The debate over Shepway council’s parking strategy has prompted a
broader discussion about the future of our town centre economies. One
of the greatest areas of concern has been the potential impact
charging people to park on the town centre roads could have on local
businesses. However, we know that there are long term issues that need
to be addressed as well that have been a factor in high street
businesses struggling to compete; not least pressure from out of town
retailers and the rise in popularity in internet shopping. To compete
in the future, town centres need to be vibrant places where people
work, shop, live and want to spend leisure time. It was against this
background that I organised a meeting held at the Burlington Hotel in
Folkestone last Friday to discuss these issues with people involved
directly. This meeting brought together representatives from the
council, chamber of commerce, Go Folkestone and town centre
management, as well as independent retailers, some of the major high
street banks and managers from national chain stores who trade in the
area.
It was an excellent start to bring together people who are all part of
one town centre, but who have such different perspectives on what we
need to do to make it more of a success in the future. It is clear
that we can help each other by working more closely together,
including sharing insights and information about what businesses need
to help them grow, planning events to attract more customers, and
creating a register who owns empty shops and business premises.
The meeting last Friday also agreed to form a new ‘Town Team’ to bring
people together to help take these ideas forward, including making a
submission to the Government for Folkestone to be considered as one of
the ‘Portas Pilot’ towns. These 12 towns will receive funding of up to
£100,000 as well as help and guidance from Mary Portas herself. Whilst
this meeting was largely focused on Folkestone, this approach can be
replicated in other towns and villages across the district. If you
would like to find out more about what has been discussed and planned
so far, please let me know.
More also needs to be done to promote Shepway as an ideal place for
businesses to invest, relocate and grow. This should also include
increasing awareness of the £40million regional growth fund to support
business development and job creation in East Kent. I have recently
started work on a project supported by Kent County Council to really
make sure we make the most of this opportunity and create a proper
marketing campaign to promote the area.
Finally, this week the Government has also launched a £60million Rural
Economy Grant Scheme. This scheme will fund up to 40% of the costs, up
to a maximum grant of £1million, for projects in the following areas;
farm competitiveness; agric-food; tourism; forestry and micro
enterprises such as digital media technology and small scale, high
value manufacturing. Please let me know if you would like more
information about making an application.