"Parking is an issue" - Town centre business owners have their say on the main problems affecting them

Simon Jackson, manager of the Acapulco and vice chairman of Pub Watch Halifax, a group of around 40 licensees of town centre pubs and bars, says many businesses in Halifax town centre are still feeling the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, as well as dealing with current problems.

"Pub Watch has spoken to the council over the graffiti and drinking in the streets, the problem with the car parking situation, where several car parks have been closed.

"Others have actually put prices up at certain times, like when the Piece Hall have concerts.

"Traffic wardens often work later into the evening to raise more revenue. We believe this is putting more people off visiting Halifax – parking is now much harder and much more expensive than neighbouring towns like Brighouse and Holmfirth.

"Another big topic is the roadworks. Not only is it causing so much difficulty by removing the roundabout and slowing traffic down, they have now closed and filled in the subways, which we believe puts the public in danger.

"However, there are positives.

"Pub Watch invited Chief Superintendent Mick Brown for a low-profile walk round the town on a Saturday evening, so some of our concerns that we believe the police should take on board could be pointed out.

"And we understand this is something that has helped the police in understanding the concerns of local businesses.

"We also believe more officers are being relocated to the town centre on an evening to tackle these and keep Halifax one of the safest towns in West Yorkshire.

"We'd now like some senior levels of management from the council to attend some of our meetings, like the police have been doing on a regular basis, to try and keep Halifax as the party venue of West Yorkshire."

Michael Ainsworth, owner of The Grayston Unity and Meandering Bear, feels the big issues affecting hospitality are at national level, though local issues are not helping.

"Whilst the forthcoming changes on rates for town centre businesses are welcomed the one thing that would significantly improve matters would be the reduction of VAT on alcohol for licensed premises serving alcohol," he said.

"For shops and supermarkets, the current rate should remain.

"We pay duty when buying alcohol and are then charged duty when we sell it - we are the only country in Europe to do this.

"In addition, as a music venue, we are then charged VAT on ticket sales. This too should be addressed if the government wants venues to survive and even grow.

"Utility costs is a significant factor too but what can we do?

"Finally, the increase in National Insurance contributions should have been targeted to help all small businesses and thus stop the stunting of growth that this has caused.

"Locally, the cost of car parking, and the introduction of charges, in the evening, and the obsession of getting cars out of the town centre, has meant a significant impact on trade after work or into the evening."

Caroline Howard, who runs The Boardroom cafe in Todmorden, says parking is the main issue affecting her business.

"We're on Hall Street, opposite the library, so we have parking bays outside, which is an hour's parking," she said.

"But as much as people probably wouldn't like it, I'd prefer it to be pay and display, so then people could choose to pay for a couple of hours and come and play a game.

"A lot of cafes, customers are in and out quicker, but as a board game cafe, we need customers to stay a bit longer.

"So parking is an issue. That's what most people moan about - parking and buses, which are all over the place with the timetables.

"I love Todmorden, I've lived here 25 years, but I don't think anyone does enough to generate people coming to the area.

"I always feel we're second to Hebden Bridge but we have as much to offer, we have some lovely quirky shops and coffee shops."