ACTION NEEDED OVER CLOSED SHOPS

12.20.49pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 18th Oct 2007

The Liberal Democrat Councillor for Tormohun, Jenny Faulkner has called for action to be taken over the number of closed shops in Torquay High Street.

The Councillor conducted a survey recently, and found thirteen shops were closed. She is calling for a Town Centre Manager to be appointed to take action to stem the decline.

Councillor Faulkner said:

"With so many closed shops, Torquay does not provide an attractive shopping experience for tourists or locals.

"Action needs to be taken to stem the decline, and the appointment if a Town Centre Manager for Torquay would be a good start. We had a Town Centre Manager before, but the post was axed by the last Conservative administration in 2000. I was hoping that the Mayor's vision, which was launched recently by consultants, would include detail on how to reverse the decline. Unfortunately, the vision does not include much detail and did not include anything about a Town Centre Manager. Other areas have them, and as a result have more shops.

I will be asking the Overview and Scrutiny Board to look into whether a Town Centre Manager is viable, and how they operate in other towns."