How can I support local shops? There aren't any!

Since moving to Kirkby ten months ago, I’ve discovered it’s often necessary to go out of the area.

Obtaining dental treatment here is impossible for new patients. After repeated visits to the local dentist’s to enquire if they’ve sorted out their staffing issues, I’ve given up trying, so signed on with a dentist in Sutton, and that was the fourth one I tried there. The Department for Health was useless, just sending a list of (full up) dentists.

Need to buy a new washing machine? No chance in Kirkby. I found a shop in Sutton with a washer/dryer I wanted but - 1. The delivery men won’t deliver to my first floor flat. 2. They won’t remove my old machine. What fantastic service! When I said to the shopkeeper “You’ve lost a customer” his only comment was “I’m sorry you feel that way”. Presumably not one of the struggling local shops we keep hearing about. With the closure of Ryman in Sutton we no longer have a good stationer in the area. I spent a fair amount of money there, but obviously not enough to keep it open. With no Ryman-equivalent anywhere locally, I sometimes have to pay more for delivery than the cost of the items I’ve bought. 
Newsagents are almost non-existent in Kirkby, so I go to Sutton or Mansfield for a good selection of off-the-shelf magazines. Consequently I buy most of my magazines on subscription. I resent buying newspapers and magazines from supermarkets, so buy what I can from Philips in Low Moor Road rather than Morrisons.

And the Tories would have us believe that private enterprise is the answer to all the nation’s problems!

Tony Olsson

Millers Way,

Kirkby-in-Ashfield

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