Vodafone Moving in
I see the shop fitters are in at the unit located at the top of St Martins Walk, formerly Steads. Look like Vodafone will be with us soon.
Many people will undoubtably be disappointed but it is great to see 'a shop' opening up and the fact that it is a well known brand, as well as being located next to the M&S signs, will look good for drawing in passing traffic.
Though unless more retail units are opened in St Martins Walk then these potential 'new' shoppers are likely to be disappointed too.
posted by The Cockerel @ 7:50 PM
8 Comments:
Another mobile phone retailer whoopee!!!!! This shop won't pull the punters into St. Martin's Walk or even Dorking! We need some decent unisex clothing retailers like Reigate ie. Phase Eight, White Stuff etc. It is ridiculous that Dorking seems to be going further back than all the towns in and around Surrey. And, why has the town centre manager and councillors not written a letter to the Dorking Advertiser to state what they are going to do improve the town and its shrinking retail base. I can only assume that they have not got any plans, ideas and that they have not got a clue how to move the town forward into the 21st Century! x
I cannot see how the other mobile shops will survive if Vodafone move in. At present, the Carphone Warehouse can get quite busy in the lunch time period and at the weekends. Phones 4 U is never busy and when I go by, the staff are often gazing out of the window or smoking their fags in the archway which is adjacent to their shop. As for the other mobile phone retailer (in St. Martin's Walk) it never seems to be open. Has it closed for good or are they taking an extended break from their business? So, the unit for Vodafone is in the process of being refurbished and at least, it will be one less empty shop in Dorking. However, it is only a matter of time that Vodafone wipes the floor with the other mobile phone retailers - Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4 U and the retailer down in St. Martin's Walk, whose name escapres me. Jo
Looks like the council are ready to rethink over grant cuts and price hikes according to the Advertiser - February 12, 2009.
Mole Valley's Conservative-run administration is reconsidering proposed grant cuts and price hikes to the district's services. They are proposing that there will be no reduction in Mole Valley's grant to the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) for the coming year. However, they are sticking to their plans to slash funding for the Dorking halls, which has led to the axing of the 2009 panto. The two-hour parking charge is still set to rise from its current rate of 70p, but instead of going up to £1.20 - they are proposing a smaller increase, making a two-hour stay £1.
Councillor Ben Tatham, portfolio holder for finance, said "We never stop listening to what our residents are saying." The food waste trial has been scrapped and there will be still price hikes in allotments, the hire of football pitches, the handymen service and the cost of having someone buried in Dorking cemetery.
A side note to the story above, is the traders in Dorking handed in a petition containing 3,270 signatures to halt the plans to raise parking charges in Dorking. Ashley baker, owner of Fothergills and Chimes in Dorking handed the petition in.
I hope that Councillor Ben Tatham and his cronies get the message that raising the parking charges is not the answer and that they will listen to the traders and residents concerns about the dire retail situation in the town centre. As Ashley Baker pointed out "It's not good enough. It is still not supportive of Dorking, £1 for two hours' parking does not support the town. It is not going to bring in shoppers. We want to see two hours free parking for shoppers. We need to get people into Dorking."
Well said Ashley, hope that the Council will take the petition into account and listen to the electorate, as we are very angry with the cuts and price hikes, especially as the council has just spent £250k on a revamped reception at the hq at Pippbrook.
Newsworthy Neill
Golly gosh our council are so generous -- wanting to charge us only 1 pound sterling to park for two hours in a town which is inundated with awful restaurants, coffee shops, charity shops, estate agents and banks. They are so pitiful and wonder why the council tax payers are so pissed off with them? The streets are awash with litter, we have literally no police to protect us as they are all being laid off and there has been numerous accidents over the last couple of days because they still cannot adequately grit the roads properly. As for the road works, this is the final straw...my house is going on the market tomorrow. Well done Mole Valley for turning a once respectable market town into a huge laughing stock...:(
Hey! Starting your post with an expletive like that could result in you being run out of town before your house sale board even goes up!
I can think of quite a lot of shops other than Vodafone who I would prefer to move in to these premises, but in the present circumstances almost anybody is more than welcome rather than the depressing sight of an empty shop. Welcome Vodafone.
I am delighted to see from the Dorking Advertiser that MVDC intends to backtrack a little bit (not much) on some of the more silly increase in charges they intended to introduce; but let's not lose sight of the fact that moving the 70p for 2 hours charge to £1 is equal (if my maths is correct) to about a 43% increase. Even the 10p on the 1 hour charge is a 20% increase.
I do wonder whether there was ever any intention of introducing the original huge increase - could it have been a case of 'we'll float the idea of a truly massive increase, then when we back down and reduce them a bit everyone will be so happy they'll not notice that the increase is still pretty steep when inflation is running at virtually zero.'
Pepin
I put 70 litres of petrol in my car each week.BP price 93.9p per litre. Guildford price 87.9p. So if i were to fill up every week in Dorking, it would cost me £218.40 extra every year!!! That is unfair. I hope the new supermarket when they build one, has a cheap petrol station with it too!
It is 88.9p a litre for unleaded in the Ashtead/Leatherhead area. It is a disgrace that the petrol stations in Dorking continually rip-off us off and keep on getting away with it. The same applies to the pubs in Dorking like the Old House, the Pilgrim, Arty P's etc. where they charge £3.40 for a pint of Stella and Guinness and where the price can be 20p-50p cheaper for a pint a few miles away....x
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