The owner of the Molesey Café and Restaurant further along, told me that he had to lose two staff members when his usual clientele didn’t make the switch to phone-in deliveries. He’s dependent upon walk-in customers who use the nearby shops such as Molesey Autos, Molesey DIY, Trade Paints or the Refrigeration Centre. These shops are interdependent, working together in a mutually symbiotic fashion and they are all dependent on footfall.
I also spoke with Jess who runs Born from Necessity, the eco store close to Hurst Park Tesco. He is looking tore-open on the 1st July, unable to get supplies of organic stock during lockdown. We talked about ways to build on the goodwill engendered by our recent dependence on shopping local. It was clear that our community needed to act with the same speed and resourcefulness shown at the outset to support our local traders, many of whom would have been outside the rateable value to receive a government grant.
The Preston Model, started in 2012 by Preston Council, prioritised the local economy when outsourcing services. The council broke large contracts into smaller units to allow local businesses the chance to bid and encouraged the formation of co-operatives to collectively deliver on major contracts which would previously have gone to national or international companies. In the year 2016/17 Preston Council redirected £75 million into the local economy. It was an imaginative scheme which drew on ‘anchor’ institutions such as colleges, housing associations, the police and NHS who committed to support local enterprise whenever possible. The most tangible feature of the Preston Model, and the first to be established, was a community market. A place for local traders to showcase their wares and a social gathering which increased footfall to the town. Why don’t we have a community market in Molesey, where the local shops had first dibs on the stalls, bringing community spirit into the heart of the town? The Walton Road carpark is the ideal venue. Half given over to the market, half to free parking with enough space to practice social distancing if necessary. A market such as this would increase footfall along the Walton Road, breathing life back into the slumbering high street. I tested the idea on social media and quickly received much positive feedback. This comment sums up the general feeling. “We’d support – especially if it were the local shops together with local suppliers of fruit and veg. We’ve really enjoyed being able to support local during lock down and the quality is so much better.”
The goodwill is there and the need is there. We were able to act quickly to protect from the virus, let us act just as quickly to protect from the economic downturn. Elmbridge Borough Council would be the enablers. Freeing up the car park and ensuring it was a safe space for traders and shoppers. Our local shops pulled out all the stops for us, now we, as a community, which includes our local councillors, must do all we can to support them through the difficult financial times ahead.
If you think that a monthly Molesey Market is a good idea perhaps you would like to drop an email to the East Molesey Councillors, Steve Bax sbax@elmbridge.gov.uk, Stuart Selleck, sselleck@elmbridge.gov.uk and Lesley Yauner lyauner@elmbridge.gov.uk.