Supporting Town Centres
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S3M-3611, in the name of Aileen Campbell, on supporting town centres. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises the central role that high streets play in local communities and town centres as a focal point for both economic and social activity, especially in the south of Scotland region; believes that high streets and town centres must be supported and invested in during the current economic downturn; notes calls from the Local Government Association in England to allow local authorities temporarily to use vacant high street shops as sites for community projects; welcomes the cross-party support for a Town Centre Regeneration Fund in the recent budget, and looks forward to the improvements that this will generate in high streets and town centres across Scotland.
Town centres are, almost by definition, at the very heart of many of Scotland's communities. Often, they are literally and geographically central to an area and provide an economic and social focus for local activity. With the right support, our high streets and town centres can help Scotland to find its way to economic recovery. For that reason, I am grateful both to the members who have given their support to allow us to debate the motion tonight and to those members who have stayed behind to participate in the debate.
I am pleased to welcome a journalist from the local newspapers that serve the towns of Lanark, Carluke and Biggar in the South of Scotland region who is following our debate from the media gallery. I will focus on the South of Scotland region tonight, although the issues that I will raise are, of course, relevant to the country as a whole.
Since being elected to Parliament in 2007, I have made my home in Biggar. As anyone who has read some of my recent motions will know, Biggar is a town full of good news stories. Its High Street benefits from the presence of an award-winning chippie, an ice-cream shop and an Indian restaurant. The town's youth project, which is supported by the cashback for communities fund, provides healthy lunches and a safe environment for local schoolchildren. The town is thriving with many small independent shops, where folk can meet for a coffee and a chat. Biggar is a place that people are proud to be part of and to do their bit to maintain. Biggar demonstrates the positive contribution that town centres can make to our economy and society during the economic downturn.
Like many towns in rural South Lanarkshire, this very week Biggar is celebrating its annual gala, with traditional ridings and marches. The town's Fleming queen is a local primary school pupil by the name of Aileen Campbell—I wish her the best of luck. Tomorrow, the county town of Lanark celebrates its Lanimers festival. I look forward to joining the crowds on Lanark High Street and I hope that the sun shines for all. The Lanimers procession shows the High Street at its very best: full of young families cheering the lorries as they go past and demonstrating a civic pride that media commentators often think is lost nowadays.
Although I have no doubt that Lanimers provides a boost to the local economy, I want to work with colleagues to ensure that, for the other 364 days of the year, Lanark town centre gets the help and support that it needs. I understand that the community council and the local council-led town group have put aside their differences to examine how best they can apply to the Scottish Government's town centre regeneration fund. That is very much to be welcomed.
Indeed, the Scottish Government's town centre regeneration fund itself is to be welcomed. The fund has been welcomed by members from across the parties, as is evidenced by the many motions and parliamentary questions on the fund since it was announced. Members on all sides recognise the importance and significance of the Government's finding £60 million to invest in our town centres just as the downturn begins seriously to take hold.
Despite the examples that I have given, there is no question but that many of our high streets are struggling. The most obvious example is the closure of Woolworths. It is not uncommon to see people shaking their heads sadly as they walk past a closed and forlorn-looking former branch of Woolworths on their high street. Lanark, Irvine, Ayr and Dumfries are just some of the towns in the South of Scotland that lost a Woolworths branch. Such closures can have a knock-on effect on the rest of the town centre, as smaller shops lose passing trade and boarded-up shopfronts deter visitors—as, perhaps, do the takeaways that are open at night but closed during the day.
Many constituents have contacted me about the perilous state of other town centres in the region, plenty of which never had a Woolworths. For example, Carluke has been hit by various closures in recent times and a number of its residents have expressed concern about the possibility of a new supermarket development outside the town's traditional central shopping area. Instead of being downbeat, however, plenty of local residents and businesses have positive ideas about how to develop the town centre. I have met representatives of the town's development trust who are interested in finding ways of making the town centre regeneration fund work for Carluke. Local entrepreneurs have also enthusiastically outlined their plans for a children's activity centre that would entertain younger residents while their parents made the most of the town's shopping facilities.
Many similarly imaginative initiatives are taking place across the United Kingdom. For example, England's Local Government Association has called for artists and other community projects to be allowed to take over disused shop spaces. Even simple steps like that can help to brighten up an area and keep a town centre attractive during the downturn.
Another successful initiative from which we in Scotland can learn is the renaissance town movement. The movement places local empowerment at the heart of work to redesign and improve town centres. Towns in East Renfrewshire have been exploring the possibilities that are offered by that idea. In doing so, they have been supported by Architecture and Design Scotland, which is funded by the Scottish Government and is a partner in the initiative. A conference to discuss the ideas involved will be held on 25 June. I hope that many local authorities will participate and learn more about how those creative ideas can be applied to their areas. Such ideas help to give local residents and visitors a reason to spend time—and to enjoy doing so—in their local high streets and, importantly, to have a say in what their town looks like.
