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Chamber member receives payout from Gloucestershire County Council

May 21st 2010

A trader in Wotton under Edge has received a cheque from Gloucestershire County Council in recompense for the disruption and damage to his trade when the centre of the town was closed at short notice for road works a couple of months ago.

Gareth Kitchen, who owns the kitchen and cookware shop and website Cookability, received settlement in full for a claim he made earlier this year. He said: “I took great trouble to keep my claim of modest proportions as, after all, it is the tax payers’ money. It was a point of principle. The lack of sufficient notice given by the Council and the breaks in communication elsewhere had a noticeable effect on the town’s trade. This was not the first time recently that little or no notice of local road closures has been given so I decided that it was time to make a stand to protect our livelihoods. Had we been given the level of notice that statute demands then we could have made decisions on opening hours and staffing levels. That choice was not given and that is why with the Chamber of Trade’s assistance I offered to help anyone else who wanted to make a claim with their applications by providing a template.”

The President of Wotton’s Chamber of Trade, Alex Wilkinson said: “Once again we have demonstrated the importance of the Chamber to the town’s traders and the community at large. Our membership is continuing to grow and our united voice certainly caused some large ripples in the Council’s pond. We showed them that we will stand up for our members and their businesses. We are not prepared to be downtrodden. “

Other traders in the town are now eagerly awaiting the outcome of their applications.

Gareth Kitchen added : “There is a positive outcome to all of this as I understand that as a result of this farcical situation some of the Council’s procedures are to be amended for the future.

See how the Gazette reported the story in the pdf below

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Wotton’s Chamber gets Church’s backing

April 6th 2010

St Mary’s Church in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire has become the 105^th member of the town’s Chamber of Trade. Despite the gloom of the recession the Chamber is still gaining new members and continuing well beyond the target of one hundred set at the beginning of last year in an effort to further strengthen the voice of local traders in these difficult times.

The Reverend Rob Axford believes that it is important for the church to be part of the community. He said: “So often the church is seen cap in hand asking for support when really we should be amongst those supporting and serving our local community. Over the last two years we have been working on a mission statement which says something about ‘Growing the church community to serve the wider community’ and being part of the Chamber of Trade is one way of putting those words into practice.

Personally, having come into the church from an engineering background, it is good to be able to share the commercial life of the community. Neither I nor the church claim to have the answers; rather a willingness to walk with our community through all aspects of life.”

Chamber president, Alex Wilkinson, said: “I am delighted to welcome St Mary’s Church into the Chamber. Wotton’s business community is continuing to shun a national trend. It is nearly a year since we celebrated our love of the town in a day of festivities and activities which achieved mention in the national media. Now our local business leaders have been joined by one of our spiritual leaders to ensure that our community remains healthy for the future. We achieved a membership of one hundred last November and it is continuing to grow. I am in discussions with other local businesses which will take us well beyond that figure.”

The Wotton-under-Edge Chamber of Trade was reformed in 2005 after a gap of 5 years and now has more than 105 members covering the entire range of local businesses from sole traders to public limited companies. Acting as a voice for local commerce it works in partnership with other organisations to promote and develop business in Wotton and the surrounding area and to ensure that it remains healthy.

Not only does the Chamber represent the interests of local business it also provides support and an opportunity for members to meet and exchange ideas through a busy programme of social events and talks by influential local and national guest speakers. Any concerns expressed by members can be precisely targeted thanks to the Chamber’s close relationships with key local organisations, local government, statutory bodies and other decision makers to provide a real influence on local policies.

Anyone interested in joining can visit the Chamber’s web site at www.wotton.biz.

See how the local media reported this story in the pdf below

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Chamber to obtain legal advice for its members following road closure

March 17th 2010

The Chamber of Trade in Wotton-under-Edge is to obtain legal advice which should provide its members with all that is necessary to pursue a claim for compensation from Gloucestershire County Council for lost business. This follows the Council’s failure to give traders adequate notice during the recent closure of the main road through the town to install a traffic calming system.

A high proportion of the town’s traders attended an emergency meeting of the Chamber on Monday evening where they expressed their anger and frustration at the short notice they had been given and the apparent lack of concern shown by the Council.

Chamber President Alex Wilkinson said:” A prime function of the Chamber is to be a collective voice for its members and that is why my committee has decided to take legal advice. We are determined to see this matter through. Although Gloucestershire Country Council is a law unto itself where it can make and break any rules it likes we have good reason to believe that not all the legal processes were followed in the planning of this work.

We recognise that it is a ‘fait accomplis’ although some of our members doubt that it will actually slow the traffic down.  The traders in this town are finding it difficult enough to make ends meet without this sort of thing happening. Someone has to take responsibility for this situation. Since the meeting I have had some legal advice from one of our members and early indications are that we might have a valid case. I am trying to arrange a meeting with Jason Humm, Gloucestershire County Council’s Highways Manager to discuss the whole issue.”

He added that not all those who attended the emergency meeting are Chamber members and hoped that they might consider joining if he can demonstrate that he means business. 

In the meantime a detailed timeline of the events leading up to the closure is being assembled for presentation to solicitors; the aim being to provide any members who want to claim for compensation with a package of information to simplify the process.

Click on th epdf below for one local person's thoughts. 

More Information : Click to view PDF

Local businesses working in partnership.