Occupancy
In the short-term, Covid will negatively impact occupancy levels in all towns and cities. Some businesses have already announced their closure. Banking and fashion retail have witnessed the greatest fallout.
That said, we do not have to accept significant levels of vacancy in our towns as a fait accompli.
We can look at innovative uses for vacant space and create rates- and rent-controlled zones to appeal to SME artisan food and craft producers. There is no reason why many towns cannot have a mini-English Market of their own.
To solve the occupancy conundrum, it’s worth considering appointing an occupancy champion to every county council. If a building falls vacant, something happens about it.
BRYAN COUNTY HISTORY: Finchtown- A Community under Water
Bryan County Genealogy Library
There has always been a bit of confusion about Finchtown, a community that ceased to exist when Lake Texoma was filled. Sources say that a post office named Finch was established two miles northwest of Colbert in 1898, also briefly known as Finchville, and in 1901 was permanently changed to Platter.
Finchtown, just northwest of Platter where a ferry crossed the Washita, was founded in 1870 by Ode Finch, a Chickasaw. J. M. Finch, a descendent of Ode, celebrated his sixty-third anniversary in 1963 and told the Democrat that he and his bride, Vada, got married on the Finchtown Ferry boat in 1900. In 1905 the newspaper in nearby Woodville reported: “Work has begun and is progressing nicely on the road to the Finchtown Ferry and it will not be long before we will begin to reap the reward for our labor.” Mr. Bowen was in charge of the ferry.
BRYAN COUNTY HISTORY: Finchtown: A Community under Water
Bryan County Genealogy Library
There has always been a bit of confusion about Finchtown, a community that ceased to exist when Lake Texoma was filled. Sources say that a post office named Finch was established two miles northwest of Colbert in 1898, also briefly known as Finchville, and in 1901 was permanently changed to Platter.
Finchtown, just northwest of Platter where a ferry crossed the Washita, was founded in 1870 by Ode Finch, a Chickasaw. J. M. Finch, a descendent of Ode, celebrated his sixty-third anniversary in 1963 and told the Democrat that he and his bride, Vada, got married on the Finchtown Ferry boat in 1900. In 1905 the newspaper in nearby Woodville reported: “Work has begun and is progressing nicely on the road to the Finchtown Ferry and it will not be long before we will begin to reap the reward for our labor.” Mr. Bowen was in charge of the ferry. I
Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi (pictured) told the London Assembly he is confident London will meet its target of vaccinating 1.5 million by mid-February. Credit: PA/Newsquest London is on track to reach its target of vaccinating 1.5 million people by the middle of February, with more than one million jabs already given out. Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi this morning told the London Assembly that the capital “will continue to receive (its) fair share” of vaccine supply and that he expects the most vulnerable in London to be vaccinated by “the middle of February”. Mr Zahawi said: “I’m confident that together we will do this, and we will vaccinate the adult population of London and get our lives back and our country back and our economy back.”
Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi (pictured) told the London Assembly he is confident London will meet its target of vaccinating 1.5 million by mid-February. Credit: PA/Newsquest London is on track to reach its target of vaccinating 1.5 million people by the middle of February, with more than one million jabs already given out. Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi this morning told the London Assembly that the capital “will continue to receive (its) fair share” of vaccine supply and that he expects the most vulnerable in London to be vaccinated by “the middle of February”. Mr Zahawi said: “I’m confident that together we will do this, and we will vaccinate the adult population of London and get our lives back and our country back and our economy back.”