Amongst the top priorities for local people is tackling derelict buildings and anti-social behaviour, which is leading to High Street blight, says Emily Brothers, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Isle of Wight East. Having talked to residents and businesses in Sandown Bay, Ryde, Ventnor and other towns, Emily has said:
“Austerity, cost of living crisis and rising online sales have hammered business and consumers alike. That’s why we need to revive our high streets by replacing derelict hotels and empty shops with amenities for socialising, wellbeing, leisure and housing. This would strengthen community cohesion and attract tourism, ideally aligned to our Island’s amazing environmental credentials. “After fourteen years of Conservative decline, economic growth is essential and that’s why it is vital to rejuvenate our high streets with banking hubs, recreational activities, pedestrian only areas, reforming business rates and tackling anti-social behaviour. “In towns like Sandown, we no longer have a bank or post office. This has left local people and businesses without any options to bank locally. “Local people feel a real sense of loss about the decline of our towns, with particular exasperation concerning the derelict Ocean Hotel in Sandown and Winter Gardens in Ventnor. The decimation to small business is coupled with record levels of shoplifting and persistent high levels of antisocial behaviour.”
Emily goes on to say that if she is elected as MP for Isle of Wight East next week:
“I will work with businesses, councils and community groups to help rejuvenate our high streets and bring economic growth to towns across Isle of Wight East. We need to breathe life into our high streets by building on our successes, do somethings differently and encourage investment. “Whilst I hope to be our representative in Westminster and Whitehall, regeneration can only happen by working in partnership. I will endeavour to bring partners together and articulate the case for investment. If people want change of that kind, they should vote Labour for change next week.”
Emily explains that she would urge the next Government to take active steps to revive our coastal high streets, saying:
“I’m really keen to encourage pedestrian areas, as this has the potential for enhancing our experience by connecting daily living with shops, high streets and esplanades with our beaches in ways that encourage social engagement, entertainment and fun. “This will help tackle anti-social behaviour, in addition to putting more neighbourhood police back on the beat so islanders and tourists feel safe when shopping and socialising. “Thriving high streets need banking services for local businesses and customers, particularly older and disabled people who find it difficult getting around Isle of Wight East to seek out their nearest bank or post office. Labour will roll out banking hubs to guarantee face-to-face banking in our main towns boosting local high streets and shops. The cost of opening and operating the hubs will be met collectively by the banks. ”Local business owners frequently tell me they feel Business Rates are unfair. That’s why I’ll encourage a Labour government to replace business rates with a new system of business property taxation which rebalances the burden and levels the playing field between our high streets and online giants. “Another ask raised by local small independent retailers concerns late payments by large corporations. In response, I’ll be pressing a potential Labour Government to introduce tough new laws to stamp out late payments and make sure more money gets to high street firms. “A better future is possible for our high streets, instead of the ‘shut down, give up’ record over the last fourteen years of decline under the Conservatives. Active steps are needed to revamp empty shops, pubs and community spaces. People won’t visit high streets blighted by unsightly boarded up shops and hotels. That’s why it is important to empower local authorities to take swift enforcement action and give communities a strong new ‘right to buy’ beloved local assets like the Winter Gardens in Ventnor to end the blight of empty premises and help revive our community spaces.”
This reads like a load of double speak, just throwing bs like “rejuvinate”, “regenerate” and “economic growth” around. Not much gameplan apart from proposing new laws to help cash flow from large corporations.
As a Labour supporter, I agree.
Excellent idea Emily…
Promote High Street rejuvenation by Pedestrianising it!!!
Think there might be a slight flaw in your plan there…
Especially with what the IoW Council charge motorists for parking!
I have heard MANY visitors comment on the parking charges…!
As a local you get to know the free parking spots.
You can park free on the pavement opposite Sandown Pier
where the old burger van use to be.
Or just park outside the Pier on the Double Yellow Lines free of charge.
It’s a win win situation, A Whole Days Fun in One!
Lol
Labour will roll out banking hubs to guarantee face-to-face banking
The cost of opening and operating the hubs will be met collectively by the banks.
Typical labour – telling private enterprises what they should do and burdening them with more costs – the reason the branches are closing, is because they are severely underused, as most bank online now.
shops are empty because customers aren’t buying what they sell and the greedy council/government are stealing too much in taxation.
it is also an insult to islanders, that we are faced with near daily articles from this individual that has turned up here recently and who cannot even accept that taking drugs and cutting bits off, doesn’t make you a female.
