The Scottish Government National Review of Town Centres carries a heavy weight of hope and expectation as more empty properties blight our high streets.
Our town centres developed from markets and retail remains vital to attracting people. But thriving towns have homes and businesses interwoven with shops and leisure facilities, including cafes, bars, restaurants and parks.
The review has a welcome focus on the importance of bringing residents back into town centres. Key recommendations are: local authorities should prioritise appropriate sites for housing development and housing providers in both the private and public sectors should be encouraged to convert empty properties into affordable housing. This would have the three-fold advantage of providing desperately needed affordable homes, retaining traditional buildings which give towns their individual character and increasing footfall for shops and businesses.
Thinking through the effect of new proposals, such as those for out-of-town shopping developments, on the centres that already exist need not mean attempting to turn back the clock. This could be the moment town centres gain a new lease of life.
All communities recognise our town centres are important resources we neglect at out peril. That is why their decline is causing such anxiety. Malcolm Fraser, the architect who chaired the review group, makes a strong case for investing in their future. Rightly, he has declared town centres "our true eco-towns". This is because, as long-established places of communal resource, they provide the basis for sustainable development. Drawing lessons from both the financial crisis and the challenge of climate change, he argues that we must make best use of our existing, renewable resources, in this case our old buildings and existing town centres, before discarding them.
This is a message the Scottish Government must take on board in relation to court closures. For many struggling town centres the loss of a court will be a serious blow. If ministers are serious about rejuvenating town centres they must provide assistance, including grants, to encourage viable alternative uses for these central, and often historic, buildings.
Towns which have successfully reinvented themselves such as West Kilbride, now Scotland's craft town, and Wigtown, Scotland's book town, provide encouraging models for community-led revitalisation. The Scottish Government is to produce an action plan to take forward the group's recommendations. To succeed, it must recognise that "putting town centres first" requires practical measures.
It is not within the powers of the Scottish Parliament to change the VAT system but business rates are set by the Scottish Government. Many businesses feel they are at an artificially high level when council tax has been frozen. Consideration should be given to varying rates. The review has produced positive recommendations. They should be backed with action.
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