Supporting High Streets

Allison Gardner Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Allison Gardner (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)]

I am delighted to take this opportunity to speak about Longton—a beloved town centre in my constituency that is very much on the up. I am excited that the Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Peckham (Miatta Fahnbulleh), who is not in her place, has offered to visit. I am sure that she will be excited to find out about the wonderful work happening in Longton.

There is a real sense of momentum in Longton right now, and a growing confidence and pride in what the town has to offer. Much of that is thanks to the brilliant, award-winning team at our busy shopping centre Longton Exchange, led by Chris Ward, which is doing so much to breathe new life into the town centre. Its commitment has helped to support traders, attract new businesses and bring fresh energy to the heart of the community. The high street is absolutely the heart of Longton. It is where community life happens—where people bump into friends, visit our beautiful Victorian market, grab a coffee or pop into one of our many brilliant independent shops. When the high street thrives, everything else follows, and we are seeing that now with businesses like Kiln at Number 12, So Very Dog and the wonderful Crumbs bakery, which won the “Win a Shop” competition and has set up its brilliant new bakery in the exchange.

Longton has always been a creative town. From the world-renowned Belstaff, whose clothes are sold right across the globe, to the Gladstone pottery museum, home to “The Great Pottery Throw Down”, creativity is in our DNA. That spirit is alive and well today thanks to groups such as Urban Wilderness, which keeps art and imagination at the heart of the town. Its famous pig walk brings thousands of people to Longton every year—that magic footfall—as a joyful celebration of community and creativity that shows what is possible when people come together. Its passion for ground-up community leadership, hosting the Longton town forum to bring together local businesses and residents, is vital for the future of our town, and I support it in its aim to turn the old bank into a fabulous arts centre. We also have the fantastic Sheila Cowell and her team at the Longton community partnership, continuing to bring residents together and making Longton bloom.

We also see a real focus on supporting the next generation. Launch It, in our renovated town hall, does brilliant work helping young entrepreneurs turn their ideas into real businesses, giving them the confidence and practical support to get started. Tangible investment is starting to flow into the town, showing the difference that a Labour Government working with a Labour council makes. Stoke-on-Trent city council’s ongoing public realm works are helping to make Longton more welcoming, accessible and better connected, especially around the high street and market area.

With £1.5 million of pride in place funding being rolled out in Stoke-on-Trent thanks to this Labour Government, I will be working hard to ensure that Longton gets its fair share. That funding needs to build on the progress that is already being made locally, ensuring that my constituents’ priorities are reflected and acted on. It would be remiss of me not to mention Meir North and the £20 million of pride in place funding for that area. Meir North also has its high street, and I promise the residents there that, along with their councillor Lauren Davison, we will deliver on their asks to make it a safe and secure high street on Weston Road.

All that sits alongside the Labour Government’s wider commitment to invest in our high streets, restoring pride and prosperity to towns that have in the past been overlooked. With new community right to buy, compulsory purchase powers, lowered business rates and support for more neighbourhood policing, I am confident that the Government will ensure that Longton continues to have a strong local centre—somewhere that reflects its identity, supports small businesses and brings people together.

Of course, there are still challenges. The much-loved Crown Works stands as a reminder of Longton’s industrial past and its potential for renewal. Its long-awaited regeneration into housing is something the community is eager to see finally delivered. We must confront the problems that have blighted our high street, such as fires in old, neglected buildings and too many empty properties left to decay. Those issues cannot be ignored, and absent landlords must be held to account. Our town deserves better than to have its heritage and future put at risk.

Despite those many challenges, the people remain resilient, creative and proud. That is why I am leading a preliminary Longton town centre masterplan, ensuring that businesses and customers have a say in how their town centre is regenerated for them, by them and with them. I have run out of time, but I have every confidence that Longton’s best days are ahead.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lloyd Hatton (South Dorset) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate for the very simple reason that my first job was on the high street in the town centre, in Weymouth, where I grew up. I do not like to talk about it too often, but it was at the particularly popular and well-loved fish and chip shop, the Marlboro. It is clear to me that the high street in Weymouth has struggled in the time since then. A lot of the challenges facing the high street began before the covid pandemic. It is right to acknowledge the pandemic’s devastating impact on high streets, but much of the damage was delivered before it, by the previous Conservative Government. If the House will indulge me, I will set out in a little more detail exactly how I feel we can revitalise our high streets, especially in Weymouth town centre and on Portland.

First, the Weymouth Museum Trust received over £40,000 of new funding in September, paving the way for it to be able to maintain a temporary pop-up museum in Weymouth town centre. I am grateful that the Labour Government chose to invest in Weymouth museum, which is a fantastic hub that celebrates our history and heritage, showcasing everything that is special about our town. However, that funding is just a short-term solution. We urgently need to move Weymouth museum back into Brewers Quay in the heart of Weymouth—a much more suitable permanent home for it. I look forward to working closely with the developers, Dorset council, local businesses, the museum trust and, of course, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to do just that. I know that we can return the museum to Brewers Quay. It is clear that, if we want to revitalise our high streets, including in Weymouth, we need effective partnership between businesses, charities, the council and national Government in backing our local museums.

[Dr Gardner]

Does my hon. Friend agree that increased accessibility for people with disabilities is a crucial aspect of town centre regeneration that would unlock the power of the purple pound? If we make the high street accessible for disabled people, we make it accessible for everyone.

[Lloyd Hatton]

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. Making places in the town centre accessible—be they local museums or other institutions—is essential to making them a success.

I know that Ministers understand the importance of supporting heritage and our local museums, so I look forward to working closely with them and cracking on with the important work of restoring Weymouth museum at Brewers Quay.

Secondly, I have been working closely with Treasury Ministers finally to deliver a world-class attraction in Eden Portland—or MEMO Portland, as it is officially known. That project has been in the pipeline for many years—successive Conservative Ministers unfortunately failed to recognise its huge potential—and it could breathe new life into the economy on Portland. If delivered, the project could boost Portland’s small businesses, attract new visitors to the island, secure well-paid jobs and create a truly unique attraction that celebrates our Jurassic coast and educates visitors about biodiversity.

It is clear that Eden Portland could be a significant anchor institution, attracting new visitors not just to Portland but to the whole of Dorset. The brilliant Eden Project down in Cornwall is a proven success story, so I am eager to see the Eden Portland proposals delivered so that we can realise similar benefits in my part of the world. Local businesses across Weymouth and Portland tell me time and again that Eden Portland could create a year-round visitor economy, meaning that shops, cafés, pubs, hotels and restaurants feel the benefits of increased visitor numbers outside the summer season and school holidays. If built, Eden Portland can be the anchor institution that we desperately need in Weymouth and Portland, delivering year-round benefits to the local economy. I will continue to do everything I can, working alongside the Treasury, to secure the funding needed finally to deliver that exciting project as soon as possible.

I look forward to working with this Labour Government to finally deliver a Weymouth cultural and visitor centre at the Old Rectory building. Years of under-investment in Weymouth by the previous Conservative Government mean that we have never had a dedicated venue to showcase art, music and culture. We urgently need a stand-alone space in our vibrant town to do just that. If opened, this centre would be a landmark venue offering a year-round programme of exhibitions, performances and community and educational events. If you have been to Dorset, Madam Deputy Speaker, you will know that there are so many successful artists, musicians, photographers and creatives who all richly deserve a venue like this in Weymouth. Many other seaside towns have celebrated and leant into an art and culture offering.