Tackling Gloucester’s Empty Shops
When I’m out talking to constituents on the doorstep the state of Gloucester city centre comes up time and again, with people in areas of the city like Quedgeley telling me they haven’t been into the city centre for years.
That’s why I’m launching my empty shops campaign, to support our traders and encourage future business owners to invest in our city centre. I’m working with colleagues in the Labour Group on Gloucester City Council to put forward workable solutions to revitalise our Gate Streets and make Gloucester city centre a destination again.
High Street Rental Auctions are great new initiative from the government that give councils the power to take control of high streets back from landlords who allow properties to just sit empty.
As part of the Labour Group’s High Street Rental Auction motion, we are also asking the council to produce a list of all the vacant properties in the city centre and identify the landlord responsible, including where it’s the council themselves.
There is so much to celebrate about Gloucester and our independent businesses, which is why I’m making it my mission to eat a meal or have a drink at every independent café and restaurant in the city.
These business owners need our support, and they need Gloucester City Council to do more to ensure the city centre is somewhere people want to visit, to spend their time and hard-earned money.
We’re not short of innovative people with fantastic ideas in our city, but they need support to get those ideas off the ground. I hope that through my campaign we can get the city council to take serious action to support the local economy and get our city centre thriving again.