‘Token gesture’ rap for shop fund plan

Aug 14 2009 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

GOVERNMENT funding for councils to clean up empty town centre properties has been described by the North East Chamber of Commerce as a “token gesture“.

Communities Secretary John Denham announced a £3m package to rejuvenate high streets in what he described as 57 of the country’s “hardest hit areas“.

Councils in Gateshead, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, South Tyneside, Darlington, Sunderland, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Durham will each receive £52,632.

But the NECC claimed that the sums of money being offered are too small to make any real difference.

NECC’s Ross Smith said: “What this does is highlight the absurdity of a situation in which the same Government that is spending cash to bring empty property into use has been collecting billions in taxes from empty property rates, which took effect from almost precisely the start of the recession.

“Empty property rates have piled significant extra tax pressure on businesses and in some cases, forced them to take avoidance measures that are damaging to the long-term health of our economy, such as demolishing buildings or using them for purposes for which they weren’t designed.

“If local authorities have innovative ideas for using empty space in town centres, they can work with local businesses to bring that about. They shouldn’t need a token gesture from Government to help them do so.”

Mr Denham says the money will allow councils to replace boarded up shops with projects such as art galleries or community learning centres. “We know that the downturn has really hurt high streets in areas of high deprivation across England,” he said. “These grants will help to transform and reopen empty shops as part of our real help to keep town centres vibrant and combat the recession.

“Those councils will now be able to use our funding to come up with their own creative ideas to transform their boarded-up shops into something useful like a learning centre, meeting place for local people or showroom for local artists.

“There is no need to see unused shops on our high streets going to waste, especially when we know that it doesn’t take a lot to turn a vacant shop into something beneficial for the community.”

Fashion designer Wayne Hemingway is involved in a scheme in Gateshead which will see an empty building turned into a business space for local creative industries.

He said: “This is about giving the creative community a helping hand and putting empty units to good use.

“It has the potential to attract leaders and entrepreneurs to Gateshead and give the local economy a boost.

“The creative sector is now one of the biggest drivers of the UK economy and yet there are very few facilities to promote entrepreneurship in this area.

“Nationally we are losing our low-cost start-up opportunities.

“From Kensington Market in London, where my first company Red Or Dead established itself, to The Corn Exchange in Leeds, places that used to provide low-cost opportunities for independent start-ups in prime positions are disappearing as our towns and cities contribute to the worrying ’Clone Town Britain’ label.

“At a time when overseas competition is addressing this issue, Britain should start to also address it to retain its creative edge.”

In April, the Government set out a series of measures aimed a making it easier for local groups to take over vacant stores.

They included speeded-up planning procedures, extra powers for local councils to intervene and standard short-term leases.