Following the traditional August Bank Holiday weather there is always a sudden “back to school” feeling at the start of September. The summer holidays are quite a long time for children to lack that daily routine and I hope most are looking forward to going back and seeing their friends. I hope too that some adults too feel a sense of excitement and opportunity for the coming months.
Although times are still tough, there are encouraging signs with wages rising for quite a few people, inflation moderating and our trade figures growing well, despite very poor conditions in leading European economies. The last year has certainly shown how instability in other countries has a direct impact on our own lives but challenging times are no reason to look inwards or narrow our relationships with others.
Setting the foundations for growth and productivity are just as important locally and that is one of the reasons that the progress with the regeneration of Yeovil Town centre is so frustrating. Local businesses such as hotels, pubs and restaurants will all get a lift from having an attractive and easily accessible hub nearby and this will of course help the economy. Nearly £10million of central Government money was allocated to Yeovil under the Future High Streets Fund in December 2020. In the Budget of March 2021 the same amount was marked for the redevelopment of the Octagon Theatre. Now the theatre has been closed for months, a building contractor has yet to be appointed and accusations of mismanagement are rife. Both these projects would have a significant positive effect on Yeovil as long as they are used to genuinely transformative effect and I will continue to encourage the works to be finished and Glovers Walk and Bus Station to be properly redeveloped so as to transform the centre of town, but delivery is crucial and transparency with residents and businesses from the Council has not been what it might be. I hope my recent meetings with the Council which have been more positive bear fruit.
Another key aspect to boosting our area is the building of more good homes, that people want to live in, in the right locations with supporting infrastructure. This week’s announcement that central Government will support developers in reducing and mitigating phosphate discharge is a good step in that direction, following years of delay and confusion, largely coming from Natural England. It won’t mean a sudden burst of unwanted developments but rather that decisions can be reached more efficiently on planning grounds without the current legal logjam and it will mean a more coordinated approach towards protecting the environment too. It should also make town centre and other developments inherently more viable.
Finally, this week saw an expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone into the outskirts of the city, where air pollution is mostly not a significant issue. It is hugely unpopular and an example of green policy that does little to mitigate actual problems while being unfair on those of lesser means. Sadly, if you think it would never happen here it’s worth following the war on freedoms in places like Oxford and Bristol.
