An interesting report but as noted elsewhere there are other factors such as realistic rents, and some chains like Maplins, Dixons, etc have probably been the victim of on line trading and have either disappeared or moved to the internet themselves. There also needs to be realism about car ownership; even the car manufactures recognise that the current model isn't sustainable because of costs, congestion, pollution/emissions and pressure on parking spaces. The future has to be more public transport, cycling and walking combined with car clubs and some form of taxi service using electric vehicles (there has to be assistance and access for those with mobility problems). I quite like what's been done in Exhibition Road. My memories of it in the 70s are a congested, difficult to cross, dual carriageway. (One Imperial College stag week stunt was to acquire a couple of Belisha beacons and some black and white striped material and create a zebra crossing by the main entrance.) The only issue is the anti terrorism concrete blocks they've now had to instal which does spoil the effect. The Rolls, Bentleys, Ferraris, Meseratis, etc frequently parked near the Albert Hall are presumable just vanity items ... but there was a nice Shelby Cobra parked in Albert Mansion a year or so ago ?? I'm saying that as someone who used to enjoy driving but swapped ownership for Zipcar a few years ago because of the frustrations noted here ... there's always off road tracks for a quick spin in a Masa or Aston, and no speed cameras - well not police ones! |