Bev’s manifesto for pride in every town centre
Pride in every town centre
Our town centres and high streets are the beating hearts of our communities and to feel good growth in every postcode, you need to see it on the high street. A Greater Manchester that works for all of us, is one not just with a world beating city centre but one where we see success in our proud towns, and we can enjoy thriving local high streets. Our high streets should be places people are proud of, not rows of empty shutters and dodgy businesses taking from the community while giving nothing back. We will restore pride in our town centres, clear out the bad operators, back the good local businesses, and bring life back to the places people use every day. We will use money generated from the growth of the city centre and reinvest it in local high streets and town centres.
Read the full manifestoExpand our billion pound Good Growth Fund to mean that every borough has either a Mayoral Development Corporation to transform their chosen areas or a town centre in our regeneration programme paid for through our good growth fund, so the gains of our city-centre economy are spread to every community.
Roll out £180 million into our towns in Stockport, Oldham, Old Trafford, Ashton and Middleton and work on the next wave of plans for delivery in every borough.
A new £20 million Good Growth High Streets Fund for local communities and businesses to bid into and within the first 100 days launch a Fix It Fund to sort the small public-realm gripes that frustrate us all like neglected alleyways, tired flowerbeds, faded murals, or broken play equipment.
Take action against bad landowners with stronger land-assembly and compulsory purchase powers, new compulsory forced sale orders and working with government to remove hope value so we pay only today’s price for land
Tackle eyesore sites by helping councils act against derelict buildings, burnt-out sites and empty land, taking them into public ownership where landlords refuse to invest
Crack down on vape shops and other extractive businesses through stronger powers, coordinated licensing action and more funding forGMP to tackle illicit premises
Bring empty high-street units back into use, supporting councils to use rental auctions fully for units empty over a year and compulsory purchase powers, and requiring owners of empty shops, pubs, clubs and community assets to act or face action
Business Rate breaks: incentivise good high-street businesses with business-rate holidays that keep everyday goods and services affordable.
Stand up for hospitality: host a Greater Manchester hospitality summit, with roundtables in every borough, to build a support offer for independent hospitality.
Bring community banking back to the high street through a landmark partnership with banks, councils and local institutions, piloted in Middleton.
Protect our pubs with a dedicated pubs strategy to safeguard these vital community assets and open up community ownership of local pubs, shops and renewable energy schemes, including through the new Community Right to Buy, so wealth and money stay local.
A new Greater Manchester Ownership Fund to build community stakes in high streets, backing community businesses, entrepreneurs, charities and public-sector partnerships with combined revenue, grant and capacity funding.
Culture and things to do at the heart of our towns:An annual borough of culture award, a new CulturePass giving discounted access to culture across our city region and support for local cultural, music and entertainment venues.