One of the most dispiriting visual clues of the global economic crisis is the increasing prevalence of empty shop-fronts in the nation’s high streets. The 800 or so gaps left by Woolworths up and down the country are probably the most visible to-date; and it is inevitable that the face of our high streets will change further. As well as adding to an impression of decline, these vacant spaces have a history of being targets for criminal activity and can have a knock-on effect of reducing trade to surrounding shops and other businesses.
Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government took the initiative this week in announcing an initial £3m of government support for schemes to bring empty shop-fronts on the nation’s high streets back in to public use. I believe this could be one of the great recession-tackling scheme for our times; one which Labour administrations in control (and those in opposition) within local councils should drive forward immediately in partnership with local communities.
Over the past few months, many in local government have been exploring imaginative schemes to address the decline of the high street which has led to a number of local authorities (including my own) looking in to the various possibilities and how these might be implemented.
In Haringey we’re looking at some potential sites all across the Borough where we could enable community cultural spaces to be facilitated by the Council, but with the ultimate use being determined by the local community.
The deal being that we’d provide the template and set out some of the conditions for the use of the space in terms of what the public might expect (I want to make sure that all of the spaces are wi-fi enabled, for example, to help start ups, the self-employed and better enable our thriving Web 2.0 community). We’re also looking at whether we can get students from the local college to use the project as work experience with local volunteers to ‘manage’ the spaces to ensure young people get hands-on experience and we increase the Borough’s volunteering and the occurrence of diverse people working together in new, creative community spaces.
It’s important that once the details are agreed these spaces are allowed to grow naturally according to the need of the local community; think local artists gallery space, social enterprise incubators, a space where local community groups or neighbourhood watch might go for advice on applying for grants and so on.
What’s most important is that they’re not vacant wasted space anymore, but show the local authority working with people to address a visible and damaging local manifestation of the recession. When we do this, especially in a Borough as diverse as Haringey (culturally, ethnically, geographically etc.), it will also be hugely important that we respond to different community needs in different areas; in other words, it’s right that the new space in Crouch End will be different to that in Tottenham High Street.
Hazel Blears agrees it would seem, and her department have now published a number of new provisions to ease the path of Local Authorities who want to take measures forward. Announcing the government’s support for these schemes earlier this week she said:
“Town Centres are the heartbeat of every community and businesses are the foundation so it is vital that they remain vibrant places for people to meet and shop through the downturn.
“Empty shops can be eyesores and crime magnets. Our ideas for reviving town centres will give communities the know how to temporarily transform vacant premises into something innovative for the community…and stop the high street from being boarded up.”
I also think there’s a more long term opportunity here which it is imperative is understood and grasped by local government in the short term.
One of the most corrosive effects of a recession is a public perception of powerlessness and a lack of control, the sense that forces are doing to you and that there’s little the individual can do to fight back. The decline of the local High Street can be a big psychological part of that for people and I believe this scheme offers us an important opportunity to lead a local fight back and is politically important, showing that Labour is the party to deliver it.
The empowerment agenda (currently being driven hard by the DCLG) offers wider opportunities to challenge the perception of communities and individuals that they’re disenfranchised and impotent or that there’s little to be done in really changing a locality and empowering the communities in which we live. But these schemes, at their best, will enable local authorities to show in positive physical change what’s possible, really challenge those perceptions and use the possibilities of this new community space to build local social capital. The key though lies in letting go, enabling the community to shape what they want and resist the ‘doing at’ approach and embrace the ‘doing with’ for it really to succeed. That’s an important lesson in itself for local government right now; the future is participative, not one of command and control.
The gauntlet has been thrown down. Now its time to see whether New Labour in local government is up for the challenge of creating opportunity out of the economic downturn and will really embrace the empowering of local people. This might be just the scheme and just the time to do it.
It’s heartening to see Hazel Blears and Labour-led local authorities taking action on this. You’re right that our pock-marked high streets are a very visible and morale-lowering manifestation of the recession. If community groups, start ups etc. can gain access to premises that would otherwise be unobtainable then great.
Matt, this issue which you have highlighted is so important in many ways- not just with regards to the visual attractiveness of our streets, but also because of local sustainability and vitality, covering employment and even community cohesion/ sense of belonging.
We need to look at the underlying reasons behind increasing vacancy rates on our high streets- it’s not all down to Woolworths closing. There are numerous pressures on retailers- particularly independent outlets. Quarterly rent demands, fixed rent increases, and yes the 5% rise in business rates (even if this will be spread out over a few years) are all taking a heavy toll on retailers.
Now this is an interesting scheme but as always the devil is in the detail – and it needs to be backed up with proper funding; £3m nationally is but a drop in the ocean.
This isn’t a direct attack on this initiative which is innovative and will have a part to play. But what we really need is a co-ordinated approach to this issue (with participation from all departments), working with the retail industry and the LGA/ local authorities (even if many LA’s are guilty of driving small retailers to the wall through unjustified rent increases!)
Only then can we begin to really get to grips with these problems- I just hope that the Government will take this on board and act soon- otherwise it will be left to the opposition parties to continually carp and criticise, without offering any real solutions themselves.
Matt is quite right – there’s an opportunity here that wasn’t utilised in previous recessions. In Brighton in the early 1990’s vacancy rates in the retail property sector peaked at 46%. It’s a great opportunity to showcase civic activism and engage the wider community in grassroots cultural or economic activity. I hope there are more councillors like Matt taking advantage of this opportunity – and battling the inevitable local barriers to making this kind of scheme effective
Don’t worry too much. It is fact that the EU will create it’s own independent local centres of command and our existing political and local structure will be superceded! This discussion is very, very out of date – strange that you are not better informed. Are you helping nulabour divert attention from the real facts about EU unelected government?