Meeting documents

Ron Pharo , Ashley House, 8 Pulteney Gardens. 9.01.08

Although Bath is certainly a `blue chip' tourist destination we must never allow ourselves to think that the world owes us or the city a living. It must be born in mind that our customers are spending their own money and do have a choice.

To remain competitive is now more important than ever given the state of things as we look forward into 2008: (credit crunch, higher mortgage payments, 2 dollars to the pound, oil at $100 a barrel and the prospect of even higher energy charges. News is not good from the High Street either, with Marks and Spencer (regarded as an economic weathervane) and many others reporting a disappointing Christmas and last quarter; we've all heard the news today.

I have run a guest House in Bath for almost 20 years and have striven to offer value for money for our visitors. A reasonable living can be made in this city if one charges fairly and moderately - above this the law of diminishing returns comes into effect. One of the pressures of modern life is finding somewhere to park; it is not just the cost. It is among the first things a potential guest asks about. Not only are they relieved that we can offer parking at no cost, but the fact that it is available close to where they wish to stay goes a long way to making the Bath Experience a happy and positive one for them.

The proposal to increase the cost of permits excessively and unreasonably works against all this, and against the efforts of BT Plus to promote Bath. We cannot afford to absorb this increase. It should reflect the ability to pay; there is only a certain amount of money in any business. If it is thought that money raised by this proposal from just a few small traders would go any way towards filling multi-million pound deficits - well, the truth is that the sums just don't add up.

Thank you for listening to me.