Outgline_Inequalities_on_a_Street_You_Know

This short piece of work will endeavour to look at inequalities in Port Street, Evesham. It will draw on facts that have been learnt whilst studying City Road as part of this module. This essay will look at inequalities in the following areas namely parking, residency and flooding and shops. Port Street is a long established street in the heart of Evesham. It has been hit by many catastrophes’ not least the major floods of July 2007 in which major damage was caused by the river Avon. Many businesses were flooded and damage ran into thousands of pounds. Indeed, many shops closed down after the floods and never reopened. This lead to Port Street becoming a “ghost” street that nobody visited. Graffiti starting appearing on derelict buildings and it had an “unsafe” feel about it. However in January 2011 a grant from The Heritage Fund was given to Port Street for the sum of £257,000 this was to enable the regeneration of Port Street. (http://www.wychavon.gov.uk) The first of the grants have been allocated to the Regal cinema for the sum of £80,000. This cinema is now closed; however it used to be the hub of the community and can be compared to cinema in City Road. Until recently it had become an eyesore and focus for vandalism. In its heyday the cinema would bring revenue to the town as families from neighboring villages would visit. There was also a fish and chip shop and several cafes that encouraged spending. Many of the local cafes have now closed and have been occupied by immigrants who are selling foods from their own countries of origin. One particular café that could easily be compared to Taste Buds café in City Road (Making Social Lives, 2009, scene 5) was Robinson’s café and bakery. It was situated in mid Port Street and offered a pleasant environment for the elderly residents to meet up socially. It was a long established family run business that attracted many loyal customers as well as custom from tourists visiting Evesham. Sadly now, with the current economic climate this has been forced to close and has now been turned into a Polish food shop and café. The elderly fraternities no longer go there and feel alienated by the many multi cultural shops and shopkeepers. Indeed when walking through Port Street now, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were in a different county. The local charity shops have been changed to foreign newsagents with one shop refusing to serve British customers. This has lead to a breakdown of communication and any feeling of support for the street from British residents appears to have long gone. Port Street is very narrow and offers a small pavement either side of the road. The street is used as a through fare for major bus routes so pedestrians have to negotiate the traffic whilst going about their duty. It is dangerous when buses turn onto Port Street from Waterside as they mount the curb. Pushchairs and mobility scooters are extremely vulnerable as there are no places to step aside. The pedestrian crossing halfway up Port Street is often not working, making it awkward to cross the busy road especially with delivery trucks parked outside shops. The lollipop lady has now been replaced by ineffective crossing lights. The only parking in Port Street is behind the cinema and consists of twenty four parking spaces. In January this year parking fees went up from ten pence to seventy pence per hour with the introduction of pay and display parking. (http://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/port_street_evesham) This has discouraged people from parking in the car park when they are visiting Evesham and it is found that visitor’s park on Waterside where parking is free. This has resulted in visitors and locals not walking through Port Street to go into the centre of Evesham. Several of the public houses in Port Street have closed and have been boarded up. This has lead to a loss of jobs and has also inadvertently lead to the public buying alcohol from off licenses and drinking by the river. This has culminated in a rise of litter with discarded bottles and cans being left inappropriately and not put in bins. Finally it could be argued that there are many inequalities in both City Road and Port Street. Previous lack of funding, adverse weather conditions, immigration and multi cultural living have all played a part. Port Street no longer seems to be a part of Evesham as it has a developed a new identity and appears to be set aside as a foreign community of its own. Word Count: 763 REFERENCES “Making Social Lives on City Road” (2009) Making Social Lives [DVD], Milton Keynes, The Open University Blakeley,G., Clarker,J., Raghuram,P., Silva, E. and Taylor, S. (2009) Learning Companion 1, Introducing the social sciences; part one, Milton Keynes, The Open University http://www.wychavon.gov.uk/cms/business/planning/heritage-and-conservation/port-street,-evesham.aspx accessed 20/05/2011 http://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/port_street_evesham/ accessed on 07/07/2011 Self Reflection I would like to say that I have found working towards this first assignment both useful and informative. It has encouraged me to work in a structured way along with continuing work commitments and home life. In writing the essay I found it extremely hard to not exceed the 750 word limit plus 10%.