Support needed for Medway's Town Centres
Medway Liberal Democrats recognise that residents need places where you can shop, use local services and meet your friends, family and neighbours. There are numerous challenges to our established retailers from the internet. Speaking to local residents, increases in parking charges and hours of operation are also acting as deterrents to visiting local town centres, pushing shoppers to other centres. We feel the council could do more by giving start-up businesses rates relief to help them through their first year of trading and speeding up planning decisions on derelict buildings. Medway Council is investing £45 million into a long-term buy-back of the Pentagon shopping centre. Doing so will improve the council's chances of regenerating Chatham High Street. However, we are concerned that the council is paying too much for the centre and disappointed that Chatham is seeing more investment while our other town centres are being left behind. In other local shopping areas, we need to do more to improve the look an
