ROCHDALE's MP Simon Danczuk has welcomed recent comments made by Mary Portas in which she indicated that giving local authorities the power to cap the number of charity shops would be recommended in her review of the high street that she is carrying out for the Government.
Due to report to David Cameron in November, retail expert Portas spoke in Parliament last week and gave a strong indication of the recommendations she would be urging the Government to introduce to help revive the high street.
These include capping the number of charity shops allowed on individual high streets, offering the same 80% business rate relief offered to charity shops to start up retail businesses and urging councils to acquire derelict shops to facilitate their development.
Giving these ideas his backing, Rochdale’s MP, who attended the meeting with Mary Portas in Parliament, said he hoped the Prime Minister would take notice of the report and act on its recommendations.
'Rochdale has twice the national average number of charity shops and traders are constantly telling me that this isn’t helping their business,' Mr Danczuk said. 'Last year I asked the local government minister Bob Neill if local authorities could cap the number of charity shops and was told in no uncertain terms that the government wasn’t in favour of this. I hope David Cameron will now listen to Mary Portas and the views of thousands of traders and act on her advice. Charity shops have a vital role to play but when they start to dominate high streets then there is a real danger that entrepreneurs and the vibrancy and diversity that shoppers want are being squeezed out.'
(Taken from Simon Danczuk's Labour Party Web page)
(Taken from Simon Danczuk's Labour Party Web page)
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1 comment:
Thanks for this item about Mary Portas and Simon Danczuk. With two more major shops due to close in Rochdale town centre ~ Greenwoods and Thorntons chocolates ~ and about one-third of all shops in the town empty, doesn't it seem utter madness to you that the council is planning to build YET ANOTHER shopping centre on the site of the existing bus station.
The council will be spending millions of pounds ~ and in interest payments placing a massive burden on Rochdale rate-payers for the next 30 years ~ on a scheme that has White Elephant written all over it. Can you imagine anything more stupid than buidling a third shopping centre when the two we already have are not fully utilised? It's crazy, it really is.
I thinK it's a subject for one of your Northern Voices bulletins and an article in the magazine.
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