Government action through Real Help Now has supported many families and
businesses through the downturn. The Government is determined to make sure
town centres remain vibrant places and earlier this year it put in place a
fund to help many of the hardest hit areas reopen or re-use empty shops.
John Denham is today extending that help to a further fifty areas -
including Calderdale, Bradford and Wakefield – to help them plan for
the recovery. This will bring the total empty shops funding allocated to
£5.6 million.
The grants are helping councils find new uses for vacant premises. Each
council receives a £52,000 grant to use as they see fit such as a
showroom for local artists, a nativity scene or other ideas to spruce up
the high street. Government is also making it easier for local residents
and organisations to use empty shops with a standardised lease for
temporary use while vacant.
Businesses are already setting up this sort of temporary shops, encouraged
by Government. In Sheffield , the council is using Government’s jobs
fund to train young people in window dressing skills which has the added
benefit of tackling the negative impact of empty shops. In Hull the
council is working with the Arts Council on a project that will see public
works of art being used as a catalyst to draw people into a targeted area,
centring on Whitefriargate.
