The Telegraph has written an open letter to Eric Pickles and drawn up a 12 point manifesto as part of its Reinventing the High Street campaign.
Dear Secretary of State,
Throughout 2013, The Daily Telegraph and its readers have been debating the future of Britain’s 5,000 high streets as part of our Reinventing the High Street campaign.
We believe that this is one of the most urgent problems facing local communities. It is also one where there is a rare consensus to see high streets survive and flourish, albeit in a changed form.
After reporting on many examples of good practice, and on retailers and town centres that have lessons in innovation and change that could be applied nationally, we have now collected what we have learnt into a 12-point manifesto or action plan which we present to you today.
We believe this to be a shared task – that more can and should be done by all of us, individuals, communities, retailers and local and national government. But, as the Cabinet Minister responsible for this policy area, you are uniquely placed to make a difference.
You have already shown a willingness to do this – by backing the Portas Pilots scheme, for example, and the Future High Streets’ Forum – but there remains much more to do if our high streets are going to be fit for purpose in the 21st century.
The 12-point high street manifesto
To communities
1 Don’t just say you value having a local high street; spend your money there, including in local, independent shops.
2 Get involved in community-based initiatives to inject new life into your high street.
To retailers
3 Join forces to bring improvements such as free Wi-Fi to your high street that will benefit all.
4 Embrace social media and the internet to promote your shops, your specialist knowledge and your customer service.
To local authorities
5 Allow more free parking on and near high streets to match what is on offer at out-of-town retail parks.
6 Use your Compulsory Purchase Order powers more freely to end the blight of private landlords leaving empty shops, and to encourage redevelopment.To government
7 Reinstate the 2015 rating revaluation (currently delayed until 2017) so that business rates on high street shops reflect their actual value.
8 Investigate carrying out rating revaluations every 12 months rather than every seven years, so that business rates are in line with trading conditions on the high street.
9 Enlist the help of big retailers to create a fund to support the costs of high street regeneration.
10 Revise planning rules to ensure balanced use of existing high street properties that reflects community requirements for retail, health, leisure and housing.
11 Give a statutory basis to “town teams” that bring together all stakeholders in a high street, and charge them with drawing up an annual town plan.
12 Introduce exceptional sign-off by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for all out-of-town retail developments to prevent further erosion of the high street