Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, today launched a multi-million-pound plan to rejuvenate the region’s town and city centres and put the buzz back into local high streets.
The initiative will see boarded-up shops brought back into use and support given to hundreds of high street businesses struggling to compete with the explosion in online shopping.
Several town and city centre locations will initially share the £10m High Streets and Growth Incubator funding and will be announced in due course.
The funding comes alongside today’s government announcement to save “hollowed out high streets” with a crackdown on vape and betting shops.
The changes include scrapping the outdated 'Aim to Permit' rule and requiring planning permission for new vape shops, giving councils in the West Midlands the same power over their high streets that the Mayor's fund is putting to work today.
The Mayor’s fund will be targeted at reducing the region’s shop vacancy rate, which is one of the highest in the country, and used to attract more shoppers and visitors by improving tired public spaces, hosting more special events, and setting up new market stalls and street food venues.
The Mayor said: “It's been a bruising few years for our high streets and sadly, many have become tired and run down.
"Today's announcement by the Prime Minister finally gives councils the power to say no to the vape shops and betting shops that have taken over too many town centres.
"That's a step forward but taking back control of the high street is only half the job. We also need the investment to fill it with something better.
"That's what this £10m is for. It will bring boarded-up shops back into use, get new market stalls and street food venues onto our high streets, and back the businesses that give people a reason to visit, not just pass through.
"I want high streets that are clean, safe and bursting with life from morning to night. Government is giving councils the powers to clean them up. We're giving them the investment to build something better in their place."
The Mayor said the High Streets and Growth Incubator would complement large scale town and city centre regeneration projects that are providing new homes, shops, restaurants and commercial premises including in Coventry, Wolverhampton and Solihull
Work to improve transport connections is also moving forward with the recent opening of five new train stations, forthcoming Metro tram routes in the Black Country and Birmingham, and improvements to the bus network as part of the Mayor’s decision to bring them under public control.
It will also sit alongside the Mayor’s existing support for the long-term future of the region’s historic street markets, measures to boost the night-time economy and the first-ever scheme to provide free training, mentoring, and live trading opportunities for street food entrepreneurs.
The WMCA is now working on the initiative in partnership with the West Midlands Growth Company and councils in Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, and Wolverhampton, before announcing the locations for the funding.
The High Streets and Growth Incubator is being funded with government money handed to the Mayor and the West Midlands Combined Authority as part of the region’s first multi-year Integrated Settlement.
The Mayor is using the £2.5bn, four-year funding deal to raise living standards for tens of thousands of local people by creating 100,000 jobs, building 120,000 new homes and improving public transport.
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