3:44pm Tuesday 29th December 2009
By James Nadal
A DISGUSTED resident has accused shopkeepers of not caring about their customers, saying they should have cleared the icy pavements last week.
Jane Savidge, 61, retired, of Barley Way, wrote to the Free Press to say slippery pathways should be the responsibility of retailers, not the council.
She believes shop owners have lost traditional pride in the upkeep of their shop fronts.
Mrs Savidge wrote: “After the snowfall this past week why would anyone want to come to Marlow to shop when the shopkeepers cannot be bothered to clear the pavements outside their shops - except Bernard Burger who was clearing the pavement outside Burgers at 8am last Friday. Well done Bernard.
“The shopkeepers complain about the parking enforcement but could not care less about their customers. "Bring back the old days when shopkeepers were proud of their shop front and valued their customers.”
“Marlow has lost its way and does not deserve to have the support of the local community or its many visitors.”
She said: “You can't always expect the council to do things, of they are short of resources, people should do something about it themselves.”
Annie Mulady, vice president of the Marlow Chamber of Trade and Commerce, believes legal concerns could be behind some shopkeepers' decision not to grit the pavements in front of their shops.
She said: “My fear with regards to retailers clearing their own areas, I think there's been lots of scaremongering that if you clear your own area they could be sued if someone had an accident.
“For those who did it then freezes which causes black ice which was almost worse so I think it was the lesser of two evils.”
Ms Mulady refuted suggestions businessman were not bothered about trade, citing a range of schemes run through the chamber such as the Scarecrow trail summer event and late night shopping.
She said: “The retailers in the town are getting involved in a lot of initiatives in the town, I can only see that the pavement situation didn't help at all.”
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