Latest news with #towncentres
BBC News
23-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Ideas vital to regenerate town centre decay, lobby group says
Ideas from residents in the north of the Isle of Man are "vital" to regenerating town centres in "decay", a steering group has said. The Northern Chamber of Commerce (NCOC) is holding an exhibition in Ramsey, urging people share their views of the town's potential sessions in the town hall are running until 14 August, and the NCOC hopes it can use the input to draw up a "master plan" that has the community backing. NCOC chairman Keith Dalrymple said: "The retail sector in Ramsey is in need of increased footfall, not just [people] visiting the town to shop, but people living in the town and working in the town." He said public confidence in the island's economic situation was at "a low ebb", as was "confidence in decision makers".Small businesses and enterprises were "thinking a week ahead not years", he continued, adding he hoped a master plan developed through the exhibition could stimulate investment. 'Empty buildings' While he said there was "no simple magic bullet that is going to reinvigorate the high streets", he wanted to engage "the whole community" in efforts "to increase footfall, to address the empty buildings, to address the fact that town centres have been allowed to decay over decades".Mr Dalrymple said: "One only has to walk around the town to see the opportunities that are there."But opportunities for development are one thing, making them economically viable and sustainable is another, and this is part of the exercise."He said the steering group had taken inspiration from volunteers working on the town's dilapidated Victorian Queen's Pier. They "got tired" of waiting for "anybody else to step in and do something about it, so they're doing it themselves", he exhibition is open Monday to Thursday from 08:45 until 16:30 BST and on Saturdays between 08:45 until 16:00 Dalrymple said: "Residents' ideas are vital."Ramsey and the north have a proud history, a colourful history."We have wonderful assets and we are endeavouring to encourage people to look around, see them and to make their voices heard." Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
High street healthcare could start soon
Some healthcare services could soon be available on North Yorkshire's high streets as part of plans to revitalise town centres, the county's elected mayor has David Skaith said he was in talks with the NHS about making services such as screening and scans available from high street healthcare questions on BBC Radio York's Message the Mayor, Skaith said he was confident the scheme could get under way "quite quickly"."Instead of going to York Hospital - for breast screening, for example - we can have that same offer so it means people don't have to go to a hospital, but more footfall is also driven onto high streets," he explained. "It's about making high streets more about community, about being a place to see and do things, rather than relying on retail, which is changing." Skaith, the elected mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said as well as getting more people back onto the county's high streets, pressure could also be reduced on if his plan went ahead it could also prove easier for patients from rural communities to get to appointments, he said."We're talking to the NHS and are looking at the space and where the units would best fit," he said."We've identified a couple, but just need to make sure they're fit for purpose and the investment they would need to get going."Skaith said rural healthcare - and the problems people had accessing it - was an important focus of his proposals."It's one thing doing it in York, where people are in striking distance of the hospital," he said."But it's another thing doing it out in the moors or the Dales. Right now, their health offering is not good enough."So, we're looking at taking the strain off front-line hospital services, looking at what health is available in rural communities, and getting more footfall onto high streets." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
14-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cumberland Council shopfront grants available once more
More than £100,000 is being made available as a scheme aimed at improving tired shopfronts Council is encouraging property owners to apply for grants to enable work it says "brings pride back" into town centres and high than 100 premises in Cumbria have been upgraded, with 11 vacant units brought back into use as a result of previous funding, according to the Labour-led leader Mark Fryer hailed those efforts as a "great success". Among the shops to have benefited is Maryport's With Love a cafe, the building, on Senhouse Street, had stood empty since the 1980s until Victoria Scott and her sister, Samantha Cartwright, opened their studio earlier this their landlord having received a grant to undertake work to the front, Mrs Scott says she is "super proud" of the way it looks."It's been beautifully done. Several people have told us how stunning it looks," he said. Sean Parnaby, chairman of the Maryport Business Group, welcomed the grant scheme's return and encouraged businesses to apply for it."It's needed in the town. Although the cost of buying a shop here is relatively low, the expense of transforming a front can quickly make bringing the property back into use unviable, so a helping hand from the council is important."Our town centre is also a conservation zone, meaning any work has to be done to the right standard."The money comes from the government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund and information about how to apply is available on the council's website. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Council shelves proposed parking charge rises around Coalville
Plans to increase parking charges in and around Coalville and Ashby have been West Leicestershire District Council had been looking at increasing fees at the car parks it the authority has confirmed it will freeze rates based on feedback from 4,500 residents and businesses received during a consultation held earlier this month."We recognise that it's a tough time for our town centres," said deputy council leader Michael Wyatt. The authority said it had launched a review of charges to try to cut the amount it spends subsidising parking because its income from car parks is outstripped by the cost of running them. Wyatt said: "Throughout the course of the car parking review, we've reflected on what people have told us. "We have also done a lot of engagement with partners and businesses in the district, who are understandably concerned about the current economic climate and ongoing pressures on the high street."While we do need to balance the running costs of our car parks, we also understand that they must be priced competitively to encourage people to continue to visit and work in our town centres."Therefore, we've decided that our car parking fees and charges will remain as they are for the foreseeable future."
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Frasers boss calls for 'bold' reforms to save ailing High Street
Frasers Group's boss has called for 'bold' business rates reform to save the 'dying' High Street. Michael Murray called on the Government to slash the levy, which is paid based on the value of a commercial property. 'Town centres are dying, the system is broken and physical retail is being priced out of high streets,' Murray said. 'Retailers need radical reform, not more red tape.' The Government must seize a 'golden chance' to 'give retailers a reason to return to town centres' by easing the burden, he added. Bricks-and-mortar retailers claim they suffer an unfair business rates burden compared with online giants such as Amazon. But many warn Labour's plan to address the issue – by hitting larger commercial properties with higher taxes – will backfire. Tesco, Sainsbury's and the Co-op, as well as Frasers, have said this risks large retailers abandoning shops.
