Growing Businesses and Thriving High Streets
Growing Businesses and Thriving High Streets
I first got involved in politics to protect and improve high streets. They are the beating heart of our communities and over generations they have adapted to cope with our changing lifestyles, shopping habits and working practices. I have worked hard at a local level to improve them but it is at a Governmental level that real change needs to happen.
The most successful towns embrace change and value their special identities rather than look back to the good old days.
The problem is that policy making hasn’t caught up and the costs associated with running from town centre premises have become enormous, with whole streets owned by pension funds and absent landlords. Councils have struggled to maintain public transport, leisure centres, libraries and other public spaces and have had their powers to influence planning removed in the drive for development.
I am ready to use my experience to reinvent our town and village centres by:
- Rethinking business rates so town centre businesses can compete with online or out of town offers.
- Supporting low-cost, reliable public transport that links communities all day every day along with car sharing clubs.
- Challenging the permitted development which allows ground floor shops to be converted to homes undermining high streets.
- Supporting the development of town centre homes on brownfield land and above retail units
- Improving community rights to purchase assets like pubs that might be under threat as was so successfully done in Shapwick.
- Making the case for a retail led investment zone in Dorset that can model reimagining town centres.
- Supporting the High Street Rental Auctions to force empty property back into use where a tenant is available.
- Backing the campaign for reduced VAT on hospitality to help businesses adapt during the cost-of-living crisis.
- Supporting apprentices at all levels and across sectors and introducing the Skills Wallet to enable retraining later in life.
- Fixing the botched deal with Europe following our 4-step roadmap and accessing the single market
- Boost productivity by enabling flexible working and improving digital connectivity across communities.