During this year of homecoming, we can also be creative about how we raise the profile and tourism value of our town centres. Recently, I was delighted to be contacted by the civic government of Irvine, California, which suggested that the city establish formal friendship city ties with its namesake in Ayrshire. I am actively pursuing the suggestion with the local council, as it is exactly the sort of shot in the arm from which many of our smaller towns and high streets could benefit.
Not every application to the town centre regeneration fund will be successful, but I believe that the Government's criteria are fair and that, if local stakeholders get their act together and co-operate properly, there is a level playing field and all to play for. One criterion is the definition of a town centre. For an area to be defined as a town centre, it must be described as such in the development plan. That means that some communities that have high streets and an array of different shops that face some of the challenges that I have outlined may miss out on part of the fund; Lesmahagow and Carnwath in South Lanarkshire are examples. I am working with the community councils in those places to see how they can be supported outside the regeneration fund process. One important step would be for the local authority to reverse its decision to close Lesmahagow's much-loved Jubilee hall, which was opposed by more than 80 per cent of respondents to a recent survey of mine.
I am glad that the Parliament has this opportunity to raise awareness of both the challenges facing our high streets and the examples and initiatives from which others can learn. I am sure that other members will be able to offer interesting examples from their areas. I look forward to hearing the minister outline how the Scottish Government will continue to invest in and develop town centres in the South of Scotland and throughout the country.
I congratulate Aileen Campbell on bringing this issue to the chamber. We have debated the matter a number of times before, but I have no problem with our discussing it again.
Traditional town centres in Scotland provide a hub for both business and pleasure. However, we all agree that pressures on many town centres have meant that they are not always what we would want them to be. Whether that deterioration is due to competition from other centres or the economic effects of the loss of local jobs or businesses in the town centre closing down, the effect is the same—a poor town centre that meets no one's needs.
Just over a year ago, I was pleased to lead a members' business debate in the chamber that recognised the establishment of the first business improvement district in Scotland in the town of Bathgate in my constituency. I was and still am proud of what Bathgate has achieved. It suffered from all the challenges that I have mentioned—a major indoor shopping development in Livingston, just a few miles away, and significant job losses, including at Motorola and NEC. However, local businesses decided to get together, working in partnership with the local authority and the Scottish Executive, to look at ways of improving the town centre.
First, people considered what their business, shop or service was offering to potential customers. They recognised that they could not compete with some of the large retailers, so they tailored their business to local demand. Let me be clear—that did not mean any reduction in quality or diversity. Some of the goods and services that are provided are for smaller, perhaps more specialised markets and are therefore suited to being provided in smaller towns.
Secondly, the environment must be attractive and safe. Car parks must be convenient and customers must feel safe using them. Public transport—buses or trains—is equally important. It is clear that, if buses stop at 6 pm or do not run on a Sunday, the town centre will be dead at those times. Perhaps the minister will take the opportunity to ask his colleague, the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, what he is doing to improve bus services.
The shopfront project that the previous Scottish Executive match-funded in Bathgate allowed businesses there to improve the frontage of their premises, which helped to improve the attractiveness of the town. That may seem superficial, but it has been shown to affect customers' shopping habits—it helps businesses.
There are two further areas that the Scottish Government needs to consider. The first is the issue of the derelict buildings that blight a number of our town centres. Will the minister consider establishing a fund to deal with that problem? Will the Scottish Government make it easier for people to find out who owns derelict, and sometimes seemingly abandoned, properties? It is often quite difficult to find out that information. Secondly, how will the Scottish Government promote the use of residential properties in town centres, particularly now that improvement grants are no longer available?
I welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has followed Labour's suggestion and established the £60 million town centre regeneration fund. However, I am concerned that there should be a clear strategy to guide the allocation of that money, as the minister has not yet made that clear. I strongly believe that allocations should be made only where there is a partnership approach involving businesses, local authorities and the voluntary sector. I hope that the minister will confirm that he agrees with that.
I welcomed the Scottish Government's change of position on business improvement districts. Will the minister tell members how the Scottish Government is supporting them, both financially and in kind? I have saved the biggest question for last: will the £60 million be a one-off or an on-going budget line?
I congratulate Aileen Campbell on bringing this important debate to the chamber. The plight of town centres throughout Scotland should concern us all. I am concerned about the decay of many of our town centres in Glasgow, but the town centre regeneration fund offers an opportunity to assist in turning many of those areas around.
