Profile and campaign pics supplied by Birmingham Labour
Newly elected West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker wants to improve the fortunes of Erdington High Street and for people “to be proud” of the once bustling retail hotspot.
Labour’s first ever West Midlands Mayor won an incredibly tight election against the Conservative and two time elected Andy Street, but now he just wants to get on with the job.
Mr Parker has plans to introduce new policies and innovations to attract businesses to high streets like Erdington’s across the region, which will encourage residents to shop local and invest in their retail community.
He told Erdington Local: “I want people to be proud of Erdington High Street again.
“We will utilise new powers from a Labour government to bring empty shops on our high streets back into use and to help businesses to set up – in partnership with Business Improvement Districts and councils via a range of measures such as compulsory purchasing orders, ‘meanwhile’ uses, and flexible business rates.”
He added: “I want to establish a new Local High Streets Taskforce to ‘innovate and regenerate’ empty shops and to identify derelict sites that can be put back into use.
“We will establish an empty property register for our high streets and a proactive introductions system, which will work with partners to search for occupiers and promote empty spaces.”
The former business consultant and Price Waterhouse Cooper partner is also a big fan of market stalls as a way of revitalising high streets and has pledged to establish a new fund to help support market traders across the region.
Erdington Business Improvement District has itself been exploring plans for a new market to be held on the pedestrianised area by the Co-op supermarket.
Anti-social behaviour is also high on the list for the new West Midlands Mayor, and whilst his office lacks the powers of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) – which would have been absorbed by the Mayor’s office if it had not been recently blocked in the High Court by the PCC Simon Foster – the newly elected West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker wants to fight the scourge of anti-social behaviour and the impact it has on communities.
Mr Parker added: “I will work with the Police and Crime Commissioner, councils, faith and community groups, and West Midlands Police to make the streets of Erdington, Kingstanding, and Castle Vale safer.
“Anti-social behaviour blights the lives of many people and we know that having visible policing out on the streets tackling crime, gathering intelligence, and cracking down on anti-social behaviour is essential to making our communities safer.
“We will guarantee town centre patrols dedicated to their areas.”
For more on West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker visit www.facebook.com/RichardParkerWM
Didn’t our Labour MP have the same mission ?
I haven’t seen any improvement so far since she was elected.
I think addressing the behaviour of the people in the Erdington area should be addressed 1st.
I personally do not go into Erdington any more despite living nearby it’s not just the lack of shops but the people (not ALL of them obviously) who make the experience unpleasant.
Driving around here you can see neglected houses and gardens and rubbish dumped outside . I have complained about this but no action taken.
Good luck I seriously hope you can achieve your plan.
Yes l agree it’s so pity that most of the people who make our streets dirty just sitting around the streets doing nothing only to make the streets dirty and causing inconvenience to the real shoppers.
Same begging for money in most cases.
Regular cleaning of the streets will be appreciated and can make a difference.
Again throwing rubbish on the streets should be abolished and to be made a person caught to fined for making the streets dirty, because it’s not the responsibility of the Mayor but for us Citizens to take action to make sure the streets attracts visitors as well.
I was in Cape Town in 2019 l was amazed when l saw them clean the streets with brushes by hand and using hose pipes to make if perfectly clear and no throwing of papers on the floor.
We can do better ourselves if we can work together on these issues.
Mayor is there to support us of the needs we need to improve ourselves to keep the place clean.