Mayor's £10 million fund to revive region's struggling high streets

Richard Parker, elected mayor for the West Midlands, today launched a £10 million plan to rejuvenate the region’s town and city centres.

Mr Parker said funding through his High Streets and Growth Incubator scheme would be shared between a number of town and city locations, which would be announced in due course.

He says the initiative will see boarded-up shops brought back into use and support given to hundreds of high street businesses struggling to compete with the explosion in online shopping.

The funding comes alongside today’s government announcement to save ‘hollowed out high streets’ with a crackdown on vape and betting shops. The changes include scrapping the 'aim to permit' rule and requiring planning permission for new vape shops, giving councils in the West Midlands more power over their high streets.

Mr Parker’s fund will be targeted at reducing the region’s shop vacancy rate, which is one of the highest in the country, and used to attract more shoppers and visitors by improving tired public spaces, hosting more special events, and setting up new market stalls and street food venues.

He said: “It's been a bruising few years for our high streets and sadly, many have become tired and run down.

"Today's announcement by the Prime Minister finally gives councils the power to say no to the vape shops and betting shops that have taken over too many town centres. That's a step forward. But taking back control of the high street is only half the job. We also need the investment to fill it with something better.

"That's what this £10 million is for. It will bring boarded-up shops back into use, get new market stalls and street food venues onto our high streets, and back the businesses that give people a reason to visit, not just pass through.

"I want high streets that are clean, safe and bursting with life from morning to night. Government is giving councils the powers to clean them up. We're giving them the investment to build something better in their place."

Mr Parker said the High Streets and Growth Incubator would complement large scale town and city centre regeneration projects that are providing new homes, shops, restaurants and commercial premises in Wolverhampton.

He said improvements to transport connections were also moving forward with the recent opening of five new railway stations and forthcoming Metro tram routes in the Black Country and Birmingham, as well as his plan to bring buses under public control.

Mr Parker said the scheme would also sit alongside his existing support for the long-term future of the region’s historic street markets, measures to boost the night-time economy and the first-ever scheme to provide free training, mentoring, and live trading opportunities for street food entrepreneurs.

The High Streets and Growth Incubator is being funded through £2.5 billion being handed to the mayor and the West Midlands Combined Authority over the next four years as the region’s first multi-year settlement.

Mr Parker said the money would raise living standards for tens of thousands of people by creating 100,000 jobs, building 120,000 new homes and improving public transport.