We should not pretend that £60 million will solve the problems that town centres face, but, as the minister said, we should make the best of that cash by using it effectively to leverage in additional moneys and make the biggest impact for town centres and the local communities that they support. I will return to that point later.
When the town centre regeneration fund was first announced, it was widely assumed that city-located town centres need not apply. There was a clear belief that towns were towns and cities were cities, but, in planning terms, that is not true. In taking up the campaign to ensure that our cities—including Glasgow, the city that I represent—did not miss out, I met Alex Neil, the Minister for Housing and Communities. I am delighted to say that the Scottish Government has ensured that cities can apply and has attempted to make the qualification criteria as flexible and inclusive as possible.
I have not left the matter there; I also met the head of Glasgow's development and regeneration services, Mr Steve Inch, and Cathy Laing, of the Glasgow North Regeneration Agency, to discuss possible bids. One of the bids is for Maryhill, so I declare an interest in the matter. Although I am a list MSP for the Glasgow region, I am a resident of Maryhill, which I consider to be home, after staying there for more than 10 years.
Maryhill is a proud community, but it is not without its problems. Like many areas, it suffers from high levels of poverty and social exclusion. The more prosperous members of our community are often drawn into the city centre to high-end shops and better amenities, or to the out-of-town shopping facilities with which other town centres have experienced problems. Those who remain are often from the lower income groups, and they are left with a relatively small amount of local facilities and poor amenities.
Communities should be able to celebrate their diversity, and social integration is a core element of any society. Maryhill needs more facilities that will benefit all who stay there—irrespective of their income level—and bring all parts of the wider Maryhill community together. I hope that the historical canal and botany areas, which are flanked by the barren valley area, will be at the heart of one of Glasgow's transformational regeneration areas. I hope that there will be a sizeable mix of housing developments, and a real opportunity to breathe life into an area that—as it has just lost two local schools—is crying out for amenities.
At the heart of the area sits Maryhill burgh halls—a once-proud building that now lies in ruins. However, it is rising from the ashes, and the Maryhill bid for the town centre regeneration fund is critical to the regeneration of the building. The plan for the new burgh halls is central to a £1.8 million bid from Glasgow.
I will list for the minister some of the facilities that will be in the new burgh halls: a wide hall meeting area, a cafe with healthy eating options, a nursery offering up to 40 child care places, a garden courtyard civic meeting area, a gallery that will tell people about local history to build civic pride in the area, and even, believe it or not, a commercial recording studio. The project will provide child care for low-income families and create more than 100 jobs. Glasgow is asking for £1.8 million to allow more than £9 million to be invested. That really leverages in extra cash and, as the minister would say, is a big bang for the Government's buck.
I, too, congratulate Aileen Campbell on securing the debate, and I welcome the opportunity to participate. Having represented Clydesdale for the past 10 years and having been brought up in the market town of Jedburgh, I know how important the town centre is to a local community.
Town centres cannot have everything. When my husband first visited us in Jedburgh from his home town in Airdrie, he wondered where we bought compact discs and was dismayed to learn that he had to go 20 miles on the bus to Galashiels to be able to pick up his favourite music. However, town centres are vibrant parts of local communities. One of the key issues for us to think about in the debate is how we spend and act as consumers and whether we, as MSPs, take the lead and demonstrate our commitment to the centres of the towns in which we live and which we represent. Do we do all that we can? Do we buy all that we can from our town centres to support local businesses?
Most of the things that I need can be bought in the town centre of Carluke where I live, or in Lanark or Larkhall. We are lucky and, if we look, we can find what we want. However, many of us—I am as guilty of this as anybody else—sometimes take the easy option of shopping at out-of-town supermarkets and shopping centres, which deprives our town centres of much-needed revenue. We must consider our shopping habits and how we spend our money, because there is a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation in our town centres: do the shops or the consumers come first? How do we get businesses to come to town centres if consumers are not using them? How do we get businesses to react to the needs of the new workplace? Many of us are not back in our home towns at 5 o'clock at night when many local shops close. How can town centre businesses respond? Can they open late into the evening one night a week to allow those of us who live outside the town to buy things in town centre shops that are traditionally shut during the evening?
One of the issues with the fund is the short timescale that is involved. I hope that the minister will reflect on that. I appreciate why the timescale is short, but some of the projects that have been discussed in the communities that I represent will not be able to comply with the timescale this time round because it will simply not be possible to tie up all the things that need to be tied up, such as planning permission. One issue in particular is that it will not be possible to bring partners together to upgrade shopfronts and make the town centre more attractive in the time available. I also ask the minister to respond to Mary Mulligan's question about whether the fund will be a rolling programme. If so, that would enable people in places such as Carluke to plan for the future by looking to next year's applications as well as this year's.
I congratulate South Lanarkshire Council—not something that I always do—on the work that has been undertaken to improve the streetscapes and make the landscape more attractive in many of its town centres. I also commend to the minister the bids that the towns that I represent are making. He will not be surprised to hear me do that. I hope that Clydesdale will get its fair share of the available funding, because the people in that community certainly deserve it. I hope that the minister will see the sense of those applications and, in due course, make the announcements to which I look forward.
I, too, congratulate Aileen Campbell on securing this debate on an extremely important topic.
In preparation for the debate, I reread the report "A strategy for successful community hubs", which was written last year by the Conservative party south of the border and based on the findings of the commission into small shops in the high street, which Brian Binley MP chaired. I mention the report not for party-political purposes but because one of its conclusions was interesting: we have seen a decline in our town centres over approximately 30 years and local and national Governments of all stripes must take some responsibility for that and take strong responsibility for turning the situation round.
I will throw in one fact: in Scotland approximately 200 small shops a year close down—in years that are not hit by an economic storm. Some of the difficulties behind that fact lie squarely at the door of local and national Governments: they are to blame. For example, taxes on many of our small shops are far too high, regulations are far too burdensome—70 per cent of them come from Europe rather than from Westminster or from here—and parking is an enormous problem in many of our high streets. Of course local authorities want to bring in as much revenue as they can in order to spend it on local services, but there is a question to be asked about whether some of our local authorities have tried to bring in too much revenue at the expense of the local economy. Retail crime is another problem for our shops—it will be an even bigger problem during the downturn.
Many other difficulties are not necessarily to do with Government, but arise from consumer behaviour: people like to go to supermarkets and hypermarkets. That point was well made by Karen Gillon in what was a particularly thoughtful speech. There is also, of course, internet shopping, which has increased year on year over the past five years and looks set to accelerate. All our small shops face that challenge. The internet can be an opportunity, but it is more of a threat at the moment for many of our town centres and high streets.
What do Scottish Conservatives propose to do about the problem? First, we were very much in favour of the small business bonus, which will, by definition, help small businesses far more than it will help out-of-town centres. The bonus has helped approximately 146,000 businesses across Scotland. We pushed hard for the Government to accelerate that scheme from three years to two years, which it did. From 1 April this year, many small businesses do not pay any business rates. Secondly, we pushed hard in this year's budget for another policy in which we believe, which is the town centre regeneration fund, to which every speaker in the debate has referred. The £60 million in the fund will go into two tranches: £40 million for tranche 1, and £20 million for tranche 2. We hugely approve of that fund and look forward to seeing its results.
I have two comments for the minister, which I hope he will be able to address in the short time he will no doubt have for his wind-up speech. First, there are restrictions on the town centre regeneration fund in relation to who can apply and what is classed as a town centre. I am sure that that was unintended, but it is clear that there are towns across Scotland that ought to be included. I am sure that they would be thought of as towns by the man walking the streets, but they are excluded because of the definitions. Obviously, my request is too late for tranche 1, but I wonder whether the criteria can be widened for tranche 2.
Secondly, and finally, will the minister not simply provide a cure for high streets that have serious problems, but undertake prevention as well? Some people may describe high streets in some areas, such as Stockbridge and Morningside, as well-heeled, but high streets nonetheless need support if they are to continue to thrive. Some money should therefore go to preventing high streets from going downhill, as opposed to trying simply to cure high streets that have already gone downhill.
We supported the Government's policy on business rates and we look forward to seeing how the town centre regeneration fund works. I look forward to hearing what the minister has to say.
I, too, congratulate Aileen Campbell on securing the debate and on making a characteristically eloquent contribution.
Members who have spoken have touched on the main story here, which is about out-of-town developments and encouraging people to live in our town centres. I want to mention some examples of good practice that I think would be of interest to the minister and to put one new thought to my colleagues in the chamber, but before I do that I want to say to Aileen Campbell that I listened with great interest to her comments about Lanarkshire and point out to the chamber that Lanarkshire is, of course, the source of some extremely good cheese: Lanark blue and Dunsyre blue. I need to declare no interest in saying that; those cheese makers are in competition with my brother.
The towns to which I will refer are my home town of Tain and the towns of Wick and Thurso. I hope that the minister will find the time to visit them in his summer schedule, when he can. The town centre regeneration that is happening in Tain is very much due to the work of the local Highland Council councillor, Alastair Rhind. For example, a superb new rose garden is now being completed.
