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Government aid may not be enough to save High Street shops

North East business leaders have reacted angrily to an ‘absurd’ government initiative which aims to tackle empty shops.

Communities Secretary John Denham yesterday announced a £3m package to rejuvenate high streets in what he described as 57 of the country’s “hardest hit areas”.

Among the list are Gateshead, Hartlepool, South Tyneside, Darlington, Sunderland, North Tyneside and Durham and although they will each receive over £50,000, business people in the region aren’t convinced the new scheme will work.

Ross Smith, head of policy at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “What this does is highlight the absurdity of a situation in which the government that is spending the cash to bring empty property into use has been collecting billions in taxes from empty property rates.

“Empty property rates have piled extra tax pressure on businesses and if the local authorities have innovative ideas for using empty space in town centres they can work with local businesses to bring that about.”

Mr Denham has suggested the money could be used to transform shops into learning centres and showrooms for artists and hopes the move will help keep towns vibrant to combat the recession.

He said: “We know that the downturn has really hurt high streets in areas of deprivation.

“There is no need to see unused shops on our high streets going to waste, especially when we know that it doesn’t take a lot to turn a vacant shop into something beneficial for the community.”

The British Retail Consortium has warned that the new government grant only “window dresses” the problem and more urgent long term solutions need to be in place to stop town centres disappearing.

Stephen Robertson, general director of the BRC, said: “High streets are a crucial part of our national retail mix but many are in trouble. Some will flourish but that cannot be left to chance.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .