Simon Danczuk MP

Fighting for Rochdale, Littleborough and Milnrow

Council must act on Portas recommendations, argues MP

Rochdale’s MP Simon Danczuk has called on the Council not to wait for the Government to act on recommendations made this week by Mary Portas to improve high streets and to lead by example by introducing a short term strategy to support the town.

“There are a lot of good policy recommendations for the government to consider in Mary Portas’ review, but they will not be responding until next March, which is too long in my opinion,” he said

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“Rochdale cannot wait while David Cameron and Nick Clegg dither and delay. We must lead by example and launch our own plans to protect the high street and stop relying on long term regeneration plans as the only solution.

“There is lots we can do whether that be trying to increase the number of independents in our town, like Birmingham has done,  building better links with colleges and entrepreneurial networks to fill empty shops, developing the market, offering incentives for new start-ups and putting on more events to make the town centre a family friendly destination. Doing nothing, sitting on our hands and waiting is not an option.”

Among the recommendations made by Mary Portas in her high street review submitted to government this week include councils putting in place a visionary, strategic and strong operational management town team for high streets and for councils to use new discretionary powers to give business rate concessions to new local businesses.

The fill list of recommendations can be found here: http://www.maryportas.com/news/2011/12/12/my-28-recommendations/