Call For Investment Zone Applications To Transform Our Town Centres
- Investment Zones will benefit from tax breaks and planning freedoms to make them more attractive to businesses and investors – creating jobs and business opportunities in the local area.
- Kevin has welcomed the news and urged local leaders to work with the Conservative Government to secure this opportunity to bring radical change to reverse the decline of our Town Centres.
Torbay’s MP, Kevin Foster, has today (Friday 23rd September 2022) called on Torbay Council to apply for Torquay and Paignton Town Centres to become Investment Zones.
Torquay Town Centre is already set to benefit from the Government’s £21.9m Torquay Town Deal, whilst Paignton Town Centre is seeing a £13.4m government funding package for its Future High Streets Fund. Yet with the pandemic having accelerated long term changes in shopping habits radical action is now needed to revive our Town Centres.
The new Investment Zone initiative was announced in the Government’s Growth Plan. These areas will benefit from streamlined planning rules and time limited tax cuts to boost growth in areas that need it most. After the statement Kevin quickly met with Ministers from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to confirm applications can soon be made for zones in addition to the ones unveiled today. The 38 Investment Zones listed today include Plymouth City Centre and Falmouth Docks in our region, with Blackpool Town Centre seeing a zone created in the centre of a coastal resort.
Each Investment Zone will offer generous, targeted and time-limited tax cuts for businesses, backing them to increase productivity and create new jobs. This could encourage investment in new shopping centres, restaurants, apartments and offices, helping regenerate local high streets and communities across the whole region.
Investment Zones will also benefit from liberalised planning rules to release more land for housing and commercial development, and reforms to increase the speed of delivering development. Time-consuming negotiations between councils and developers for each project over affordable housing will be scrapped. This will be replaced with a set percentage of affordable homes, while making sure communities get the infrastructure they want and need.
Commenting, Kevin Foster MP said:
“Our Town Centres have great potential for the future, but now need radical change to halt the decline of recent decades. The funding on offer from the Government will make a big difference, but an investment zone could help turbo charge job creation and regeneration at the heart of our communities by unlocking investment into them.”
“Not since the reconstruction period after the Second World War has the need for radical change in Town Centres across our nation been more urgent. An investment zone offers the chance for just this and Torbay Council should seize the chance to apply for Torquay and Paignton Town Centres to have one of their own.”
ENDS
