OPINION: Retailer wins community campaign

A campaigning retailer has won a battle to install a pedestrian crossing near his store after witnessing several serious accidents.

Warwickshire County Council agreed to put in a crossing after a four-year battle by Sunder Sandher at S&S One Stop in Leamington Spa.

He said: “I’ve been here 35 years and I’ve seen about six accidents where kids were knocked over and three accidents where elderly people were knocked down. It’s a very busy route and they come round the corner so fast.

“So I started a petition in the shop. Everybody was for it.”

Initially, Mr Sandher was told by the county council that there was no funding for the crossing.

But, after he researched rules which required crossings to be installed on busy roads near to schools, councillors were persuaded to find the money.

Next month the county council plans to install a puffin crossing – a smarter version of the pelican crossing, which runs silently to avoid disturbing residents and features sensors to detect when pedestrians are present and adjust the timing.

Meanwhile, Mr Sandher has begun campaigning on new issues, visiting Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, at the House of Commons to raise concerns about business rates and recycling.

With the Chancellor having decided to bring forward the business rates revaluation by one year to 2021, Mr Sandher wanted to raise the issue of external ATM business rates. “When Matt Weston first came to my shop, he wasn’t aware that ATMs had separate business rates,” he said.

He also raised concerns with his MP about the proposed deposit return scheme for plastic bottles endorsed by environment secretary Michael Gove.

Mr Sandher says recycling is a good idea, but called on MPs to ensure that small stores were not overrun by empty bottles.