cafe nero - petition

[SimonM]

>>It failed to do so and Southwark Council told them it had to apply. They applied. Southwark refused to grant it on the >>basis that LL has a 50/50 limitation on the number of retail vs cafe, bars, restaurants etc...<<

I rarely use Nero but will sign their petition as a matter of principle. Nero is almost alone in all the new businesses which have sprung up along LL in the last year or two which has complied with the spirit and letter of the Disability Discrimination Act. Foxtons & Chandwlier - to name but two - got the nod from the Council Planning Dept whilst blithely ignoring provisions for reasonable access to their premises.

Nero is the only accessible coffee shop on Lordship Lane. If the Council wants to demonstrate how tough and fearless it is then it should enforce all planning rules and not just this pitiful ,crowd-pleasing, anti-chain gesture. If they are going to stand up to Nero then they should at least be consistent.

It could start with the EDT, the Bkack Cherry, The Bishop...and look I have obly reached the first junction! :))

[kford]

Being the only accessible coffee shop on LL is not a reason to allow them to stay. It's only because of their might that they can afford to comply, i.e. completely rebuilding the entire shop front; smaller outfits struggle to meet the costs of following the law to the letter. If Southwark did come down on the other shops in LL, it'd be either a ghost town or a clone town.

[SimonM]

>>Being the only accessible coffee shop on LL is not a reason to allow them to stay. It's only because of their might >>that they can afford to comply, i.e. completely rebuilding the entire shop front; <<

Sorry that is nonsense. All the places I named in my previous posts have had substantial refurbishments/rebuildins in the past few years. If you cannot comply with the law then you should not be opening a business and Southwark should certainly at the very least be enforcing planning and associated legislation against everyone. In any case it seems to me the Council is choosing to haul Nero up on what is after all no more than a technicality simply because it is perceived as a chain and and therefore it's not poor, hard-done-by local entrepreneurs that will suffer: clearly though large numbers of its customers will be inconvenienced to some degree.

[fatfightersforever]

Having not been keen before they opened I really like the comfy seats, coffee and free papers and it's not a complete rip off like Le chandelier!! The guy who works in Nero is lovely and will probably lose his job so I'll definitely be going in to sign the petition.

[Jason]

I run a local business and know how high the rent is for that double unit that Nero occupies.

If Nero shuts it is likely to remain empty. Certainly no idependent could afford the massive outgoings during their first year.

Lets support Nero for the sake of the staff jobs and not having an empty space. If you do object to it just don't go in there

[sphillips]

It?s a matter of personal choice and conscience. I exercised mine and boycotted them from day one. Strikes me of double-standards if people call for LL to maintain its character and then frequent places like this. I am not convinced that people can have it both ways. Ok, I am in a minority ? I recognise that. There are more worthwhile petitions to sign - try the Amnesty International greetings card campaign if people are that desperate to call for "justice". Much more worthwhile. They knew what they were doing by deliberately flouting planning laws - they pay lawyers vast amounts of money to ensure they get around regulations that the rest of us have to abide by. Sorry, I can't sympathise with their self-inficted predicament.

[Wino]

Heartily agree.

I didn't want it here, but when it arrived I have just not used it. However, if they have tried to do the usual corporate skullduggery then they deserve to be hammered.

[Asset]

I've never been into Nero, not from any specific boycott, just that I rarely get the chance to sit around drinking coffee. However, if I did, I wouldn't go there. I walked past it the other day and - the lighting is awful; the place was littered with discarded newspapers and it generally did not look at all appealing.

I don't know what would be achieved from them being turfed out now other than a lesson to the majors not to ride roughshod over rules. Not sure what my point is. I'll go now.

[scor46]

Many people apply for planning retrospectively. Its almost the norm... There is more to this story than meets the eye!!

[scor46]

Jason Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I run a local business and know how high the rent

> is for that double unit that Nero occupies.

>

> If Nero shuts it is likely to remain empty.

> Certainly no idependent could afford the massive

> outgoings during their first year.

