06/11/2024
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My partner owns and runs the local tattoo shop Bissellink InkbyBissell of which he and another artist Natmeg Tattoos work, in our once lovely village of New Ash Green, he has been the only tattoo parlour in the area for well over 2 years now and has built up and extraordinary reputation amongst the local residents and we also have many clients that travel hours for our business, so not only are we a staple part of the village, we also bring business into the area, clients that travel to us also make use of the other small businesses in the village whilst they visit us.
In the early hours of Tuesday 5th November, our alarm system notified us that there was someone trying to gain access into the shop, Charlie, still in his pyjamas ran down to the shop whilst I was at home on the phone with the police. As Charlie arrived at the shop, he was told the locks were changed and we couldn’t enter to collect any of our belongings.
As many of you well know, we did this shop up from an empty room, added so much to it to make it a workable environment that was both aesthetically pleasing but most of all a safe space to work as a tattoo studio. We have all the relevant licenses with the Sevenoaks district council environmental health agency, to obtain these we had to undergo an inspection which we passed. We have spent thousands on doing up this shop, spent hours upon hours doing it up. And to suddenly have it torn away in the worst way possible is absolutely devastating for a small business.
Only to find out today, that in the small print of planning permission that the landlords have applied for for 1-7 the Row New Ash Green, is 1-2 The Link New Ash Green… this affects us Blinxx, Sylvera Dance School and The Clocktower Gym that is 4 local businesses that are suffering at the hands of the landlords wanting to turn these commercial units into residential flats.. which is absolutely disgusting, when the new landlords took over, we were all told to give them a chance and to trust them as they “wanted what’s best for the village” well I think it’s pretty safe to say now, that was in fact false information, what everyone feared has inevitably come true.
The immense loss that this brings upon my family is catastrophic. My partners entire livelihood has been ripped from him without any warning, we have a 10 week old baby to provide and care for, as many of the local clients know.
Attached is a link the the Sevenoaks District Council website. Please please please click the link, click ‘add comment’ and fill in your details and OBJECT to this planning permission application. We can’t let bullies with more disposable income chase out our local businesses, we cannot let them win.
Thank you for your time reading this very long post. And thank you to all of our clients and visitors for your support over the years (and hopefully many more to come) and all of your well wishes during this incredibly awful time.
Charlie, Lucy & Natalie
The Bissell Ink Team 🫶🏻