Sian Berry, the Green candidate for Mayor of London, will today announce a plan to help local authorities create town centre rejuvenation funds to be financed by large retail developers.
With the backing of City Hall, the fund would be managed by the local authority and in collaboration with existing Business Improvement Districts. The work would be directed by a board of local business people, residents and community groups who would decide what improvements they would like to see.
The idea would be to enhance the quality and enhancement of the local area and make visiting local small shops a more attractive experience.
The initiative would be funded from Section 106 contributions that local authorities receive from large retail developments as well as from the Community Infrastructure Levy and via new powers already mooted by the Government for elected mayors to raise business rates to invest in the local economy.
Sian Berry will make the announcement today to mark Small Business Saturday, a grassroots initiative to encourage consumers to ‘shop local’.
She says: “The current mayor has ploughed very large sums into various outer London town centres and some inner ones hit by the riots. This money came from general funds. I’d like to continue and expand that process, funding it with additional business rate levy on large chain stores. The Chancellor himself raised this possibility in his autumn statement when he mentioned giving mayors the power to raise business rates to invest in the local economy.
“Improvements funded this way might range from removing graffiti to adding new street art, from planting trees and improving pavements to reducing street clutter, and from from clearing litter to bringing new tenants into empty shops. We can make local shopping a better experience, which I think most Londoners agree would enhance their quality of life and their connection with their own locality.
“But it makes sound economic sense too: half the turnover of an independent local retailer goes back into the local community, compared with just five percent from a supermarket.”