Firm 'being bullied' to move

WEST END SHOWROOM OWNER WANTS TO STAY BUT COUNCIL WANT HER OUT

- WILLIAM TELFORD

A PLYMOUTH business owner says the council is "bullying" her to move out so it can redevelop a chunk of the city centre. Julie Piper, who owns pram and pushchair showroom Stroll-On Baby, is refusing to budge until she is offered a suitable location to move to.

Miss Piper said all the alternatives she has been shown were unsuitable and the money Plymouth City Council has offered for her to surrender her lease is not enough. She is prepared to remain in her showroom, which opens onto Western Approach and Colin Campbell Court, for years even though the buildings next door have already been knocked down.

"They are bullying us," she said. "They want to pay us and say 'goodbye' and demolish us. This is causing a lot of stress and anxiety. I have a business to run and it is taking up a lot of my time. I'm so angry."

Miss Piper has run the successful Stroll-On Baby store from its West End premises for more than a decade. The council owns the freehold but she has 39 years yet on a long lease, meaning the only way the authority can forcibly move her out is via a compulsory purchase order (CPO).

The council is keen to transform the area by knocking down buildings and creating 300 new homes. The authority has already bagged several long leases in the West End and is in negotiations with other businesses as it looks to create a "residential-led mixed use" development.