High Street Businesses
Debate between Desmond Swayne and Gregor Poynton(2 days, 22 hours ago)
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Gregor Poynton
I completely agree. We need to be much more creative about how we use the units. Some of these businesses, frankly, are not coming back to our high streets so we should be honest about that and look at other options such as childcare, co-working spaces and housing in town centres to help rejuvenate those places and get them into action. That creative policymaking in planning is absolutely required.
The Scottish Government can take a number of steps. First, we need a level playing field between the small businesses based on our high streets and the global online retailers. Secondly, as has been discussed, more thought needs to go into the housing stock being built in our towns. With many buildings left empty, it is right to relax planning rules to make it easier to convert shop fronts into flats, while still ensuring quality housing for their residents. Thirdly, the way people work now has changed, and our town centres must reflect that, so we need to prioritise superfast broadband in our town centres. Local planning should also take childcare into account, ensuring the businesses can thrive in the places to be. Fourthly, councils should be encouraged to use the powers available to them to make ownership data on high street properties public, so that the community has the opportunity to step in and take over some units. Finally, as my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) said, town centres will never thrive unless people feel safe in them, so a focus on safety is key.
All those ideas can perhaps contribute to making our towns better places to live; none would constitute a revolution, but they would be revolutionary for millions of people because, for too long, main streets in towns and villages such as Fauldhouse, Broxburn, West Calder, Uphall and others in my constituency have been neglected by the SNP Government. This can change: we can refresh and rejuvenate our high streets, but it will require fresh and rejuvenated leadership.
Sir Desmond Swayne (in the Chair)
Order. We have done our sums; Members have three minutes each.