9:20am Friday 18th December 2009
By Martin George
Kingston has been snubbed by a Government scheme to support high streets through the recession, despite three of the borough’s shopping centres having among the highest vacant property rates in London.
Tolworth had the capital’s 11th highest vacancy rate, 15 per cent, while New Malden and Surbiton were also in the top 25 per cent. All experienced a significant increase in empty shops since June 2008.
Kingston was not among the 107 areas to receive money from the Real Help Now scheme, announced by Communities Secretary John Denham on December 4.
Zac Goldsmith, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park, said he “welcomed the news that the Government plans to spend an extra £2.6m on high street regeneration but questioned the absence of Richmond and Kingston in the scheme, which have both recently experienced an increase in the number of empty shops.”
Mr Goldsmith has written to the minister to ask how Kingston can apply for the scheme, which saw Croydon, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Wandsworth each receive £50,000 to help reopen or re-use empty shops.
Councillor Simon James, executive member for economic development, dismissed Mr Goldsmith’s comments as a “knee-jerk reaction”, and pointed to figures showing Kingston town centre had seen a 3.9 per cent increase in footfall this year and increased turnover at local department stores.
Coun James said: “I welcome any additional support from central government for Kingston businesses and local shops, as I think funding should be available to those areas under stress, as all are, rather than just in crisis.
“I will be writing to John Denham querying the methodology of this set of funding. I want to ensure that Kingston gets a fair deal in any Government help.”
A communities and local government spokesman said: “The empty shops funding is helping 107 of the hardest hit areas in the country where the downturn has really hurt the high street. Funds were allocated to the areas with the highest levels of deprivation and the highest proportion of vacant retail outlets.”
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