' As Medway recovers from restrictions, Centre for Cities classifies Chatham economy as being weak' say local Lib Dems
A 'Centre for Cities' report which tracks the recovery of high streets in Britain's cities and large towns, lists Chatham as 'being weak' in its recovery. As pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops are opened, the report states 'South East England (outside London) is the UK region which has seen the biggest number of high street store closures since lock down began'.
Medway Liberal Democrats are responding to the latest data from 'Centre for Cities' which states that 'Chatham has already returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity'. The report's online 'recovery & spending index' shows footfall in Chatham being in the top 10 of cities recovery index at 46. Despite this, consumer spending remains low at 107, with the report classifying Chatham's economy as still weak. Already, a number of firms around Medway have closed for good and businesses around Medway need support now to keep their doors open, to help our high streets to survive. https://www.centreforcities.org/data/high-streets-recovery-tracker/
We are calling on the Council to support fledgling businesses, and to develop an action plan to help local businesses in order to sustain jobs, and be proactive in using all its resources to make sure our high streets can thrive and develop a long-term response which recognises the economic damage done by Coronavirus. This will be central to how Medway fully recovers, and require careful thinking about what role we want our town centres and high streets to play. Thinking about the role of our high streets means thinking broadly, we don't just need more shops, there should be a mix of residential, artistic, creative, educational and public space put back into our town centres.
John Castle, Chair of Medway Liberal Democrats said, "We know how difficult it has been for our businesses, and the lockdown policies that the Government introduced to slow the spread of Coronavirus have had a huge economic impact on our towns. In these challenging times, our local high streets are facing a crisis, with countless empty shops. Even before lockdown, our high streets were struggling, compounded by changes in consumer habits, years of neglect and poor planning. Medway saw several household name retailers close shops and many more suffering from poor sales figures.The pandemic has accelerated these trends, and with it, the need to act.
These businesses help make our local community what it is, and play a crucial role in our local economy. Lockdown has hit these local businesses hard, and for some their very existence may now be under threat and losing these businesses would be detrimental to the soul of our towns.They are places of identity, of connection and community, as well as economic exchange. Key to the revival, is the number of people living on or near our high streets. People who live on the edge of town are no longer automatically shopping on our high streets but are doing their shopping in local supermarkets.There should be a mix of employment on our high streets, then both residents and workers will shop on the high street.
We have already called for a review of business rates to reduce burdens on small firms, we must pull out all the stops to help businesses survive and thrive."
ENDS
Additional Imformation for Editors
Centre for Cities' High Street Recovery Tracker will chart Chatham in near real time over the next few months.
https://www.centreforcities.org/data/high-streets-recovery-tracker/