Business

Less strategy, more delivery

Retail NI's Future High Streets Summit on March 30 will look discuss policies which can create vibrant high streets
Retail NI's Future High Streets Summit on March 30 will look discuss policies which can create vibrant high streets Retail NI's Future High Streets Summit on March 30 will look discuss policies which can create vibrant high streets

THERE is no doubt we are not short of strategy and policy when it comes to the future of our high streets.

The Executive's Investment Strategy, Infrastructure 2050, the UK government's Levelling Up White Paper and the soon to be published Northern Ireland High Street Taskforce report all set out ambitious plans for our town centres.

But the question Retail NI members ask is how we get local, regional and national governments all pushing in the one direction and more importantly how all these policy priorities can be delivered so we can create 21st century high streets.

Alongside a dynamic retail and hospitality offering we also need to ensure they become multi-functional hubs with libraries, community services, police stations, healthcare, leisure, education, open spaces, housing and sports facilities.

To try and answer this question, Retail NI, supported by DWF Law, has organised a half-day Future High Streets Summit on March 30, bringing together ministers from the NI Executive, UK government and a senior local government representative to outline a way forward.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will also set out what the Irish government is doing to repurpose and revitalise their high streets at the summit.

We now have an opportunity for a co-designed solution-based approach to the challenges facing our local high streets. Retail NI wants to see a five-year high-street reconstruction plan produced so post-election the next Executive and Assembly can hit the ground running tacking these numerous issues.

This would include significant changes on planning, business rates, regeneration and infrastructure investment. Clean, green, fun family friendly destinations which are eco systems for lots of different types of business is the promised land for our high streets and it is the job of us all to define, in policy terms, how we get there.

The Infrastructure 2050 report has summed up very well what needs to be done to create “opportunities to focus on the reuse, repurposing and refurbishment of existing urban buildings instead of new developments”.

It also cites the importance of a strong town centre first approach which places “town centre health at the heart of decision-making processes, driving public sector investment decisions, aligning policies and targeting resources to prioritise the regeneration of town centre sites.”

However, in the short term our members are facing a perfect storm of challenges from, energy hikes, labour shortages, national insurance increases and Covid-19 recovery. Many also face the prospect having to pay business rates again for the first time in over two years.

We should not forget that our system of business rates is not just fundamentally broken and antiquated, it is the most expensive in the UK by a long way.

Finance Minister ConorMurphy took welcome action to continue the rates holiday for another three months and extending the Small Business Rate Relief scheme.

But after the May 5 election it is important that the new Assembly and Executive agree a broader reform of the entire system of business rates.

For full details of the Future High Streets Summit visit www.retailni.com

Glyn Roberts is chief executive of Retail NI