Local Shops for Local People

Green Party's online drive to promote local businesses.

York Green Party has launched a directory of local shops on the internet,allowing Google users to find local and independent shops and services easily.

The online directory lists independent and locally-based shops and services in the Heslington, Fulford and Fishergate wards of the city. It builds on a booklet, called "Local Shops for Local People" that the Green Party produced in 2006. This directory was distributed to every household in the areas covered.

Dave Taylor, Green Councillor for Fishergate said, "We wholly support The Press's campaign to promote local shops. Our aim back in October 2006 was to make sure people knew what they could get from independent and local shops. The chain shops have far higher advertising budgets, and we wanted to do our bit to help the profile of independents."

"One of the things that is absolutely vital in this day and age is to have your business listed in Google. More people now use Google searches to find local businesses than the Yellow Pages. So we decided to transfer our old paper-based directory into an online version."

The map is by no means exhaustive, and York Green Party welcomes additions and refinements. Visitors with a Google account can comment on the map directly. "We hope that this initiative will eventually cover the whole of York," says Dave Taylor, "but we had to start somewhere."

"Supporting local businesses has long been a Green priority. Local businesses create more jobs, and will put more money back into the local economy than a national plc would. They help foster a sense of identity in a town or city, and will often have smaller carbon footprints, as they don't have national freight distribution networks."

The online "Local Shops for Local People" map is available at http://tinyurl.com/lsflp