Our high streets matter. They are where we shop, meet friends, run businesses and get a sense of how our towns are doing. When they thrive, a whole town feels more confident. When shops sit empty for years, buildings deteriorate or the same handful of vape shops and other poor-quality businesses multiply, people understandably feel that decline is being allowed to take hold.
That is a challenge we know well in West Cumbria. Whitehaven, Workington, Egremont and Cleator Moor all have fantastic independent businesses, committed traders and enormous potential. But they also have too many long-term empty properties, neglected shopfronts and premises that do little to strengthen the town centre.
The good news is that councils now have more power to do something about it.
The previous government introduced High Street Rental Auctions, giving councils the ability to step in when commercial properties have been left vacant for more than a year. After efforts to work with the owner, a council can ultimately auction a lease of between one and five years, opening the door to new businesses and community organisations rather than allowing a building to sit empty indefinitely.
The Government has also provided funding to help councils identify vacant properties, administer auctions and, in some cases, bring premises up to a lettable standard.
Now the Government is going further. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced changes requiring vape shops to seek planning permission, giving councils and communities a say over whether they are right for a particular location. The Government also intends to strengthen closure powers for premises linked to rogue or criminal activity. At the moment, councils can only close dodgy shops for six months – we’re doubling that.
These are exactly the kinds of tools local communities have been asking for.
But powers only make a difference if they are used.
I want to work closely with Cumberland Council to make sure we use every tool available to us in West Cumbria. That means identifying properties in our towns that could qualify for rental auctions, engaging constructively with owners and being prepared to act where buildings are being allowed to deteriorate or remain empty without good reason.
It also means being ready to use the new planning and enforcement powers as they come into force so local people have a stronger say over the mix of businesses on our high streets.
I know the council shares my ambition to see our towns succeed – and they have already made a start, writing to owners of empty properties that are in a poor state and threatening enforcement action. And there is important regeneration work happening in all of our towns.
The Government is putting more power in local hands. My job now is to help make sure West Cumbria takes full advantage of it.
Josh MacAlister MP 