Market Town Centres: Regeneration

Brandon Lewis Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan) on securing the debate. It is good to observe the passion that she brings to fighting for what she thinks is right for her area, which I visited recently, and her determination to ensure that it benefits from growth and opportunity. Both she and my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Chris Davies), who intervened, have shown that determination to ensure that there are opportunities for our high streets. Given the importance of the issue, I am a bit surprised that the Opposition Benches are empty, but I will address them anyway.

I know that many Members work hard with partners in their constituencies—as my hon. Friends do—to keep town centres at the heart of our communities, and to overcome the challenges that we undoubtedly all face as consumer habits change. If high streets are to remain at the heart of our communities, they need to become more than just places to shop. They need to become vibrant and viable places where people can live, shop, use services and spend their leisure time, during both the day and the evening. We are determined to help our high streets, and committed to helping them. I believe that this is a critical time for our town centres, and I am dedicated to ensuring that local authorities, local enterprise partnerships and local partnerships of any type—including business improvement districts and, indeed, communities themselves—have access to the tools and powers that they need in order to transform their local areas.

We have made clear our wish to empower towns and cities to become real engines of growth, unleashing their full potential by placing the power to make decisions in the hands of those who know best what is needed: the people who live and work there. We are committed to supporting local growth throughout the country, and I am pleased to say that Wiltshire is no exception. We have announced growth deals worth £140 million with the Swindon and Wiltshire local enterprise partnership, and £16 million has been allocated to the Chippenham station hub to enhance station facilities. We expect that to unlock £16 million of private sector investment, and a further £2 million from local developers. The local enterprise partnership estimates that the station hub will create 600 jobs, both directly and indirectly, as well as up to 1,457 parking spaces and retail, commercial and housing development. The project will help to meet expected increases in passenger numbers, and a pedestrian link will provide improved access for people with direct mobility impairments.

There are other examples of growth deal projects in the Chippenham constituency. The investment of £8 million for the dualling of the A350 Chippenham bypass will deal with known and forecast congestion points, and there will be a further £2.5 million for the renovation of the Mansion House building in Corsham, which creates incubation space for businesses and teaching space for higher education courses.

As I know from my previous role as the Minister specifically responsible for these matters, high streets and town centres play an essential role in delivering such landscapes. They create jobs, nurturing small businesses and injecting billions of pounds into our economy. According to a report published in July 2015 by the Association of Town and City Management, town centres contribute nearly £600 billion to UK plc each year. That is why the Government have been so determined to back small and medium-sized enterprises, and why, in the Budget, we announced the biggest ever cut in business rates.

All that goes hand in hand with parking reforms and the lifting of planning restrictions to increase flexibility of use on high streets, making it easier for them to adapt to the needs of their communities, and providing additional rights. Research has shown that those measures are driving people back on to the high street, and that they are taking advantage of the way in which the digital age is moving things forward as consumer practices change. Many high streets are benefiting from that, and returning valiantly from the recession. Recent data have shown positive footfall trends in most locations, and year-on-year retail sales have increased for 37 consecutive months. That is the longest period of sustained growth since 2008. In the last year, investment in high street retail property jumped by 30%, and the national vacancy rate has fallen to a level that has not been seen since 2009.

While there is a lot of good news for high streets—and we should be clear about that, and build on it—I am aware that in some places, there are retail spaces that have seen better days. Government cannot and should not rest on their laurels. and I and colleagues are working hard to develop a range of support to help all high streets thrive. We are looking at what more we can do to strengthen the influence of, for example, business improvement districts over local decision making and service provision. High streets need the strong digital offer that the modern consumer wants, and we are taking forward that work to help them compete in the digital era.

We all know that car parking has an essential role to play in supporting viable communities, including high streets and tourist destinations, and I do not deny that I am personally very attached to the fact that we see footfall increase where parking charges are reduced and access to parking is easier. Local authorities should look carefully at that, and my experience is that the best way to bring more footfall to the high street is to reduce parking charges or, even better, introduce free parking. I am delighted that my Conservative-led council has recently done that in Great Yarmouth.

People are increasingly looking for more diverse “experiential” offers from their town centres that focus on a range of things like leisure, commerce and services. We no longer just go to our high street to shop; we go there to spend time and we may do some shopping while there. We have to allow the flexibility for high streets to change.

My hon. Friend is right to talk about housing, and I was delighted recently to visit at her invitation to look at what more we can do to make sure we are providing housing in her area and how this benefits our town centres. By increasing housing provision in our town centres, we achieve two very positive things that work at two different levels. Having more homes in town centres leads to increased footfall for town-centre businesses. At a secondary level, this is important because people want to be around town centres; they are generally good transport hubs and they provide good access to services and retail. Town centres are a good place to live, and it is good for the businesses to have people living there.

The starter homes land fund, launched in March, has highlighted the potential for housing-led transformation in town centres, and I encourage local authorities to bid for that fund and to bring more housing, particularly starter homes, into their communities and around our town centres.

I am keen to see new public and private sector partnerships developing, which will foster more local growth. Local authorities can use this as an opportunity to reconfigure the way they deliver public services and use their land and buildings in those areas. My departmental colleagues and I will be leading work to help deliver these new residential opportunities in the coming months, but I would like my hon. Friend and other Members here today to consider how housing can support our towns and high streets in our constituencies across the country.

In closing I want to touch on the great British high street awards. I am keen to continue celebrating the passion, commitment and civic pride found in high streets and town centres up and down the country. The 2015 awards were a great success, and the 2016 awards are a great opportunity for people to recognise and celebrate the great work being done in their local communities. I encourage people to develop opportunities and put forward entries, and I look forward to seeing entries coming in from right across Wiltshire.

We are committed to helping our high streets adapt to changing times, but we must be clear: there is no one-size-fits-all solution. That is why we cannot have a top-down approach; we have to make sure we give the tools and powers to every area to do what is right for them. Every town is different; from market towns to ribbon towns, we must make sure we address the local needs of each particular area, enabling them to decide for themselves what is best for their high streets and town centres.

But everybody must play their part, with local economic partnerships, councils, businesses, communities, business improvement districts, Ministers and local MPs working together to develop the vision and solutions for their areas. Through the great British high street awards, we have seen wonderful examples of this already over the last couple of years, and we all need to work together to tackle more challenges, which will be beneficial for those awards and for our high streets in the years ahead. We are committed to doing just that, and I thank my hon. Friend for raising this topic today.

Question put and agreed to.