City and Town Centres: Regeneration

Bayo Alaba Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mr Bayo Alaba (Southend East and Rochford) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) for securing the debate, which is incredibly important to me and my constituency of Southend East and Rochford. When we talk about high streets and city centre regeneration, we are talking about so much more than just the retail industry. The ripple effect is clear: declining footfall also threatens hospitality, cultural amenities, tourism and employment. The list is actually endless.

One reason why I stood to be the MP for Southend East and Rochford is that I can see how much potential the area has to offer. For a coastal community in the commuter belt of London, regenerating the city centre and high streets, such as Hamlet Court Road, will be key to unlocking a prosperous local economy. I have met a multitude of local businesses to understand the challenges they face and discussed a strategy to revive our high streets. They have told me about the difficulties in covering business rates, utility bills and the decreased footfall caused by antisocial behaviour, which ironically increases as our shops and venues close down.

A by-product of a vibrant high street is that it is a gateway for young people, providing soft skills and equipping them for the future. Last week, I met with bar operators on Alexandra Street who I know will be vital to the regeneration of the city centre in Southend. Independent businesses, such as IndiRock, are reinventing what the high street has to offer and paving the way for businesses to come. I have had a long career in regeneration and the hospitality industry and, chatting to the organisations at the forefront of Southend’s offer, I felt inspired that there was a collective of new businesses looking to reanimate the town centre. It is now our obligation to support them with strong, forward-thinking policy, giving them the foundations to grow their business and to elevate the communities that they are in.

Another important aspect of a vibrant high street is the circular economy, which is limited in Southend East and Rochford because of its struggling high streets. We need to put the mechanisms in place that see every pound spent circulated locally three, four or even five times. That is the goal of any community that wants to future-proof its relevance. Economic growth is the defining mission of this Government and ensuring thriving local high streets is essential to that. As MPs, we need to work towards effective partnerships with local authorities and business associations to realise that mission locally and to restore vibrancy to our high streets. I am filled with the hope that visitors to Southend East and Rochford will step off a train from Southend Victoria or Southend Central and will know from the thriving, bustling and prosperous high street that our local area is well worth a return visit.