I’ve lived here 40+ years and its insulting than a non-islander is even talking about Sandown/Ventnor high street. We have a very unique way of life, and tourism and tourist attracting shops are also desperately needed along with post offices and banks. The problem is these unique shops cannot afford to keep going if we do not have the tourists coming to the island. And with the extortionate ferry prices keeping our tourists away its up to islanders to keep these shops going. And that doesn’t work. Once again its a bigger problem than this individual can even see.
To be fair, she’s had bits added too.
Thanks for the reminder to do all my shopping online now to protest against Labour.
Hey, not as bad as the order to kill people in Iraq over false pretenses
I’m famous! Now somebody else is using my name to promote their own agenda.
Labour lies! If she wanted to help the high streets, she would have it the last 14 years! Conservatives are the only ones that will help the high streets!
Never drink before noon and post.
Many wiser people are calling for more than our High Streetsto be reinstated
So many more want their country restored to a time when stabbing, shooting, mugging, rape and gang rape, s ex slavery , genital mutilation , acid attacks, etc. A time when our soldiers and Police didn’t fear being beheaded, when children could go to festivals without risk of bomb or frenzied stabbing, and when our MPs didn’t need stab jackets.
Best vote Reform, for the above is not just coincidence’
Stabbings, shootings, muggings, rape etc have always been there. Voting Deform won’t make a blind bit of difference.
Yet QK, voting Labour or Conservative will make it worse, as the former started and encourage such, and the latter have done nothing meaningful, just some fake Rwanda red herring, JUST before the election to ‘pretend’ at last they ARE doing something about it. All noise.
Just vote Reform and end this otherwise endless scourge on our culture.
British lives and culture matters, vote Reform.
Only a Muppet would vote for The Deform Party!
As expected and not even in power yet.
Just how does she (he) anticipate on paying for this?
As for ensuring the banks pay for banking hubs, well good luck with that.
I’ve seen Barclays install these ‘Banking Hubs’ in towns on the mainland. I don’t know what Barclays or the designers were thinking, but imagine those children’s cars/trains in amusement arcades where you can barely fit anyone in them; that’s a banking hub.
Staff have to sit on a bench without legroom to stretch their legs. The customer sits opposite in these tiny fixed chairs, of which there are two. There is a fixed table in the middle. Given that the population has grown immensely in size in the last twenty years, not the size of the population, but physically, there is no way fat people will get into a hub. Once in, I cannot see how they would get out.
Keeps talking about ‘our’ beaches and ‘our’ high streets. Where does Emily Brothers actually live?
I believe he lives in a tree house in Cuckoo Land somewhere near Brighton
In a high tower surrounded by fluffy clouds and unicorns.
Waffle, Waffle, Waffle. After 13 years of Labour rule we were left broke. But you keep blaming the messenger for the message.
We’re no better off after 14 years of this shower of sh!te!!
Ok good another king canute who wants to turn back the tide, shops are closing not only because of business rates but also peoples shopping habits have changed forever primarily becuase of the cost of parking.
To be fair, I think you can comfortably attribute it more to the age of internet shopping than to the cost of parking.
When you have the entirety of all products at your very fingertips, with the ability to easily source the lowest possible price, and with it often able to be delivered to your door next day, it makes the high street and their higher prices redundant.
I think it was primarily because of the lock-downs. People started buying online & just realised it was easier & cheaper.
It surely must be Island Echo’s biggest fan by now considering the amount of articles published about it. How about publishing an article about the reform candidate Island Echo. Or does that not sit well with you?
Just noticed the shop sign above dear old Emily’s head in picture number 2 of the article. Quality photographing. Lol
One could say a reflection of the past perhaps? Lol.
I think this Guy has no connection to the isle of wight and is just miming to the hym sheet he’s been given.
I’m only going to vote for someone with a local connection to the island. Not someone who was put over here by party HQ.
1 problem, majority of local people are thick as ****
Bob is a well educated sensible person, something
this island lacks and needs.
My vote goes to Bob.
Go Emily go, you get my vote
Unbelievable how many people are being disrespectful and calling her a man… Is it really that hard for you lot to be decent human beings? Explains the amount of reform supporters on here i suppose