>

> Lets support Nero for the sake of the staff jobs

> and not having an empty space. If you do object to

> it just don't go in there

Lordship Lane is dramatically changing. The multi-national chains are moving in and are prepared to pay the rents the smaller independents cant afford to operate, sell up or go out of business. The national operators are not put off by high rents its all about share price. If Nero?s closed down there will be a number of Nationals ready to take it whatever the rents. In the next 5-10 years we will see some more of the chains on the Lane, they will just buy adjacent shops and knock them into bigger ones. Rent value wont come into it.

[Bellenden Jo]

I don't care who serves my coffee, be it independant or chain, as long as it is good coffee, reasonably priced, there is somewhere to sit and I can get my buggy in without blocking the way for everyone else. Will be signing when I am next in there.

[fatfightersforever]

Jason Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I run a local business and know how high the rent

> is for that double unit that Nero occupies.

>

> If Nero shuts it is likely to remain empty.

> Certainly no idependent could afford the massive

> outgoings during their first year.

>

> Lets support Nero for the sake of the staff jobs

> and not having an empty space. If you do object to

> it just don't go in there

agree with jason, chains are inevitably here to stay and it could definitely be worse.....Mcdonalds/kfc etc or an empty space. We're lucky in ED, independents like Drum and Blue Mountain are still viable and perfectly happy co-existing alongside Cafe Nero...isn't that the beauty of the neighbourhood?

anyone know who to contact at Southwark to voice our support or not depending on your viewpoint..? thanks.

[reggie]

If the big chains are forced out of LL then rents will be forced down as well, will they not? Thus giving the little guy a chance.

Check out "Oh No Capuccino"- the first Suburban Pirate podcast

[Keef]

Yes but the big chains are not going to be forced out (and rightly so). If Nero is forced to close, it's more than likely another chain will take over.

People forget that there used to be a Tesco and a Woolworths on the main bit of Lordship Lane, and when they went they were both replaced by other chains (7-11 and Iceland).

[char1ie]

I love Cafe Nero coffee. It's great. And so are their chocolate muffins.

Charlie

[Frisco]

"People forget that there used to be a Tesco"

Where was the Tesco? The Co-op was next door to 7/11 (or Budgens, as it now is) when I came to live here. 7/11 opened no long after I moved here, but I can't recall what was there before.

I understood that Woolworths used to be where Foxtons now is.

Does anyone remember the locksmith (the old guy who people used to travel miles for) in the tiny shop opposite the Co-op chemist?

[Frisco]

Sorry, that was mostly in the wrong thread. I didn't sleep very well! *yawn*

[Keef]

Actually, you may well be right about the Woolworths. Tesco was where the 7-11, now Budgens is. I guess 7-11 took it over around 1985ish.

[Nero]

I'd like to see it shut down. Look at it this way - it's mainly hated and Southwark should make an example of it. Also, Southwark will now know the anti-chain sentiment and know what a bolshy lot we can be and will therefore think twice. I do feel for the people with the jobs, but that is not a logical argument for it to be there. Nero

[*Bob*]

The good people of ED having been going in there in droves and showing their hatred - by buying coffee and sticky buns.

Nero won't close. It's a pipedeam.

[Frisco]

I can't see the point in closing it down really. I don't want to LL to become infested with chain coffee shops but we're unlikely to be able to avoid any, and of all of them I quite like cafe nero.

[snorky]

They will get away with it - they always do sadly

Please dont sign the petition - they have opened up without usual consent in a drive to make maoney - they are not a charity , they dont offer accomodation for striken orphans - they opened to make cash, thats it - the breached laws to make money , however you look at it.

As the manics said :

If you tolerate this, your children will be next

[Ladygooner]

Mr Admin - can we get a vote system going on here so we can see who loves Cafe Nero and who hates it?

[Asset]

and who's indifferent

[*Bob*]

Don't forget to include a box for "it's only a coffee shop if you don't like it then just don't go in there"