In Wick and Thurso, the harbour areas, which are in the town centres, are being developed. There is some anxiety about the pleasure boat use of Scrabster harbour, which is next door to Thurso. People there hope to benefit from west of Shetland and other developments, and it makes sense to move pleasure boat moorings from Scrabster to Thurso. There is also windsurfing and diving in the area; investment is being put into both those sports. That is a tribute to the work of all agencies—the Scottish Government, I am sure, included. Again I invite the minister to make time when he can to come and see how that is being done.
When Aileen Campbell mentioned Woolworths, I am sure she struck a chord with every member. The empty Woolworths in our town centres symbolise everything that we must strive to put right. In Wick, the empty store in the centre of the town has become a symbol of decay. The question that I am asked again and again is, "When will Woolworths be filled with something else?" The question is a potent one for me, all politicians in the area and the enterprise network.
Now the new thought that I wish to present to the chamber. All those who are involved in trying to make our town centres more vibrant and attractive know that a key issue is getting people to work together. How can we get ordinary people filling up and watering flower baskets and coming together to think up good ideas? I have a radical proposal, albeit that I do not want to raise any ghosts from the grave in making it: our community councils across the 32 Scottish unitary council areas have the potential to do other than simply whine, carp, criticise and regularly carpet their councils; they could do more by their own hand.
We should consider what can be done to encourage community councils to do more. I am not saying that we should roll back the clock to before the passing of the Local Government Act 1974 and return to the ancient powers and privileges of our town councils—provosts, deacons, bailies et al—but if certain spends were devolved further from the unitary authorities, greater efficiencies could result and additionality could be levered in. I am thinking of landscaping and that sort of initiative. The local authority could say to the community council, "Okay. You can have the landscape budget for your area." Authorities that did that would find that the community council would encourage businesses to chip in extra amounts of funding. Doing that would help the public purse and involve local people and businesses. Getting people to work together would make it work.
I do not advocate a return to 1974, but just as the year of homecoming is about clans, clan chiefs and so forth, we should not forget the history of our burghs in which there is great interest. It is a pity to see the old gold chains in a cabinet in a museum when they could be taken out and used a bit more. If nothing else, doing that would be superb for civic pride and interesting for tourists. I leave the minister with that thought. If he does not have time to comment on the proposal in his summing up, perhaps he will come back to me on it at another time.
I welcome the opportunity to make a short speech in this important debate and thank Aileen Campbell for initiating it. I was interested by her comments about the importance of the arts and architecture in the regeneration process. I repeat once again a point that I have made in the chamber before: these things must not be thought of as add-ons. They are not things that are done when everything else has been done; artists should not be brought in only when a town has empty shops or other places to fill up or thought of as unimportant at other times. I know that that is not what Aileen Campbell meant, but that approach has been taken in the past. Artists and the importance of involving architecture and design at an early stage are important in the regeneration process.
I return to a hobby horse of mine: derelict buildings in our town and village centres. I may be treading on slightly dangerous territory because the members for constituencies that include Ayr and Kilmarnock are not in the chamber, but I know that they share my concern at what is happening to those town centres. My constituents know what is happening: they travel to and use the shopping facilities in those towns. Given that Ayr is on his doorstep, the minister knows what has happened to Ayr town centre, about the loss of a number of big retailers and about the problems of small shopkeepers, who are finding things increasingly difficult. It is not simply a question of what happens to the retail opportunities; it is a question of what happens to the rest of the local area if such facilities are missing.
I want to highlight the difficulties that local authorities are having with absentee landlords and buildings that fall into disrepair. There has been a problem throughout my constituency for a number of years, but it is now becoming acute. In the New Cumnock area, it took us a number of years to get the former Afton Dyers plant demolished. That we achieved that was down to hard work by me, the local community and East Ayrshire Council.
In Catrine, the village centre is completely blighted by a derelict historical property. The local community wants to save it and the Catrine Community Trust is working hard with the local authority to do that, but there simply is not the money to ensure that the building is restored. The most recent correspondence that I have had from East Ayrshire Council identifies how difficult it is to secure funding to bring such buildings back into community use. Will the minister consider making available some rolling funding, for which local community trusts and organisations could apply, so that they can do up their buildings, restore them and bring them back into use? That could generate an income, which could be paid back to the Government or used by the community at a later date.
There are serious problems in another of my local villages, Dailly, where the home of one of my constituents is next door to former commercial premises that have been derelict for a number of years and which are ruined to the extent that there are trees growing out of the roof. The local authority has so far been unable to force the landowner to do anything about the site, and every time I raise the matter it turns out that the local authority does not have the resources to take action because it might not be able to recoup any outlay.
I ask the minister to follow up the point that I have made to some of his colleagues about the procedures and processes for compulsory purchase, which make it extremely difficult for local authorities to proceed with compulsory purchases unless an end use for the site has been agreed and funding can be made available. The result is that buildings simply deteriorate to the point at which they become unsustainable. I hope that the minister will look into those issues and come back to me in the future, if he cannot do so during the debate.
I join other members in congratulating my friend Aileen Campbell on securing tonight's debate. Although she of course wanted to focus on the town centres in the region that she represents, I am glad that the motion refers to the importance of town centres and high streets across the country. The economic downturn has affected every sector of our economy, and town centres in all parts of our country have a role to play in helping Scotland to make it through these difficult times and prosper once again.
There is no doubt about the impact that the downturn is having on local communities, but it is important to be clear that although the current economic situation puts into clear focus the challenges that are faced by our high streets, many of us know that, sadly, the struggle to develop and strengthen our town centres has been perennial. Even during the supposed years of plenty, many town centres suffered from underinvestment and neglect.
Towns in the Central Scotland region, which I represent, are no exception. The wasted years of previous Administrations have allowed too many of our urban communities to come under pressure from out-of-town centres and unimaginative and unambitious planning regimes that are more interested in gleaming trophy developments than a genuine urban renaissance. That is why many members and, more important, people in communities across Scotland have been encouraged by the Scottish Government's introduction of the town centre regeneration fund, to which the motion refers. It is particularly welcome during this time of economic difficulty, but I stress that such investment has been badly needed, regardless of the prevailing economic climate.
A total of £60 million is available through the fund. It has been suggested to me in conversations with interested parties that a total redevelopment of Cumbernauld town centre would cost around £60 million. I strongly encourage the minister to take that into consideration when he comes to disburse the funds, although I appreciate that other members might take a different position.
Should the minister not choose the investment that I have suggested, I hope that he will look favourably on bids from Central Scotland. I understand that North Lanarkshire Council has taken a lead in preparing a bid for towns in its boundaries. The minister represents the same area as I do, so I am sure that he will be equally interested in that bid.
The proposals for the regeneration of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth are especially welcome. Both will help to improve the amenity of the central areas of those towns, making them attractive not only to residents, people passing through or visitors shopping, but to new businesses or enterprises that may choose to locate there. I hope that investment can ensure that the town centres can function properly as civic cores that local communities can be proud of.
The challenges in Cumbernauld are especially well known. Surely the notoriety of the town centre is unsurpassed. In many ways that has resulted in the entire town being pigeonholed in a manner that I do not think it deserves. That pigeonholing fuels views of the town that are invariably born of ignorance. Such views are often held by people who have barely visited Cumbernauld.
Cumbernauld's town centre is compartmentalised and there are various private owners. It has suffered from underinvestment over a significant period of time, which is a real cause for concern. Every day, I see the challenges and opportunities that Cumbernauld faces. There is no doubt in my mind that the town can benefit from the regeneration fund.
I have been in touch not only with the local authority but with the private town centre operators, to encourage them to apply for support. Although the first deadline for applications is already behind us, there is a bid from the local authority and I understand that the second deadline is in August. I hope that, in the time remaining, the different stakeholders can work on some imaginative and ambitious proposals to breathe new life into Cumbernauld town centre, over and above what will be done with the bid from North Lanarkshire Council.
Our town centres deserve support and investment to ensure that they continue to provide residents, visitors and businesses with an attractive and sustainable focus for social and economic activity. With the right support, a town centre can be the beating heart of any community.
I look forward to hearing what the minister has to say, not only today, in reply to our deliberations, but in the near future once he is ready to announce the result of his own deliberations on the applications to the town centre regeneration fund.
I, too, congratulate Aileen Campbell on securing this debate—and on having the initiative to bring her own local journalist with her to the press gallery. That will certainly save her the trouble of writing a press release.
I know that, like most MSPs in the chamber, I have a bid for the new town centre regeneration fund in the pipeline. In my case, it centres on the ancient town of Kirkintilloch, where a settlement dates back to Roman times and the fourth century AD. Indeed, the High Street may even have been there since then.
Last month the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, Jim Mather, came to Kirkintilloch at my invitation and spoke to a group of local businesspeople and others concerned about the future of the town centre. I confess that I had not seen Mr Mather's mind-mapping expertise before then, but I pay tribute to his computer skills, if not to his typing ability. Be that as it may, a lot of good ideas were generated that evening. I hope to build on that in the weeks and months to come.
The reason I asked Mr Mather to visit Kirkintilloch was that the town had been identified as one of the five Scottish towns that would be hit hardest by the current economic recession. Like many high streets across Scotland, ours was hit hard by the loss of 40 jobs following closure of our local Woolworths store. Aileen Campbell referred to other Woolworths stores closing; the Woolworths in Kirkintilloch was a flagship tenant in the Regent shopping centre. Its closure was quickly followed by that of another occupant of a large unit in the shopping centre and by those of three smaller units situated along the High Street.
I have been working with the local chamber of commerce in getting tradespeople together to discuss what action can be taken to breathe new life into the main High Street. As with other Scottish high streets, there is a mixture of tenancy, ownership and architecture, and I believe that the town centre regeneration fund offers some hope; that is why I was keen to see it included in our budget discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth.
As others have said, £60 million sounds like a lot of money, but in reality there is huge demand that will see a very large pile of applications on the minister's desk. That will give the independent scrutiny panel a huge headache as they try to choose between competing bids.
I can tell my good friend Mr Neil that the Kirkintilloch bid will focus on infrastructure spending and access. In particular, we hope to secure funding to contribute to Kirkintilloch town hall, the restoration of which is long overdue—Mr Neil's fellow minister, Mike Russell, will see that when he visits Kirkintilloch during the summer recess. An unsightly, fire-damaged building and other privately owned but neglected shop units have also been targeted—my colleagues Mary Mulligan and Cathy Jamieson referred to that.
A key component of the fund is the offering of match funding, and I understand that East Dunbartonshire Council has set aside money for that. I should also say, in passing, that the council is supporting a bid for Milngavie town centre, which my colleague Des McNulty is supporting.
As Mr Doris knows, Kirkintilloch is the canal capital of Scotland. The canal runs from Maryhill, in his area, right through to the east coast. We have a new marina that has been developed recently and a new health centre. What we need now is a new shopping choice. I hope that we will not be disappointed when we submit our bid.
I hope that the minister can tell us when he expects to make some of the announcements. Along with Mary Mulligan, I ask him whether the fund will be available again next year.
I, too, congratulate Aileen Campbell on securing this important and highly topical debate. In the course of the debate, we have learned much about the economy and geography of Scotland. It is my intention that colleagues should be more familiar with my constituency, in the north of Glasgow, before I close.
The motion rightly recognises the importance of town centres to the social and economic life of our communities. Although the term "town centre" is normally used in the context of a small town, it is necessary to acknowledge the importance of urban town centres to the life of urban communities and estates, many of which serve a substantial number of people. I am delighted that the minister recognised that when he laid out the guidance for the town centre regeneration fund. The importance of town centres in urban areas has been demonstrated by the fact that many hundreds of people in Maryhill and Possilpark have signed up to my petition and support the claims that are being made for each of those areas.
Maryhill has a town centre that formally runs from Queen Margaret Drive to the aqueduct—an ancient historic monument—on Maryhill Road. It has the traditional layout of tenement properties with shops on the ground floor, but it also has a shopping mall that is owned by Tesco and which has, frankly, seen better days. Almost five years ago, Tesco announced that it would carry out a complete renovation of the mall, but that work has still not begun. Indeed, only last week, in response to my latest letter to the company, Tesco wrote to me, making it clear that there is no start date for the project, never mind a completion date.
Although Tesco's attitude is disappointing, it is pleasing that work continues apace to rejuvenate the canal side in Maryhill to return it to its rightful position as the Venice of the north. It is important to ensure that the work that is undertaken there is, as Cathy Jamieson rightly said, done in a co-ordinated way that respects the history of that important industrial area and recognises the significance of the architecture and design. In passing, I thank my constituent, Mr Doris, for adding his voice to mine in making the case for Maryhill.
Possilpark is an area of great contrast. Millions of pounds have been spent on new housing and a new campus school in the area, which have greatly improved the living conditions for many of the people of the area, as well as their opportunities. However, the main street—the part that is seen by those passing through—has changed very little since its most depressed period in the 1980s. I know that Mrs Neil, if not Mr Neil, is familiar with that part of Glasgow and regards it with some affection.
I therefore welcome the co-operation of North Glasgow Housing Association, Glasgow North Regeneration Agency and the chairs of the community planning partnership and the community health project, who have worked with me to prepare a case for Possilpark to put to Glasgow City Council. The council has indicated that it is likely to look favourably on the possibility of a bid on behalf of Possilpark being made in the autumn. I thank the Evening Times for promoting the case for Glasgow's town centres in its usual campaigning fashion.
I know that the minister cannot comment on individual bids to the fund and that he has, quite correctly, established a process that keeps the decisions regarding funding at arm's length. Nevertheless, I am confident that the cases for Maryhill and Possilpark will be successful. Each case stands on its merits, and I look forward very much to being able to advise my constituents in Maryhill and Possilpark of a successful outcome to their campaigns for those areas.
I have previously urged the minister to continue the fund into future years, and I do so again tonight. As we have heard, there are many town centres that could benefit from such funding, and I look forward to making the case in future years for funding for other areas in my constituency.
I join other members in congratulating Aileen Campbell on securing the debate, which has been a good, non-partisan debate because we all recognise the importance of town centres not only to our future economy but to our future social development. I must say that, since it was announced that I have responsibility for the town centre regeneration fund, I have had no problem making new friends across the chamber.
I should also say to Aileen Campbell that I have been to Irvine in California, and I thoroughly recommend a visit, particularly to John Wayne airport, which is a particularly attractive international destination.
Before I deal with some of the specific points that were raised—I will deal with as many as I can—I should address what is almost a philosophical point about the role of our town centres in the 21st century. With the growth of internet shopping and out-of-town shopping, we can no longer rely on the retail sector for the creation of the buzz that our town centres have had historically. We need to think about our town centres holistically. I live in Ayr, and I am keen on trying to encourage more people to live in the town centre. In the 21st century, that has to be part of any strategy to regenerate our town centres and make them more dynamic.
A lot of points have been raised about the town centre regeneration fund. Karen Gillon made a reasonable point about the tight timetable. To be quite blunt, we had no choice about that because the £60 million of capital spending must be spent this financial year. We are operating within that constraint, and I recognise that there are many interesting and worthwhile projects that will not be the subject of an application this year but which, if we had had more notice of the fund, might have been.
On whether we will continue with the town centre regeneration fund, clearly we want to evaluate the benefit and success of the fund before making any decisions in the long term. Of course, we also have to find out what money will be available between this priority and many of the Government's other priorities. In September, when Mr Swinney announces next year's budget, we will know whether we are in a position to roll forward the concept of the town centre regeneration fund.
Mary Mulligan asked about the criteria. We published the criteria about five or six weeks ago on our website. We have tried not to be overly prescriptive because we wanted the applications to reflect the needs and priorities of the communities that are being served, and we felt that, if we were overly prescriptive, that might cut out worthwhile projects that would be beneficial to the towns that would be the subject of those applications, as well as to Scotland more generally.
That said, the key criterion is additionality—without funding from the fund, the project would not go ahead or would not go ahead in this timescale or on the scale that is being proposed. Other criteria are leverage, which David Whitton mentioned, and partnership, which is extremely important within the public sector and between the public, private and third sectors. In that regard, community councils, which Jamie Stone spoke about, are relevant. We know that community councils have been consulted in relation to some bids and that at least one bid features a community council as a partner.
The other key criteria relate to the economic and social impacts of the money that is spent. For example, one part of the country considered bidding for money to make some retail properties more disabled friendly and compliant with the disability discrimination legislation. I would welcome projects that fulfil that need, as well as those that address environmental impacts.
I am glad to say that we have the advisory committee in place. It is chaired by Alan Wilson, the retired chief executive of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. The private sector is represented by Liz Cameron from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the local government sector is represented by the chief executive of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Rory Mair.
I was asked when we hope to take decisions. As members know, the deadline for receipt of the first tranche of applications was last Friday, 5 June. We have a team of about 21 people working on the applications, and we will not have all the envelopes opened and the bids on the system until tomorrow. I hope to update the Parliament through the Local Government and Communities Committee, which I will attend next week, on the number of applications that have been received and their total value.
I hope to be able to make the main announcements about the first tranche towards the end of July and to complete those announcements in early August, before the deadline for the second batch of applications, which is 21 August. However, I can make an announcement tonight about the outcome of one bid, and that is the one from Jamie Hepburn for £60 million for Cumbernauld. [Laughter.] I can confirm that Cumbernauld will not receive £60 million from the town centre regeneration fund, although the application is, no doubt, a worthy one.
We are cognisant of the need for the town centre regeneration fund to get a reasonable spread of investment across the country and across different sizes of towns. We deliberately set out to try to ensure that not all the money is allocated to small towns, to mid-range towns, or to large towns. Instead, we hope to get a cross-section. One reason why we decided to have two tranches is that, if there is any unevenness as a result of the applications in the first tranche, we will try to use the second tranche to ensure that there is a more even spread. We are also keen to ensure that there is a reasonable spread of town centres within cities.
The Presiding Officer is looking at me and is obviously about to tell me that my time is up. I will be happy to answer any more detailed questions that members may have at the Local Government and Communities Committee next week.
We can all take credit for the establishment of the fund, which will make a substantive contribution to addressing many of the problems that members outlined.
Meeting closed at 17:58.