Support needed for Medway’s town centres

Medway Liberal Democrats are calling on Medway Council to commit resources to improve all of the area's local town centres, not just Chatham. The Council's purchase of the Pentagon Shopping Centre, will give it the necessary leverage to kick start Chatham's regeneration. However, we need investment across the Medway area to support jobs, local public services and reinforce the sense of local community offered by our town centres. To do this, our town centres must be attractive, accessible and safe.

Following the decision over the Pentagon, we want the Council to make similarly bold steps to support Gillingham Town Centre's regeneration. We believe it an area that has the potential to evolve and attract future investment. Measures such as reducing business rates, changes to car parking tariffs and engagement with local business start-ups to encourage a greater diversity of activities would help revitalise high streets like Gillingham.

Speaking to local residents, increases in parking charges and hours of operation are also acting as deterrents to visiting local town centres, pushing shoppers to other centres.

Liberal Democrats are calling for a reform to the business rates system with a land value tax instead of the current rates system which currently isn't working. A Liberal Democrat-controlled Council would deliver a strategy to rejuvenate the town centres and the wider area with the right action to support businesses, as pioneering Liberal Democrat councils are currently demonstrating in other areas.

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Martin Rose, Prospective Liberal Democrat Candidate for Watling Ward states - "Gillingham High Street, like others in the Medway Towns, is a critical source of local services, shopping and employment. It's easy to get to on foot and by bus and train for many people, particularly those without a car. It's a sustainable shopping option. Medway Council should be giving it as much support as possible, by working with business to keep them trading and encouraging companies to invest in the High Street.

It's so frustrating to see premises in Britton Farm lay vacant. As retailers and other companies seek to open premises in Medway, we urge the council to do everything they can to bring activity back to this part of Gillingham High Street and discourage out of town development when perfectly suitable sites exist in central locations"

Business rate reform (extra detail)

We see business rates as a burden for high street retailers who are adapting to the rise of online retail. This reform would remove a major disincentive to investment, boosting productivity and contributing to a necessary revival in UK industry.

Under the current business rates system, retailers that choose to invest in improving their businesses could face higher rates bills. A land value tax should be considered among a range of options for fundamentally changing the business rates system. Replacing the business rates system would drive forward this change, transforming our town centres into the thriving community hubs of the future. In doing so, they provide a much-needed place for face-to-face contact in the digital age.