Debate contribution: High Street and Town Centre Rejuvenation

Debate contribution by Ms Diana Armstrong on 4 November 2024.

MLA: Ms Diana Armstrong
Party at the time: Ulster Unionist Party
Date: 4 November 2024
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: High Street and Town Centre Rejuvenation
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4625920

Text

Thank you, Principal Deputy Speaker. I rise to address the substantive motion that has been moved by Alliance but to focus specifically on addressing long-term derelict buildings and how they impact on schemes to rejuvenate high streets and town centres. I share other Members' disappointment that the high street task force's recommendations have not been implemented. They would go a long way to revitalising and re-energising the image of high streets and town centres. Our high streets play an important part in the local economy and the social fabric of our towns and villages. When our high streets thrive, our communities thrive. However, it is obvious that high streets face unprecedented challenges with, as others have mentioned, online shopping, changing consumer habits, ongoing legacy pandemic economics and out-of-town retails parks, leading to reduced footfall and an increase in vacant properties. The recent rise in employers' National Insurance contributions, on top of the generous increase to the national minimum wage and the large cost implications of proposed employment law reform, will have a significant impact on high street employers. In England, the Chancellor has protected small businesses by extending business rates relief for small firms in retail, hospitality and leisure. The Assembly has consistently failed to pass on business rates relief to those sectors in Northern Ireland. Those challenges have not only monetary implications but profound social consequences. That is evident in the two main towns in my constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Despite a public realm scheme some years ago in Dungannon town, it suffers high vacancy rates and competition from a nearby out-of-town retail park and is no longer the bustling town centre that it once was. Enniskillen town centre is experiencing a shift that many other towns already feel from traditional family-owned shops to more national brands and an increased number of charity outlets. In addition, a soon-to-be-completed out-of-town retail park near Enniskillen poses a threat to town centre footfall. A strategy that links retail needs with the need for residential housing, flexible office space, digital connectivity, hospitality and entertainment options would be a positive and comprehensive first step to meet the demands of modern businesses. In that way, more residential accommodation in town centres and high streets would see more vibrant, lively high streets and contribute significantly to a night-time economy. The Minister for the Economy should work with the Minister of Finance to address long-term derelict properties with a new strategy to rejuvenate high streets and town centres. A dilapidation Bill was due to be introduced to the Assembly in 2021 but still has not materialised. Preparation for that Bill should take a cross-departmental approach to examine Northern Ireland's planning laws and property taxes, which reward leisurely landbanking. Planning permission that is meant to expire after five years can be kept valid indefinitely with token effort. Those issues must be part of any comprehensive plan to address long-term dereliction. In County Fermanagh, there are at least four long-term vacant hotels in towns and villages. Recently, one was destroyed in a deliberate fire and is now a gaping derelict shell in the streetscape. In another location, a long-term derelict hotel, the owners of which cannot be located, is holding back potential investment opportunities. Across the two council areas in my constituency, there are over 1,500 non-domestic vacant properties. Any new strategy must devolve more power to councils to identify and locate long-term vacant property owners to serve relevant notices on them. Efforts by councils to maintain and improve their town centres and high streets are hampered by the lack of an effective and modern enforcement regime, meaning that they are powerless to intervene to address long-term vacancies. Derelict shopfronts and abandoned buildings make it hard for councils to improve streetscapes in order to encourage new investment and tourism opportunities. One solution would be to do away with the 50% tax reduction for empty commercial buildings and the 100% exemption for derelict buildings. In Britain, those reliefs were scrapped a decade ago, with councils allowed to levy punitive charges. The same must happen here to provide no incentive for letting a building fall into disrepair. I thank the Members for tabling the motion, but any action plan to rejuvenate our high streets and town centres must include a comprehensive and bold plan to deal with derelict properties that blight our streets and hold back economic development. I hope that Members will support the amendment.

737 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Awaiting analysis

This record has not been analysed yet. It is not counted in any total until it has been assessed.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification