Local MP Robert Largan has criticised High Peak Borough Council’s decision to purchase The Springs Shopping Centre in Buxton.
The purchase is part of the Council’s successful £6.6 million bid to the Government’s Future High Streets Fund. The Fund is designed to renew town centres and high streets in a way that drives growth and ensures future sustainability. This comes on top of a £1 million Government Heritage grant, to improve the historic shop fronts on Spring Gardens.
The Council has invested a further £4.2 million bringing the total available funding to over £11 million.
Last year, the local MP presented the Council with the results of a survey of local residents he conducted asking for their views on how to spend the Fund.
When asked about the Council’s proposals to buy the shopping centre the vast majority of residents either didn’t understand the proposals, or were opposed to the purchase. 31% supporting the idea, 30% were opposed, and 39% unsure either way.
Instead, residents responded more positively to Mr Largan’s proposal to open up the River Wye to create new waterfront retail spaces in the town centre. 65% of residents were in favour of the idea.
It is not yet clear how much the Council spent on acquiring the shopping centre, how the Council plans to make the shopping centre profitable, or how much more the Council plans to spend to do so.
Mr Largan has called for an urgent meeting with the Council to discuss their plans in more detail.
When the Council informed Mr Largan that they were considering buying The Springs, he asked them to set out what they planned to do with the shopping centre. The Council responded that they would “pay consultants to tell us what to do”.
This follows the news that High Peak Borough Council failed to secure £20 million in investment from the Levelling Up Fund after independent civil servants scored the Council’s bid poorly on the measures used to prioritise funding applications.
Robert Largan, MP for High Peak, commented:
“The Future High Street Fund presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to regenerate Buxton town centre.
“That’s why I’m concerned about the Council’s use of taxpayers’ money to buy The Spring Shopping Centre without a clear plan for how to make the site profitable, or how much more the Council plans to spend to do so.
“When I asked the Council what their plans were for the shopping centre the response they gave me was ‘we’ll pay consultants to tell us what to do’. To put it bluntly, this was hardly reassuring.
“Hundreds of local people responded to my survey last year on how the Council should spend the Fund and the vast majority either didn’t understand the Council’s proposals or were opposed to the purchase of the shopping centre.
“It’s time High Peak Borough Council listened to the people they represent and delivered for the people of Buxton.”
